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The Ties That Bind: Family Systems Correlates of Parental Decision‐Making in Custody/Access Disputes
Author(s) -
Renouf Emilia
Publication year - 1986
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of family therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.297
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1467-8438
pISSN - 0814-723X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1467-8438.1986.tb01181.x
Subject(s) - typology , conciliation , negotiation , mediation , psychology , family law , social psychology , test (biology) , child custody , flexibility (engineering) , dispute resolution , sociology , law , political science , criminology , paleontology , statistics , mathematics , anthropology , biology
Family systems theorists have developed certain concepts which they claim predict marriage outcome and the possible success of divorce mediation, should the marriage fail. In this paper I examine concepts of individual and family functioning. The concept of ‘emotional flexibility’ is presented as a criterion predisposing marriage partners to a more or less fused marriage. This in turn, is seen as predisposing the partners, in the event of separation, either to search for their own parental agreement with regard to their children's wellbeing, or to insist on a Judicial decision. In order to test the applicability of this concept, I explore the results of 64 conciliation conferences conducted by me in the Sydney Registry of the Family Court. I also consider a typology of divorcing couples worked out by divorce therapists, which uses type of spousal interaction as a criterion for predicting suitability for divorce mediation. I analyse the results of 30 Family Reports prepared by me, to test the usefulness of the typology for deciding on the most appropriate method of family dispute resolution for a given couple. I conclude by suggesting systematic exploration of core family system concepts and variables having a modulating effect, that can be used as predictors of client suitability for negotiation as well as to anticipate the type of custody/access arrangements that can be achieved.