EMOTIONAL DISTRESS IN CHILDREN OF HIGH-CONFLICT DIVORCE

This study examines factors that contribute to the emotional distress of children whose parents experience an acrimonious divorce with conflict over custody and visitation issues. Information was gathered systematically from guardian ad litem reports on 105 children in order to explore the child's emotional distress in response to individual-, parental-, marital-, and custody–related factors. Findings emphasize the impact of the level of marital conflict in predicting increases in the child's emotional distress. The child who witnesses domestic violence and experiences child malmatment suffers a powerful cumulative impact from these factors. which results in a steep increase in emotional distress symptoms. A cluster of relevantfactors taken jointly, including the level of marital conflict, violence against a partner or against the child, the parent's mental health, the child's medical condition, and the nature of visitation changes, all contribute signifcantly to the child's emotional distress.     

BRINGING CHILDREN TO THE MEDIATION TABLE:

With the rise of divorce mediation as an effective means of resolving divorce and custody disputes, a question that arises is whether a child should actively participate in the mediation process to make his or her voice heard. This article discusses the costs and benefits of involvement, focusing on four specific approaches to the inclusion of children in divorce mediation. This article comes to the conclusion that the integration of children in mediation ought to be considered on a case-by-case basis, and further proposes that a child be included in divorce mediation in circumstances where the child's input is needed to help parents resolve an issue of dispute that concerns their child's interests.     

FROM INFANTS TO ADOLESCENTS A Developmental Approach to Parenting Plans

Divorce and the resultant process of child custody decision making impact heavily on the lives of children. Increasingly, parents and professionals have realized the importance of encouraging shared responsibility in child rearing following separation and divorce. This shared responsibility must continue throughout a child's life and into young adulthood. This article introduces a comprehensive child-and family-focused model of decision making. The goal of this model is to assist professionals in their work with parents and to help parents formulate parenting plans that reflect the ever-changing developmental needs of each child and that specify how each parent will meet the particular needs of each child in the family. Through the use of educational parenting seminars and the completion of a Needs Assessment for each child, flexible parenting plans are created and positive co-parenting skills develop.     

A FOCUS ON EMOTION IN MEDIATION TRAINING

Trainee mediators must learn to understand their own emotions and the emotional reactions of mediation participants to intervene effectively in conflict. Training techniques developed for family and divorce mediation may also apply to training for other types of conflict. Visualization and observation exercises developed a "meta-perspective" on the dynamics of conflict, which can help traines manage their own emotional reactions and think strategically at the same time. Responding to videotaped or role-played emotional reactions from participants can desensitize trainees to conflict. Directing trainees toward information available on the process of divorce or other prolonged conflict can help them respond with more empathy to participants. Attention paid to these emotional issues in mediation training may prevent mediator stress and burnout.     

High‐Conflict Divorce: A form of Child Neglect

In high‐conflict divorce cases, the emotional toll on the family unit is unquestionably destructive. While the physical and mental health of the children should be the primary focus, the emotional turmoil of a high‐conflict divorce often moves the focus away from the children as parents struggle emotionally and financially. Although the best interests of the children are always in the judicial purview, the repeated, lengthy, and hostile litigation process often associated with high‐conflict dissolution has lasting effects on the physical and mental health of children, similar to those associated with physical abuse and neglect. Child Protective Services (CPS) must step in and protect the emotional well‐being of children during high‐conflict divorce cases.     

离婚案件的心理调解研究

婚姻法规定离婚案件应当进行调解,但由于离婚案件除了涉及法律问题以外,更多地还会涉及到家庭伦理、情感和道德等问题。鉴于这类案件的特殊性以及法官在知识结构上的局限性,心理学方法的介入应当会从根本上提高离婚案件调解的质量,从而提高该类案件调解的成功率。主要针对当前我国离婚案件调解问题的现状提出诉讼离婚心理调解的概念,论述诉讼离婚心理调解的必要性和可行性。     

COPARENTING ARRANGEMENTS IN A JURISDICTION WITH STATUTORY GUIDELINES

Some states have recently moved away from the traditional winner-loser model of child custody to one focused on coparenting. Under the old approach, divorce decrees typically "awarded" custody to one parent while relegating the other to a "visitor" with poorly defined status. The new system is premised on the child's need for a continuing relationship with both parents and promotes this goal by upgrading the noncustodial parent's status and time-share, assigning substantive rights and responsibilities to both parents. To give effect to the shared parenting idea, Texas adopted joint custody and statutory visitation guidelines legislatively. The policy covers all major aspects of parental rights and duties with great specificity (not just child support, for which all states must have guidelines). It applies equally to divorce and paternity cases. Judges are authorized to deviate from standard visitation guidelines but must state a rationale for doing so on request. Parties may also negotiate and agree to arrangements at variance with the guidelines, subject to approval by the court. This article describes the statutory regime in Texas and its implementation in the family court system. Based on a sample of divorce and paternity cases in the state's largest jurisdiction, it documents innovative court interventions and a wide array of coparenting and support arrangements.     

