Parenting Disputes After Separation and Divorce: Who Needs a Family Lawyer?

Australia's family law system continues to be plagued by serious delays. This article acknowledges the need for legal interventions in post‐separation parenting disputes in which individuals may be at risk, or in cases of genuine emergency. The article next contrasts cases involving significant risk or urgency with the many ‘ordinary’ (even if sometimes complex) post‐separation disputes over parenting in which these circumstances are not present. I argue that in such cases, legal advice, legally informed dispute processes, and court hearings are remnants from earlier attitudes to separation and divorce. These interventions are expensive, frequently destructive of ongoing parental relationships, and at their heart, inappropriate for considering the needs of children. They also divert time and resources from the critical investigative and legal decision‐making processes needed in urgent or risk‐related cases. I propose that legal narratives in ‘ordinary’ post‐separation parenting disputes be replaced by narratives focused on the main drivers of these disputes, which are invariably expressed in terms of relationship difficulties. Such narratives are amenable to facilitative, therapeutic, and systemic interventions aimed at achieving self‐determined resolutions. They contrast markedly with narratives reflecting common law notion of normative resolutions derived from the application of legal precedent. Key issues in the first section of the article are then teased out via the reflections of an imaginary separated parent in an ‘ordinary,’ albeit difficult and emotionally intense, dispute about how to care for the children. In the final section, I offer brief clinical and systemic reflections on past practice and on future narratives focused on individual self‐determination.     

The battle over the allocation of interstate waters : Two contending doctrines

The doctrinal basis for resolving interstate water disputes is in a confused state because of a recent Supreme Court decision which holds that market forces should determine the allocation of interstate ground waters even though the same court has consistently held that doctrine of equitable apportionment governs interstate surface waters. Although there are arguments for both approaches, the doctrine of equitable apportionment is preferable in that by allocating shares to individual states it provides stability for state and regional water planning while limiting the excesses of territorial chauvinism by requiring sharing. The market approach is a single edged sword which protects a state wanting to take water from another. Equitable apportionment, on the other hand, is a double edged sword which protects both states and allocates to each an equitable share of interstate water resources.     

Parents in child custody disputes: Why are they disputing?

Since 2000, the number of custody disputes has increased in Sweden. Living in the midst of a parental conflict places the children under great stress. Research on parental conflicts is predominantly theoretical; thus, there is a need for empirical studies to better understand the problems and needs of the children and parents. This article examines parental disputes regarding custody, residence, and access for children, and aims to understand the characteristics of the conflicts behind the disputes. The article is primarily based on qualitative analyses of court documents. The results show that the majority of the parents’ conflicts are defined as conflicts of values, stemming from concern about the other parent’s capability to care for younger children.     

Le juge est (souvent) une femme. Conceptions du métier et pratiques des magistrates et magistrats aux Affaires familiales

In France, disputes related to marital separations are heard in the Family Chambers of the Superior Courts (Chambres de la famille des Tribunaux de Grande instance) by a single judge (a family court judge). As the magistracy feminizes, the question of what influence a judge's gender has over rulings in family cases has become a controversial topic and a media hobbyhorse, under mounting pressure from organizations that defend fathers’ rights. Using the results of a collective survey conducted in four Superior Courts between 2008 and 2010, this article shows that male and female family court judges do not follow the same personal and professional paths and do not assume their jobs under the same conditions or at the same moment in their careers, and thus perceive their roles in quite different ways. Despite all these differences, there is great homogeneity in these judges’ decisions, no matter their sex.     

Juvenile Courts and Competency to Stand Trial

This article reviews the recent development of juvenile competency to stand trial (CST) policies across the United States in light of the inherent contradiction of this due process procedure in a separate juvenile court that is premised on the incompetence of youth. The article draws on existing CST legal doctrine and psycho‐legal research to demonstrate the need for sociolegal research to better understand who gains access to the CST process, CST decisions, and how CST may influence subsequent case processing decisions. Utilizing CST as an adopted formal policy from criminal court and an exploratory case study, I demonstrate the difficulties facing how court actors manage the role of youthfulness and culpability for CST decision‐making in contemporary juvenile courts. Overall, both quantitative and qualitative research is needed to examine whether court actors’ practice of CST serves to further deconstruct or reinforce the juvenile court’s rehabilitative ideal.     

The Power of Social Workers in the Creation and Application of Elder Protection Statutory Norms in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia

This research stems from a legal pluralism approach to law which postulates that different levels of law can operate simultaneously in a given situation. In the field of child or adult protection, professionals, legislative, and bureaucratic norms may interact. The objective of this research was to study the interaction between these three levels of norms at two distinct times: at the creation of legislation norms and their application. A history of the prevailing conditions at the time of the New Brunswick Family Services Act was enacted is presented, and a comparison of the application of the Act in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia is made. Although the legislation of both provinces is similar, its application in New Brunswick was found to be influenced by social workers' professional norms, with the result that fewer intrusive intervention methods were employed and only a few cases were channelled through courts each year, while the number of court cases was on the increase in Nova Scotia.     

