Mediation In Family Disputes

This is the authoritative textbook on family mediation for practitioners and scholars in the UK and beyond. It draws on a wide cross-disciplinary theoretical literature and on the author's extensive and continuing practice experience. It encompasses developments in policy, research and practice in the UK and Europe, in North America and in Australia.Roberts presents mediation as an aid to joint decision-making in the context of a range of family disputes, notably those involving children. Mediation is seen as a process of intervention distinct from legal, social work and therapeutic practice, drawing on a distinctive body of knowledge across disciplinary fields including anthropology, pshychology and negotiation theory. Drawing on empirical evidence, the book emphasises the value of mediation in mitigating the harmful effects of family breakdown and conflict.First published in 1988, this was a pioneering work. Now that the field is well established, the third edition has been fully updated to incorporate legal and policy developments in the UK and in Europe, new sociological and philosophical perspectives on respect, justice and conflict, and international research and practice innovations.

Marian Roberts is a Visiting Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science and Professorial Research Associate at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, where she teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution on their respective graduate programmes.