NCJ Number
121394
Date Published
1989
Length
102 pages
Annotation
This guide explores why mediation of cases involving an abused partner is inappropriate and why mediation is harmful to the interests and safety of a domestic abuse victim.
Abstract
Family mediation occurs in most States and covers a range of issues. Most frequently, it centers on child custody and visitation. Conducted in a nonadversarial framework, family mediation is based on voluntary participation by the involved parties, a bargaining process in which parties are presumed to be equal, and a neutral third party who has no decisionmaking authority but is there to effect an agreement. None of these conditions is present when one of the parties is a domestic abuse victim. Moreover, the mediation of cases involving abused women is harmful to the interests of women and physically and emotionally dangerous to women and their children. Many experienced mediators recognize that mediation is not appropriate for domestic abuse cases. The guide presents an overview of domestic abuse and the actors involved (abuser, victim, and children), and discusses physical, psychological, and economic abuse. The guide also deals with the social costs of domestic abuse, effective intervention, and the implications of domestic abuse for mediation. Supplemental information and forms on the use of mediation are appended.