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Caring for Families in Court

An Essential Approach to Family Justice

In many US courts and internationally, family law cases constitute almost half of the trial caseload. These matters include child abuse and neglect and juvenile delinquency, as well as divorce, custody, paternity, and other traditional family law issues. In this book, the authors argue that reforms to the family justice system are necessary to enable it to assist families and children effectively. The authors propose an approach that envisions the family court as a "care center," by blending existing theories surrounding court reform in family law with an ethic of care and narrative practice. Building on conceptual, procedural, and structural reforms of the past several decades, the authors define the concept of a unified family court created along interdisciplinary lines — a paradigm that is particularly well suited to inform the work of family courts. These prior reforms have contributed to enhancing the family justice system, as courts now can shape comprehensive outcomes designed to improve the lives of families and children by taking into account both their legal and non-legal needs. In doing so, courts can utilize each family’s story as a foundation to fashion a resolution of their unique issues. In the book, the authors aim to strengthen a court’s problem-solving capabilities by discussing how incorporating an ethic of care and appreciating the family narrative can add to the court’s effectiveness in responding to families and children. Creating the court as a care center, the authors conclude, should lie at the heart of how a family justice system operates. The authors are well-known figures in the area and have been involved in family court reform on both a US national and an international scale for many years.

In this book, the authors argue that reforms to the family justice system are necessary to enable it to assist families and children effectively.

An Interdisciplinary Approach to Family Law Jurisprudence

Application of an Ecological and Therapeutic Perspective

Traditionally, the legal system has attempted to fashion morality in determining family legal issues rather than to devise legal remedies that accommodate how families live. This approach must change, and a new approach based on legal realism that effectuates the well-being of families and children must be developed. This article proposes an interdisciplinary approach based on an ecological and therapeutic jurisprudential paradigm to resolve family legal proceedings. An ecological approach, emanating from the ecology of human development social science paradigm, is one in which family law decision-makers consider factors beyond their conceptions of the family. This approach urges decision-makers to account for the "family ecology," which includes the institutions within which family members participate, such as neighborhoods and religious organizations. Utilizing an ecological approach to family law jurisprudence implies that decision-makers appreciate the importance of socially rich environments for family members and facilitate linkages between and among as many systems in litigants' lives as possible. The therapeutic jurisprudential paradigm emerges from the field of mental health law and looks at the role of law as a therapeutic agent. The author urges that family law decision-makers consider outcomes that have therapeutic or positive consequences for families and children. To employ this interdisciplinary ecological and therapeutic framework, the court system must accommodate a range of dispute resolution techniques, including negotiation, mediation, and adjudication, allowing the judge to strike a balance between the parties' own resolution and a full court trial of family law issues. An interdisciplinary paradigm for family law jurisprudence that applies the ecology of human development perspective and notions of therapeutic jurisprudence can ensure that family law decision-makers and the courts are a source of strength and support for the continued and enhanced functioning of America's families.

Traditionally, the legal system has attempted to fashion morality in determining family legal issues rather than to devise legal remedies that accommodate how families live.