Abstract
Parents who were never married to each other are increasingly court‐ordered to mediate disputes over their children. The author reviewed 441 cases of divorcing and never‐married parents to compare their experiences with family mediation. Client situations, adjustments in mediator behavior, and outcomes of mediation such as mediation did occur and agreements reached were compared. Factors external to mediation had a different impact on never‐married parents than on divorcing parents. The review indicated never‐married parents had a higher no‐show rate than that of divorcing parents, yet when never‐married parents did appear for court‐ordered mediation, they reached agreements at the same rate as divorcing parents. Surprisingly, the never‐married parents with a history of violence were more likely to appear for appointments and reach agreements. Overall, with modifications in mediator assumptions and behavior, divorce/family mediation appears to be useful to never‐married parents.
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