Supervised access: A judicial alternative to noncompliance with visitation arrangements following divorce

Visitation of children after divorce by noncustodial parents is a “natural” right, generally regarded to be in the best interest of children. Custodial parents frequently refuse to allow visitation, even when ordered to do so by the court. The purpose of this report is twofold: (a) to review issues and problems related to visitation; and (b) to describe a program, developed under family court sponsorship, which provides mediation to families in visitation disputes, and supervised visitation when more reasonable access is frustrated by noncompliant parents or when there is concern for the safety and well-being of visited children.     

The Social Dimensions of Interpersonal Dispute Resolution: A Test of a General Theoretical Framework with Survey Data

Studies of social control most often focus on the deterrent effects of informal or formal social control mechanisms. In this study I draw on theory designed to explain variation in the form of social control itself. Arguing that most social control is exercised in the context of interpersonal disputes, I attempt to explain variation in the form of social control used to resolve disputes. The theoretical model posits that both the social reality of the conflict and the social location of the aggrieved party will condition the social control response. I test propositions drawn from this model with individual-level survey data on a sample of respondents from a metropolitan parish in the south central United States. The results for the empirical test of the theoretical model are mixed. I conclude with suggestions for future research.     

Photographer–camera–place relations: reflections on postphenomenology and landscape photography practice

In the light of a postphenomenological understanding of technological artefacts as mediators of experience in non-neutral (rather than determinist) ways, this study set out to explore ways in which the triad of photographer–camera–place is co-constituted. I examined the relations that emerged in the interaction of these three elements within the context of landscape photography practice. For this purpose, I created three photographic events: I photographed three different places of autobiographical significance with different photographic systems, whose choice was variously inspired by each particular place and my connection to it. Through this reflection on practice, I examine the way in which, in each case, the self–camera–place triad was co-constituted, producing a subjective and context-specific understanding of the mediatory role of the photographic technologies that I used. The results of this reflection have implications for practice in that they postulate an engaged approach to landscape photography based on the co-constitution of self, technology and place rather than the traditional way of looking associated with landscape. It also has theoretical implications in proposing a relational framework, based on this triad, for reading representations of landscape.     

Cultural Tourism and Complex Histories: The Armenian Akhtamar Church,the Turkish State and National Identity

This article explores the ways states manage their national identity through cultural tourism policy. It draws on archival and ethnographic data on the opening of the Armenian Akhtamar Church in Turkey to cultural tourism and religious service for the first time after 95 years. Based on narrative evidence from the disputes among various actors with conflictual constructions of history, I find that states can use cultural tourism to produce multiple articulations of national identity and govern these articulations in accordance with their interests. The presence of multiple stages of tourism policy and the time and space bounded nature of interaction at each stage allow for the production of multiple images in different interaction situations. At the same time, the discourse of economic development associated with cultural tourism allows state actors to insulate themselves from criticism in disputes over national identity. The article shows how states use cultural tourism to create national identity even in the case of complex histories.     

University Tenure and the Legal System: Procedures,Conflicts, and Resolutions

Abstract

To better understand the increasing legal presence in cases and disputes involving tenure, the authors analyzed materials from court cases, employment law, and higher education. This analysis yielded knowledge about ways in which tenure as a contract, credentials as evidence, and due process contribute to orderly tenure procedures, thereby averting some legal conflicts. Academic, legal, and ethical perspectives were used to explore these concepts and to consider their implications for social work faculty confronted by the dual demands of academia and tenure review. Guidelines are provided to assist faculty in dealing with tenure review and dispute resolution in appeal and dismissal.     

Discontinuity and/in the Early Twentieth Century Ontario Juvenile Court

Abstract  Canada's juvenile court has become axiomatic. As such, it demands critical and historical questioning of its hegemony. It is in this spirit of critique that I highlight its arbitrariness. Two ruptures in the ostensibly smooth telos of Ontario's juvenile courts are discussed in this paper. First, I examine the precarious and uncertain inauguration of the Juvenile Delinquents Act. Second, I explore the Act's implementation in Toronto; particularly as it relates to the adversity juvenile court judge E.W. Boyd experienced. This examination provides a convenient backdrop against which to highlight the juvenile court's foible. I conclude with a call for a socio-historic strategy of open ended practico-critique of law and juvenile courts; informed by the emancipatory logic of "justice" to come.     

Locked down? Speaking from the shadows and silence for survival

I write to speak of silencing and the suffering of survivors of domestic abuse in the family courts of England and Wales and the struggle to find a voice to articulate the hardship faced in this lockdown through court. It has taken the whole period of lockdown to find the words, the courage to keep writing, even as tears stream down my face, even as I sit in a virtual court hearing, even as my voice breaks as I fight to be heard. This text is a glimpse into a world that is hidden in plain view, where I will share fragments of my lived experience. I am scared to write but know I speak or am lost in the silent void that I have known for too long. Domestic abuse and the taboo around it screams at me to remain unseen, hidden, and invisible. I keep returning to find the words, as the very real cost of not naming the violence and reaching out to speak through it is too high. The fragmented account that follows is a raw telling of living life through the court system; it is written to share a voice that was unheard in the family law court and has been minimized, side-lined, ordered, and silenced through 3 years of the court journey and the embodied effects this has had. It moves between space and time to show a journey endured. Can you hear me? Will you bear witness?     

