Child Inclusive Family Law Mediation in Australia

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Child Inclusive Family Law Mediation in Australia

• An outcome study
• Jenn McIntosh PhD
• Lawrie Moloney PhD

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Disputes over children after separation and
divorce

• Where have we come from and where should we be
  going?

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Where have we come from?

• Largely adult focused processes in both
  litigation and mediation
• Made more palatable by the Best Interests of the
  Child mantra

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Where should we be going?

• Minimum standard should be child focused
  practices
• And, where required, child inclusive practices

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Child focused practice is ...

• Finding the childs voice,with their parents, in
  the absence of the child.

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Child focused practice requires

• Active attention to creating and managing an
  environment that
• Facilitates parents to arrive at higher ground in
  their post separation parenting
• Facilitates decision-making processes that centre
  on each childs current and ongoing needs

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Child inclusive practice is ...

• Finding the childs voice, for their parents,
  with the direct assistance of the child.

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Child inclusive practice is ...

• As part of the dispute resolution process with
  parents, childrens experiences of the separation
  and conflict are sought.
• Their needs in light of these are understood
  within a developmental frame.
• This material is fed into a dialogue and
  decision making process with parents.

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Child inclusive practice requires

• Practice that is
• Skilled
• Multi dimensional
• Supportive of the child
• Developmentally appropriate
• Not confused with asking the child what the
  decision should be

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In a CIP consultation, children are supported
through

• Information
• validation of experiences
• opportunity to talk individually
• opportunity to talk with their siblings
• opportunity to have views, concerns safely
  conveyed to their parents
• opportunity to share difficult feeling
• learning coping strategies for difficult times
• the possibility of some of their preferences and
  needs being acted upon.

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Child consultation that

• Incorporates a loop back to parents that is
  respectful, strategic, informative and
  therapeutic or
• Incorporates a loop to a decision-maker operating
  in a non-adversarial setting that is respectful,
  strategic, informative and therapeutic
• Leaves parents on higher ground than they were at
  the beginning of the process

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Clinical demonstration of child inclusive
practice in mediation
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Reviewing the requirements regarding feedback

• Loop back to the parents is
• respectful
• strategic
• informative
• therapeutic

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Formulating interview material

• Explicating meaning in material, through
• Childs subjective experience of the family
  conflict and his/her place within it.
• Process of interview dominant affect.
• Repetition of themes indicative of core conflicts
• Fantasies evident in projective material.
• Coping capacity, strengths.

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Formulating interview material

• Formulation weighted by
• The childs developmental level.
• The known reality of the family situation.
• Parents capacity for reflection and attunement.

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Purposes of feedback

• Supporting parents capacity to hear and reflect
  on the needs of their children.
• Share with parents their childrens unique
  experiences of the family conflict/separation.
• Facilitate identification of the childrens key
  needs re recovery and adjustment, and their
  parents place within that.
• Promote the inclusion of childrens core messages
  in ongoing dispute settlement with the parent/s.
• Forecasting future consequences of unchanged
  dynamics for this particular child.

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When should we think about consulting children?

• When the parents conflict has intruded upon the
  childs capacity to enjoy an un-conflicted
  relationship with one or both parents.
• When one or both parents capacity to think about
  their childrens needs and experiences is
  compromised by the current conflict or other
  factors.

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Jacks Drawing of being protected by his Dad
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Toward an evidence base for child inclusive
practices

• A comparative study of outcomes for families in
  child focused and child inclusive mediation.
• Family Transitions,
• La Trobe University,
• Relationships Australia

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Design summary

• Seventy-five families for each treatment group
• Clients of Relationships Australia.
• Parents presenting with child related issues,
  with children aged 5 years and over.
• Voluntary and mandated cases

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Treatment Definitions

• Treatment 1
• Child Focused Mediation
• Treatment 2
• Child Inclusive Mediation

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Design

• A quasi-experimental lagged design
• Group1 Child-focused mediation intervention
  administered (Dec 2003-June 2004).
• Same mediators then trained in the Child
  Consultation model.
• Group 2 Child Inclusive intervention implemented
  ( July-December 2004).
• Multi-site intervention framework Melbourne,
  Adelaide and Canberra.
• 12 month follow up of parents and children.

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Research Protocols (Parents)

• Variables considered
• 1. Parents
• Contact
• Parent/Child relationship
• Conflict
• Parenting alliance
• Agreement durability/flexibility

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Research Protocols (Children)

• Variables considered
• 2. Children
• Childrens psychological well-being
• Impact of family separation/divorce
• Perception of parental conflict and resolution
• Self representations around conflict and
  separation
• Parent-child relationship
• Experience of living arrangements

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When mediation is contra-indicated

• How can children be responsibly represented in
  litigation?

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Who am I?
My Mum and my Dad are inside who I am They are
part of me wherever I go When they divorced, they
hated each other And that was like they hated
me And when they hurt each other they hurt
me When Mum did not want me to see Dad she wasnt
seeing me When Dad didnt want me to love Mum he
wasnt loving me Now thats stopped and they get
on OK So I can be who I am with my Mum and Dad
inside me Susan Age 11