Psychology and Family Law Essay

Introduction The ascend in Divorce Rates. Rasul began his paper on the frugals of child clutch with an observation and analysis of the Ameri support family. For him, the last thirty years had been testify to dramatic transformations involving the Ameri bed family (Rasul, 2006, 1). This dramatic change since the 1970s consists in the committal to writing of American families. Where thirty years ago, more(prenominal) than half of the American families consisted of a father, m early(a), and child or children, today much(prenominal)(prenominal) composition only forms sensation in five families (Rasul, 2006, 1). Such significant change is attributed to unrivalled reckon alone, which is part. Rasul observes that the instances of break up gain risen dramatically everywhere the years, such that it affects more than one million children every year (Rasul, 2006, 1). In the linked Kingdom, several(predicate) industrialized region, forty-one per centum of marriages end up in divide within fourteen years (Lamb, Sternberg, & Thompson, 1997, 394). While divorce rate in addition incr puffd in industrialized countries other than the United States, and the divorce rates in the United States already reached a plateau, the incident remains that the United States Bureau of Census estimated in 1992 that more than forty percent of scratch line marriages in the country is bound to end in divorce. Moreover, the relative regrets in divorce rates is accompanied by an equivalent effect, which is the fall of people cohabiting without marriage and nonmarital child bearing. These other arrangements power the decline in divorce, but end in the same web site of a small family. (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 22). The increase in divorce rates can overly be attributed to the authoritative developments since the 1970s, which include the growing tolerance of society for divorce. Moreover, society is no farseeinger strictly insistent on the maintenance of stereotypica l family arrangements (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 104).Changes in Family Law. As a consequence of these dramatic changes, changes in the field of family faithfulness in addition occur. These changes can be found both in of the essence(p) and procedural fairness (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 104-105). Substantive law has changed due to observations of the effects of constrictive and punitive laws on divorce. Thus, many jurisdictions already steered a stylus from the rule that one of the spouses must have committed some transgression before they can be granted divorce. Now, the prevalent rule in most jurisdictions is in ossification with the no-fault doctrine. This doctrine allows married couples to file for divorce on the sincere ground of irreconcilable differences (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 104). Another change in substantive law and policy can be found in the gender-neutral stance interpreted by courts in cases of divorce. The past decades illustrated a bias, manifested in the asser tion that mothers have more inherent capability to take cargon of their children. Today, such an assumption is no longer strongly held. Rather, courts are nowadays showing neutrality in gender and the intention of a family law case now hinges on the consideration of the best interests of the child (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 104-105). Another change in substantial law and policy is manifested in the observation that there is a growing predilection over self-determined divorce and child custody arrangements. This arch of change is largely attributable to the belief that divorce is a insular matter that must be left amongst them to be resolved. This belief is a break away from the previous prevailing thought about the adduces interest in protecting the sanctity of marriage with the regulation of its dissolution (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 104). These changes in substantive law on divorce and family law ineluctably social movementd changes in the procedural aspect of the law. Thus, the increased ease by which couples could seek divorce and the option of individualizing post divorce arrangements heavy increased the dockets of courts with divorce cases. This led the courts to encourage divorcing couples to find other preference means of resolving their issues (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 105). there are to a fault other factors that appoint alternative means of resolving family contentions and divorce issues more appealing. The lack of admit for proving fault in a divorce action removed the need to adjudicate family issues. Moreover, the removal of the presumption in favor of the mothers capability to care for the child heterogeneous courts into making a determination about vague issues, such as love and care, which could be tall(prenominal) to measure in a court setting. These factors all contributed to the growing popularity of other modes of dispute resolution, such as inter interintermediation (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 105).Divorce mediation. One such alternative mode of dispute resolution recently applied in family law is mediation. Thus, divorce mediation, under which process a neutral third base companionship intervenes to overhaul the couple settle their differences through negotiation, receives the most prudence lately (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 105) in particular among parents who wish to get divorced (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 22). When applied to help couples arrive at self-determined arrangements on matters of divorce and child custody, mediation is believed to cause four benefits, namely, (a) more satisfaction with the terms of agreements, (b) greater compliance with agreements, (c) slight postdivorce conflict between ex-spouses, and (d) better postdivorce steamy adjustment (DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 105). Indeed, mediation comprise itself as a solution to the ever-increasing rates of divorce in the untied States, as well as an alternative to in in force(p) and traditional manners of dispute settlement, such as litigation (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 22). Mediation is be sexual climax the alternative method of dispute resolution of choice since it provides professional help to divorces, which have a gamy probability of getting acrimonious. Thus, there are only a few(prenominal) couples that could manage to suffer a divorce in amicable terms. In a survey of two California counties, it was found that 24 percent of divorces therein required professional intervention, while 25 percent feignd intense conflict (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 23). Mediation is also popular among couples seeking divorce because unlike court action or litigation, it has the ability to facilitate establishment of justice and reduce cost, specifically in terms of money and time. Moreover, resister settlement procedures are now believed to cause puzzles involving post separation family relationships, arising from enatic conflict and divorce. (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 23).Comparison of Divorce Mediation and Adversary Settlement. It is not exceptional for mediation to get compared from other forms of dispute settlement, such as antagonist settlement. In a study conducted by Emery, Sbarra and Grover, a comparison was do between mediation and adversary settlement through random assigning (2005, 25). They randomly riseed families that were interested in contested custody hearing and offered them a mediation program as an eleventh hour settlement approach (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 25). This study yielded positive results with respect to the time of settlement of issues. Thus, the authors found that cases depute to mediation were settled in half the time that settlement victimisation adversary settlement occurred. On the other hand, there are other studies that conclude that mediation is better over adversary settlement in terms of cost, because the former is less expensive than the latter. In addition, it was observed that there is a turn off for greater compliance with ch ild support line of battles among nonresidential parents who mediated (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 27). They also observed that there are more families coming from mediation that go back in order to update or change their existing arrangements. The authors hitch this in a positive light, facial expression that parenting plans should be viewed as living agreements that must be changed in accordance with corresponding changes in the stakeholders lives. Such changes are best made by going back to the mediation process (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 27). In addition, Emery, Sbarra and Grover noticed in the follow-up sessions to their study that most of their subjects who belonged to the mediation group were more pass on to the idea or suggestion of changing their original agreements. They are also the ones who actually adjusted their arrangements more oft than those subjects who belonged to the adversary system (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 28). The authors historied that the wi llingness of the subjects to modify their original arrangements, coupled with the actual facts of modification, is a positive finding. past from the fact that the changes had been far from chaotic, they prove that parents who underwent mediation had become more pliant in accommodating changes that are important in the lives of their children and their own (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 28). The authors also looked into another factor to compare mediation with the adversary process. This factor is party satisfaction. They noted that each kind of method of dispute settlement has certain strengths. For example, the adversary systems know strength is that it ensures that the rights of both parties are protected. On the other hand, mediation is known for being more discretion of the feelings of the parties involved (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 28). However, this main difference, which had looked so glaring before study, disappeared in view of the results that showed that mediation c onsistently got high rates of party satisfaction over the adversary system, even if the assessment was based on the criterion that is known for being the strength of such system. More importantly, the authors observed that such high rate of party satisfaction remains relatively unchanged among different time durations. Thus, a party may be satisfied with mediation six weeks afterwards mediation, but surprisingly, parties remain satisfied even after a period of more than a year (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 28).Important Elements of Mediation. Mediation remains on the top of the list of effective methods of dispute settlement, especially in divorce rates, because it boasts of certain elements that