The Normative Protection of Women from Violence

The literature on the relationship between violence against women and a norm protecting women (NPW) is reviewed. I suggest that the effects of the NPW are suppressed because violence against women tends to occur in intimate relations and such disputes tend to be kept private. The offsetting effects of NPW and intimacy (or relational distance) are demonstrated in a study of 384 self-reported violent disputes. In support of an NPW effect, I find that disputes are more likely to be reported to the police if an attack on a woman is witnessed by third parties. This gender effect is offset by the fact that disputes between intimates tend to be concealed from the police and from witnesses.     

Science and social work: a sketch

While recognizing that understanding of ‘science’ varies across time and countries, there are strands of a shared albeit diverse inheritance. Failures to see where we are located within this inheritance make the social work community vulnerable to simplistic claims regarding what, for example, ‘doing science’ is like. This in turn makes it difficult to deal adequately with questions such as in what ways can or should we distinguish social work science from other kinds of knowledge? Is science in some recognizable way a unified form of knowledge? How ought we to deal with disputes and disagreements in social work science? What kinds of consequences might we envisage from social work science? I deal in turn with each of these questions.     

The consumer litigation industry: Chasing dragon kings in lawyer–client networks

The community of lawyers and their clients form a scale-free bipartite network that develops naturally as the outcome of the recommendation process through which lawyers form their client base. This process is an example of preferential attachment where lawyers with more clients are more likely to be recommended to new clients. Consumer litigation is an important market for lawyers. In large consumer societies, there always a significant amount of consumption disputes that escalate to court. In this paper we analyze a dataset of thousands of lawsuits, reconstructing the lawyer–client network embedded in the data. Analyzing the degree distribution of this network we noticed that it follows that of a scale-free network built by preferential attachment, but for a few lawyers with much larger client base than could be expected by preferential attachment. Incidentally, most of these also figured on a list put together by the judiciary of lawyers which openly advertised the benefits of consumer litigation. According to the code of ethics of their profession, lawyers should not stimulate clients into litigation, but it is not strictly illegal. From a network formation point of view, this stimulation can be seen as a separate growth mechanism than preferential attachment alone. In this paper we find that this composite growth can be detected by a simple statistical test, as simulations show that lawyers which use both mechanisms quickly become the “dragon-kings” of the distribution of the number of clients per lawyer.     

Predictors of Continued Conflict After Divorce or Separation: Evidence From a High-Conflict Group Treatment Program

High-conflict divorces appear to be different than other divorces due to the magnitude of ongoing hostile interactions and court involvement. This study assessed whether agreement, communication, and the beliefs that co-parents held regarding child welfare contributed toward conflict of divorced or separated co-parents. Results suggest that co-parents' communication and ability to agree with each other differed significantly based on the number of times they returned to court. Co-parents' agreement and their beliefs regarding child welfare predicted their perceived relationship quality. The findings indicate that these factors would likely be useful to address in treatment practices.     

Participants’ views on the strengths and limitations of drug court: Recommendations to enhance assessment and treatment of mental illnesses

ABSTRACT

Since 1989, drug courts have provided an alternative to incarceration for arrestees who have a substance use disorder. Previous research has suggested that participants who graduate from the program are less likely to recidivate than those who are terminated from the program. The majority of research on drug courts is quantitative; therefore, the benefits of qualitative methods are not fully seen in the literature. This qualitative study developed an in-depth understanding of participants’ (n = 42) views on the strengths and limitations of a Midwestern drug court. Two themes emerged from the data. First, participants felt that the drug court promoted camaraderie, which enhanced their motivation for change and supported them in graduating from the program. Second, participants felt that the drug court did not adequately treat their mental illnesses, which for some resulted in relapse and was perceived as a barrier to graduating from the program. Recommendations for drug court practice are discussed.     

A Qualitative Examination of the Juvenile Drug Court Treatment Process

ABSTRACT

Drug treatment courts have proliferated at a remarkable rate, to over 1,000 drug court programs by May 2001. Literature has developed which shows drug courts to be generally effective for reducing recidivism and drug use. However, research on juvenile drug court treatment has lagged behind its adult predecessor. Recent research efforts emphasize the need to understand the process components of drug court so this treatment model can be described and modified to improve effectiveness. The current paper has three related objectives: (1) to describe how focus groups can be effectively used to study juvenile drug court treatment processes; (2) to present findings from a juvenile drug court in which this method was used; and (3) to interpret these findings through an empirically validated conceptual model that has been used to examine the treatment process components of community-based drug abuse treatment. Implications for evaluation and treatment professionals are discussed.