Towards a Model for Co-working in Family Conciliation

Correspondence to Thelma Fisher, Tutor in Social Work, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, Avon BA2 7AY. Summary This article surveys the present state of co-working in thepractice of those independent family conciliation services affiliatedto the National Family Conciliation Council. It proposes thata model of co-working is needed that is specifically tailoredto conciliation practice. It sets out progress towards such a model in a particular agency—theSwindon Family Conciliation Service. It develops a theoreticalbase for this model from the concepts of ‘content’and ‘process’ which it links with the ‘underlying’and ‘substantive’ issues brought up by separatingand divorcing couples for resolution. It draws these ideas fromwritings about divorce experience and negotiation procedures. It then presents a particular case, with an extract from anactual interview in which the model is used, and introducesa diagrammatic format for analysing conciliation processes interms of the model proposed.