Child Custody Mediation in Cases of Domestic Violence

Abstract

Mediation of child custody disputes is mandated in several states. Investigators have averred that victims of domestic violence (DV) are greatly disadvantaged in mediation. The present study empirically evaluated outcomes and found that mediators failed to recognize and report DV in 56.9% of the DV cases. The court's screening form failed to indicate DV in at least 14.7% of the violent cases. Mediation resulted in poor outcomes for DV victims in terms of protections, such as supervised visitation and protected child exchanges. Mediator capacity to focus on the child's best interest was called into question. Child custody mediation should not be mandated in cases of DV.

Rethinking Custody Evaluation in Cases Involving Domestic Violence

“…More importantly, revealing domestic violence was found to actually be detrimental to outcomes for victimized mothers. Indeed, mediators who said they were aware of abuse were actually less likely to recommend supervised exchanges than those who were not so aware of abuse (Johnson, Saccuzzo, & Koen, 2005). This finding helps capture a trend that has led many family lawyers to encourage their divorce clients not to discuss domestic violence with evaluators.…”

A left realist approach to antifeminist fathers’ rights groups

“…Nancy Johnson, Dennis Saccuzzo and Wendy Koen found that divorce mediators failed to recognize or report domestic violence in more than half of cases where it was indicated, even when they screened for it [48]. Leora Rosen and Cris O'Sullivan (2005) found that even when protection orders were in place against them, abusive men received visitation in 64% of cases [70].…”

Lay Forums in Child Welfare

“…For example, mediation is seldom used in domestic violence situations. Mediation can indeed lead to secondary victimisation (both for the women who were abused and for children in the family) where mediators are insufficiently attuned to the issues within domestic violence situations (Johnson, Sacuzzo & Koen, 2005). However, there are situations where, with a skilled mediator who is familiar with the dynamics of spousal abuse, mediation can be appropriate.…”

“…Research by Johnson et al (2005) suggests that where mediators are court appointed, mediation participants will take the lead from mediators' recommendations, or will attempt to offer plans that are deemed appropriate by the mediator because of the authority associated with the position. It needs to be emphasised that mediators and coordinators can only enable participants to come to meaningful decisions where the facilitator does not develop a vested interest in the plan (Merkel-Holguin & Wilmot, 2004).…”