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MAGELLAN'S DISCOVERIES
Author(s) -
Brown Thea
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
family court review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.171
H-Index - 4
eISSN - 1744-1617
pISSN - 1531-2445
DOI - 10.1111/j.174-1617.2002.tb00843.x
Subject(s) - emotive , family court , multidisciplinary approach , service (business) , child abuse , state (computer science) , psychology , political science , administration (probate law) , law , criminology , sociology , medicine , suicide prevention , poison control , business , medical emergency , computer science , algorithm , marketing , anthropology
In 1998, the Family Court of Australia introduced an interagency, multidisciplinary pilot program for managing parenting disputes that involved allegations of child abuse. The program, known as Project Magellan, is an example of the trend in judicial administration toward specialized court programs. It involved one hundred families and several state and federal agencies and human service organizations. This article presents the findings of an evaluation of the new program and considers the implication of those findings and the potential for the success of similar programs in other jurisdictions. It points to the contribution the pilot program made to the development of knowledge about child abuse in the emotive and complex circumstances of parental separation and suggests that the interrelationship between child abuse and relationship breakdown should be acknowledged as a legitimate matter of serious concern.