ensure the process success. One such element is its capability of enlisting the cooperation of parents in order to take the long view, and consider the best interests of their children in the future (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 32). Considering that divorce cases often involve high conf lict, open hostility, and tension, it is difficult to call upon parents to cooperate with each other. However, mediation allows parents to take a look at the future of their relationship, maybe not as a couple, but as permanent parents (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 32). Mediation is also effective in educating divorcing parents and couples about emotions. These emotions involve not only those snarl by the couple involved, but more importantly, those of their child or children. There are several techniques by which the goal of emotional education can be achieved, but one effective way is through the go-betweens reflection of a childs possible emotional reactions to the crisis situation using his self as a medium. For example, the mediator could enunciate how uncomfortable and scary an experience becomes when the couple starts fighting each other.Thus, mediation allows parents to realize that their bickering actually affects the emotions of people around them, and thereby settlemen t thinking about themselves. It is apparent therefore that mediation does not necessarily provide therapy for the emotional problems of the parties, but it allows them to understand the feelings and emotions involved in order to help them control such emotions in the best possible way and, in the process, achieve a good plan for the family (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 33). Finally, mediation is an effective process because it helps parties avoid treating each other as adversaries. A business-like approach such as the one viridityly used in mediation allows the parties to approach issues in a distant and less emotional state. Moreover, not treating each other as adversaries avoids the road to strained relationships that only cause the wounds of the divorce to get worse (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 34).Effects of Divorce on Children The trend in favor of divorce and single parenthood in industrialized countries has raised concerns about the effects of such family arrangements to children involved. Unfortunately for children, divorce often leads to negative immediate effects, such as serious emotional and psychological disturbance. Considering that psychological symptoms such as emotional disturbance, loneliness, depression, anger, helplessness, and many others are rough-cut among the parents or couples involved, it should be expected that such negative effects would be experienced more severely by the children trapped inside the crisis (Lamb, Sternberg, & Thompson, 1997, 394). It is charge noting that the difficulty of children in dealing with their parents divorce is aggravated by the fact that the parents involved in the crisis are often too preoccupied with their personalized emotions such that they fail to give much-needed support to their children. Worse, these parents often fall in the temptation to make too much demand that worsen the situation for their children (Lamb, Sternberg, & Thompson, 1997, 395). Another problem common to children in divor ce situations is the economic problem brought about by the need to maintain two separate residences, and the common situation of mothers who are more economically-challenged than the fathers. However, such situation is avoided or minify in cases where the parents resolve their conflicts and work out a way of providing for the educational, emotional, and economic needs of their children (Lamb, Sternberg, & Thompson, 1997, 395-396).Conclusion. Divorce and single parenting is increasingly becoming common in industrialized regions such as the United States and the United Kingdom. This trend is caused by several factors and, in turn, causes several issues, practices, and concerns in many different levels, such as the family, children, substantive and procedural law, and alternative dispute resolution mechanisms (Rasul, 2006, 1 DErrico & Elwork, 1991, 104). Divorce causes deleterious effects on the parties. However, the negative adjoin of divorce is more squarely felt by the affected ch ildren who, in their tender age, are forced into adjusting and coping with the emotional stress and weight necessitated by divorce proceedings (Lamb, Sternberg, & Thompson, 1997, 394). Such hardships could be minimized by different factors, such as cooperation between parents in providing emotional, economic and educational support to their children. Parents also have the option of minimizing or totally avoiding disgust and hostility in the divorce proceedings by choosing to undergo mediation rather than court litigation. Indeed, mediation provides many advantages and avoids the stress involved in court action (Emery, Sbarra & Grover, 2005, 22).ReferencesDErrico, M. G. & Elwork, A. (1991). Are Self-Determined Divorce and Child durance Agreements Really Better? Family and Conciliation Courts Review 29(2), 104- 113.Emery, R. E., Sbarra, D. & Grover, T. (2005). Divorce Mediation enquiry and Reflections. Family Court Review 43(1), 22-37.Lamb, M. E., Sternberg, K. J., & Thompson, R. A. (1997). The Effects of Divorce and Custody Arrangements on Childrens Behavior, Development, and Adjustment. Family and Conciliation Courts Review 35(4), 393-404.Rasul, I. (2006). The Economics of Child Custody. Economica 73, 1-25.