SEPARATION ANXIETY AND DE FACTO DENIAL OF VISITATION

The dynamics of separation anxiety and its potential impact upon restriction of legal visitation in preschool age children is discussed. The interplay between adult personality characteristics and the child's developmental level is inextricably intertwined to generate separation fears. This interplay is presented within a theoretical framework of interaction. Unfortunately, the child's reactions to separation are frequently misinterpreted by the parents as indications of some mistreatment by the former spouse. Although adjustment difficulties in preschool age children coping with divorce are likely, the pattern of disturbance associated with separation anxiety is predictable and occurs almost exclusively with temporary removal from the primary parent. Behavioral health and legal professionals are cautioned against allowing such behavioral disturbance to be utilized by combative parents to deny, restrict or abridge scheduled visitations with the nonresidential parent. Requests for private custody evaluations have increased dramatically in the past decade. Behavioral health professionals often find themselves being jointly stipulated to by disagreeing parties, or directly appointed by the court, to help formulate a residential plan to meet “the best interests of the children” affected. When assessing divorcing families with young children, varied adjustment patterns are observed. However, as Wallerstein and Kelly (1980) discovered, almost all children are adversely affected by the family rupture, at least on a short-term basis. Surprisingly less than 10 percent of the children experienced relief following the parental decision to divorce, despite the degree of explosiveness which may have characterized the dysfunctional marital relationship. Further, the particular response style exhibited by the children was primarily dependent upon the developmental and emotional level the child attained prior to the time of divorce. While positive adjustment has been correlated with an absence of feuding or animosity between the divorcing parents (McKinnon & Wallerstein, 1986), preschool children seem quite vulnerable to adjustment difficulties. Evidence has also begun to accumulate to suggest that divorce has a more serious impact upon boys than girls (Hetherington, 1979). Problems frequently surface during times of exchange, particularly when parents are actively engaged in battle. At its worst, these extreme maladjustments may resemble what appears to be a separation anxiety. Again, the Wallerstein and Kelly (1980) studies reported that preschool age youngsters displayed fright, exhibited regressions, confusion, increased aggression, maintained disruptive fantasies, and experienced guilt. While most of these symptoms remit within a year to a year and a half following divorce, continued bickering and conflict between the parents either prevents resolution, or may even exacerbate, these symptoms later. The purpose of this paper is to discuss the phenomenon of separation anxiety in greater detail, and to provide professionals aiding divorcing families with preschool age children sufficient information to recognize and understand these problems. Hopefully, this knowledge will facilitate those entrusted with making custodial-visitation recommendations, the confidence to follow through with agreed visitation plans despite what at first may appear to be discomfort to the child.     

EARLY NEUTRAL EVALUATION IN DIVORCE CASES

Parties in a divorce case are faced with the challenge of dealing with highly charged emotional and financial issues simulataneously. Early Neutral Evaluation is a beneficial weapon in the dispute resolution arsenal that can help decrease the level of conflict between parties. This Note discusses the development of Early Neutral Evaluation as a form of dispute resolution and proposes the establishment of court-organized mandatory Early Neutral Evaluation programs to settle financial matters in a divorce case.     

HELPING CHILDREN SUCCEED AFTER DIVORCE

In an effort to prevent some of the well-documented problems that occur in children and families undergoing divorce, a parent education program, Helping children Succeed After Divorce, was developed and mandated by a domestic relations court in a major metropolitan area. The purpose of the parent seminar is to educate divorcing parents about the effects of divorce and continued conflict on their children and to specify concrete actions that divorcing parents can take to help their children. The seminar's intent is to prevent long-term emotional, social, and academic problems among children of divorce. This article addresses the development, operation, and preliminary evaluation results of this psychoeducational program for divorcing parents.     

ARE SELF-DETERMINED DIVORCE AND CHILD CUSTODY AGREEMENTS REALLY BETTER?

The results of this study support the hypothesis that couples who perceived themselves as having actively participated in the development of their own divorce decrees were more satisfied with their custody and financial arrangements and obligations. These same couples, however, reported more postdivorce conflict with their ex-spouses and more emotional maladjustment. It is concluded that there are costs and benefits attached to self-determined divorce decrees. Such decrees tend to require greater cooperation between ex-spouses, which in turn creates more opportunities for disagreements. Thus more attention needs to be paid to helping couples deal with the strife that is likely to occur after the divorce is final.     

UNDERSTANDING DISTRESSED FATHERS' PERCEPTIONS OF LEGAL AND RELATIONAL INEQUITIES POSTDIVORCE

This study examines distressed fathers' perceptions of inequity about their experiences related to the divorce process, custody, visitation, and child support. A content analysis of men's subjective responses to an open-ended survey question revealed dissatisfactions with the legal system and emotional hardships associated with divorce. Fathers expressed strong negative feelings about discrimination from the legal system. Relational inequities centered around the ex-wife and her perceived responsibility for problems with the courts and relationships with children.     

