NCJ Number
112709
Date Published
1988
Length
34 pages
Annotation
This chapter illustrates the mediation process in a divorce where there had been spousal abuse.
Abstract
Supplementary procedures for mediating such cases involve obtaining information about abuse in the marriage, ascertaining the safety of the battered spouse and the children, and establishing rules about contact between spouses and privacy and separateness. Both parties also are required to be participating in therapy addressing spouse abuse issue as a condition of mediation. Spousal abuse cases present special problems in mediation because of the husband's strong reliance on having control over the wife, the codependent nature of the relationship, safety concerns, and difficulty the couple experiences in cooperative negotiation. Such cases generally take more than the usual 6 to 10 hours per case. Of 12 such cases, 8 have been settled through mediation and 4 are still in progress. In one of these cases, an alcoholic husband and his wife became enmeshed in a dysfunctional relationship. At the time of mediation, the husband wished to continue in the relationship, while the wife did not. It was necessary for the husband to accept his wife's reasons for her decision to divorce so as not to manipulate her by faulting her decisionmaking process. Critical issues centered around the husband's control needs, the need for him to accept her boundary needs, the use of guilt, lack of funds, and parenting and visitation issues. Mediation resulted in joint custody of the children and support and property settlement arrangements that were mutually acceptable.