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BRINGING CHILDREN TO THE MEDIATION TABLE:
Author(s) -
Schoffer Melissa J.
Publication year - 2005
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.1744-1617.2005.00032.x
Subject(s) - mediation , child custody , lawyer supported mediation , inclusion (mineral) , psychology , table (database) , family mediation , process (computing) , party directed mediation , alternative dispute resolution , social psychology , law , political science , dispute mechanism , criminology , computer science , data mining , operating system
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.