TAILORING THE INTERVENTION TO THE CHILD IN THE SEPARATING AND DIVORCED FAMILY

Longitudinal and national studies show that many children of divorce suffer grave emotional and educational difficulties. These difficulties, which are evident before, during, and long after divorce, have complex roots in skewed family relationships, such as troubled parent/child relationships, the psychiatric disturbance of one or both parents, and continuing parental conflict. Although it is abundantly clear that these families are in dire need of a wide range of sophisticated educational and clinical programs, both brief and extended, to address the different subgroups within this population, few such programs are available. Of particular concern are high-conflict families where the divorce may have triggered a thought disorder Family-centered and group programs that make use of recent research findings have been successful in addressing both parents and children within different target groups in the divorce population. Programs based on these successful demonstration projects should be made widely available through the courts and/or in the community.     

THE ALIENATED CHILD:A Reformulation of Parental Alienation Syndrome

In this article, controversies and problems with parental alienation syndrome are discussed. A reformulation focusing on the alienated child is proposed, and these children are clearly distinguished from other children who resist or refuse contact with a parent following separation or divorce for a variety of normal, expectable reasons, including estrangement. A systemic array of contributing factors are described that can create and/or consolidate alienation in children, including intense marital conflict, a humiliating separation, parental personalities and behaviors, protracted litigation, and professional mismanagement. These factors are understood in the context of the child's capacities and vulnerabilities.     

THE IMPACTC OF DIVORCE ON FAMILIES

Australian research on the impact of separation and divorce on children and their families has consistently shown that although separation is a stressful event in the lives of families, the long-term prospects for these families is encouraging. A number of issues arising from the research presented in this article warrant closer consideration by decision makers, court administrators, and professionals dealing with disputing families. First, programs aimed at reducing conflict and assisting families to deal with the emotional impact of separation need to be given priority. Second, there is sufficient indication to suggest that poverty as a result of separation and divorce has a debilitating effect on women and children. Third, in dealing with disputes over custody and access, care needs to be taken to respect the needs of individual children. Finally, high conflict in a family postseparation should be a warning to pay particular attention to the potential harm of applying joint custody and frequent access presumptions.     

THE EFFECTS OF DIVORCE AND CUSTODY ARRANGEMENTS ON CHILDREN'S BEHAVIOR, DEVELOPMENT, AND ADJUSTMENT

This article summarizes the consensus among a group of experts from developmental and clinical psychology, sociology, social welfare, and law who sought to evaluate existing empirical evidence regarding the ways in which children are affected by divorce and the varying custody arrangements that follow it. Divorce and/or single parenthood tend to have adverse effects on children's adjustment, with the magnitude of the effects varying depending on the psychological status of the two parents, the extent of conflict between them, and the financial circumstances, particularly after divorce. Children whose nonresidential parents continue to support them financially, those whose custodial parents are psychologically healthy, and those who have and maintain meaningful relationships with nonresidential parents tend to be affected less by the divorce, especially when there is no conflict between the parents. Interventions should thus be designed with these factors in mind.     

Designing Heart‐Based Systems to Encourage Forgiveness and Reconciliation in Divorcing Families

Conflicts in intimate relationships are often accidental, occasional, and unique; yet they are also systemic, repetitive, and alike. For this reason, they are amenable to systemic analysis and resolution by altering them at their chronic sources and applying the preventative methodology of conflict resolution systems design. The central difficulties with using traditional forms of conflict resolution systems design in marriages, couples, and families are that they do not effectively address the emotional meaning or significance of the conflict within the relationship; are not grounded in the heart; and do not address the intimate, relational aspects of intimate, affective conflicts. Marriages and families are deeply sensitive, highly complex emotional relationships that require systems design methodologies that are profoundly informed by the heart. This article proposes a heart‐based systems design approach that includes forgiveness and reconciliation for use in marriages and families, including those that end in divorce.

Key Points for the Family Court Community:
• Conflicts in intimate relationships are accidental, occasional, and unique; yet they are also systemic, repetitive, and alike.
• Marriages and families are deeply sensitive, highly complex emotional relationships that require systems design methodologies that are profoundly informed by the heart.
• It is possible to create a heart-based systems design approach to marital, family and divorce conflicts that includes forgiveness and reconciliation.

     

Influences of an interviewer's behaviors in child sexual abuse investigations

The content of an investigatory interview is one of several factors which may influence the data gathered in the course of a sexual abuse investigation. This article focuses on the impact of an interviewer's behaviors upon the information presented by the alleged victim. Behavioral aspects of the interview which may influence the child's information include inappropriate interactional patterns, emotional reactions of the interviewer, and/or changes in continuity of specific behaviors. Recommendations are made to assist investigators in avoiding these interviewing pitfalls and, thereby, minimizing contamination of the child's data.     

PREVENTION PROGRAMS FOR DIVORCED NONRESIDENT FATHERS

Divorced nonresident fathers are a promising target for preventive efforts to assist families after divorce. The research literature suggests that such programs should focus both on the frequency and the quality of the child's contact with the father, as well as the quality of postdivorce mother–father relations. Dads For Life (DFL) is the program for this target group with the most convincing evidence of preventive effects. This eight-week program centers on professionally made videos. It was tested in a randomized trial with 214 families. In comparison to control families, children in families in which the father participated in DFL had significantly lower internalizing problems. The preventive impact of DFL was strongest for the most troubled youngsters.