Law Commons^™

Community Mediation Of Parenting Disputes Between Estranged Parents, Madhawa Palihapitiya, Kaila Obstfeld Eisenkraft

Massachusetts Office of Public Collaboration Publications

Community mediation, characterized by free or low cost mediation services delivered primarily by volunteer mediators, aims to provide effective dispute resolution services to a broad spectrum of the population, particularly to underserved and low-income populations. The present study seeks to determine whether community mediation fulfills this goal with respect to divorce/separation-related parenting disputes while concomitantly testing the legitimacy of concerns about the quality of mediation services offered according to a community mediation model. Thus, the effectiveness of community mediation in resolving these disputes is measured through indicators reported by mediation participants, such as the population served, mediation results and party …

The Adversarial And Mediation Processes An Exploration Of Outcomes In Child Custody Disputes, Cheryl Barakey

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

In recent years, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Courts have seen increases in child custody disputes. This increase has caused many jurisdictions to seek alternatives to the traditional adversarial process. Mediation has attracted the most attention. Several jurisdictions such as Norfolk, Virginia, the one used in this study, now refer parents to mediation before the court will hear the case.

Unlike previous studies where divorce mediation was researched with child custody being one of the factors, this study examines the differences in the outcomes of the mediation and litigation processes used to solve only child custody disputes. The outcomes examined …