Introduction

As mentioned in the Preface, every year at least 200,000 children and young people experience parental separation, often preceded and accompanied by intense, frequent interparental conflict and domestic violence. It goes without saying that for the children this is usually stressful, even traumatic. Not only does it impact on their wellbeing within the family, it often affects, at least temporarily, their school performance.

While in the long term most children and young people adjust to parental breakup without serious behavioural and mental health complications, even in the short term (ie over a period of months rather than years) most will experience the separation of their parents as a crisis, akin to a grief reaction, which temporarily overwhelms their normal coping mechanism, that is, initial shock and disbelief, a slump in morale and self-esteem, and a preoccupation with what has happened, before some sort of adjustment to the changed family circumstance takes place. Sadly, they are often left to face these family disturbances alone, especially if their parents too are in a state of emotional turmoil.

As a socio-legal researcher I have had a longstanding concern for this large group of children and young people. In comparison to the subject of child abuse and neglect, the general needs of children whose parents split up receive relatively little attention from public services unless they are considered ‘at risk’, which of course some are.

I was prompted to write this book because I became increasingly dismayed professionally by measures introduced by David Cameron's coalition government (2010–15) which seemed to be damaging the family justice system, particularly the service it offered families and children caught up in the all too common process of parental separation and family reconstruction. With colleagues, I had spent the greater part of my professional academic career attempting to harness empirical socio-legal research, including feedback from children as well as their parents, to the processes of social policy and law reform. The aim had been to assist through prior evidence-based research the evolution of a more coherent, compassionate and efficient system.