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Centralising Children's Needs in Dispute Resolution in Family Violence Cases

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2013

Amanda Shea Hart
Amanda Shea Hart*
Affiliation:
Child and Family Consultant & Mediator Private Practice, Unley, South Australia 5001, Australia
*
addresses for correspondence: Dr Amanda Shea Hart, 2 Mary Street, Unley, South Australia 5001, Australia. Email: amanda.shea.hart@iinet.net.au
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Abstract

Family separation is a unique and dynamic process for each family. Family violence is a serious problem affecting societies across the world. It is a common driver for family dissolution. Children exposed to family violence face a distinctive predicament in their own adjustment, recovery and future relationships with their parents. Family dispute resolution is an increasing early intervention approach for separated families in conflict over parenting. Family dispute resolution practitioners are the gatekeepers for facilitating or preventing exploration of information about the complex relational dynamics, including risk and protective factors in each individual case. To avoid gambling with the child's future, it is crucial to centralise the needs of each individual child. An intervention approach to potentially enhance outcomes for the child, and therefore longer term outcomes for community and society, is child inclusive practice. However, this is not without complexity and challenges in cases of family violence.

Keywords

Family violencechild inclusivedispute resolution
Type
Articles
Information
Children Australia , Volume 38 , Special Issue 4: A SPECIAL ISSUE ON INTERNATIONAL FAMILY MOBILITY (AND THE BROADER FAMILY LAW CONTEXT) , December 2013 , pp. 178 - 183
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2013 

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