High-conflict Cases Research Articles

Identifying Indicators of High-Conflict Divorce Among Parents

The burgeoning field of forensic social work supports clients engaged in the legal system. Forensic social work professionals working in family court will often be called upon to assess family dynamics, provide treatment to reduce maladaptation post-divorce, and advise divorcing parents as they navigate the complexities of court. Of particular interest to the forensic social work field are the various risks and protective factors that escalate or mitigate interparental conflict throughout the divorce process. Interparental conflict is a primary moderator accounting for psychological and physiological differences between children of divorced parents and children with intact parents. This systematic review examined the factors that contribute to conflict in divorcing parents and ways to identify high-conflict cases,. Peer-reviewed articles (n=11) were systematically selected using rigorous methods, including PRISMA-P protocols for systematic reviews and database searches using the search string “conflict AND divorce*.” Articles were extracted to identify themes of varying levels of conflict. There is no consistent definition of high conflict in pre-divorce parents, and recent articles offer new conceptualizations of this construct. All studies that met inclusion criteria for the review identified at least one of five themes of pre-divorce conflict: conflict resolution/communication, social network, parent characteristics, satisfaction with agreements, and pervasive mistrust.

The red herring of adolescent mental health

AbstractAn increase in adolescent distress and mental health symptoms has been clearly documented since the COVID‐19 pandemic, as has increased exposure to adverse childhood experiences. Layer on top of these stressors being a youth of divorcing or separating high conflict families, and adolescent symptomatology can suddenly become a flashpoint for parental attention, division and conflict. Approaching cases using an ecological and family systems framework is necessary for accurate conceptualization and assessment of best interests in the context of child custody evaluations. Doing so ensures that adolescent mental health does not become a red herring in high conflict cases, leading to undue focus on the adolescent's mental health without considering other salient factors in the case, such as the broader parent conflict. Programs offered at the Center of Excellence for Children, Families & the Law at William James College designed to improve the lives of youth by addressing parental conflict are described.

Comparing targeted intervention modalities for high conflict co‐parents: A quasi‐experimental study

AbstractHigh conflict co‐parents engage in recurrent litigation that significantly strains the court system and exacerbates their conflict. Given barriers to their engagement in service delivery (e.g., level of conflict, transportation, child care), it is vital to evaluate targeted interventions and to examine different intervention modalities (e.g., online, hybrid). This study compared court involvement and rates of parental agreement among 178 high conflict cases that received a multi‐component intervention, either in‐person or in a hybrid version. Results demonstrated no significant differences between groups in the change in number of court negotiations, child‐related issues, or court services from before to after‐intervention completion or in the proportion of parenting cases who reached an agreement. Both versions demonstrated significant reductions in parents' court involvement from before to after‐intervention completion. These findings suggest the need for future research to evaluate the comparative efficacy of hybrid programs and in‐person programs for high conflict co‐parents with greater methodological rigor in light of the current study's findings and limitations.

Post-separation parenting apps in the hands of family law practitioners: expectations versus experience

Abstract Post-separation parenting apps are an alternative to mainstream digital communication (e.g. text and email) for separated parents. They vary in cost and features, generally incorporating a messaging tool, shared calendar, expense tracker, and the ability to export records for legal purposes. While often recommended in the context of family law, evidence for efficacy and safety is lacking. This study sought insights from family law professionals about the value of post-separation parenting apps in high-conflict cases. Thirty family mediators, known in Australia as Family Dispute Resolution Practitioners, role-played pairs of high-conflict separated parents using one of 10 popular post-separation parenting apps. After completing a set of common co-parenting tasks, dyadic interviews and focus groups were used to discuss their observations. Overall, practitioners expressed disappointment with the apps. Key themes included potential individual differences in separated parents’ technical skills, time availability, and intentions towards app use. Usability challenges specific to the tested apps were also identified. Rather than simplifying interactions for separated parents, these combined contextual variables were thought likely to contribute to frustration and inter-parental conflict. As a result, practitioners in the study resolved to be far more cautious with app recommendations for high-conflict clients.

High-Conflict Separations and Differentiated Professional Responses – From Confrontational Interaction to Post-Separation Violence and Stalking

ABSTRACT This study explores high-conflict divorces and separations by critically analyzing their central features. It draws on qualitative materials produced through professionals’ work with high-conflict cases. A content-oriented analysis of the materials revealed three types of high-conflict separations differentiated by the following features: 1) confrontational interaction, 2) exacerbation of complicated psychosocial problems, and 3) post-separation violence and/or stalking. Based on these findings, we consider professional responses and interventions in helping families. The aim of the paper is to augment our understanding of high-conflict separations and differentiated professional responses to them in order to help parents and children who are undergoing a high-conflict divorce or separation.

High Conflicts as Wicked Problems from the Perspective of Family Counsellor and Child Welfare Services in Norway

This article explores professionals’ understanding and experiences of parental high conflicts in Norwegian family counsellor and child welfare services. The data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, examining four focus group interviews with a total of 24 professionals. We used tame and wicked problems as a theoretical frame of reference in order to discuss how high conflict cases can be understood. The analysis shows that the complexity and experiences of high conflicts challenge professionals in their assessments and development of solutions. Our conclusion is that the nature of the complexity, unpredictability, and instability of high conflicts fits within the framework of wicked problems.

Family counselors’ professional assessments when children are at risk due to enduring parental conflicts

The aim of this article is to explore Norwegian family counselors´ professional assessments when children are at potential risk due to enduring parental disputes. These disputes present complex clinical challenges and are often considered being in a gray area of whether the situation is a family matter or if there is a need for the assessment of child welfare services. The analysis builds on a survey and focus group interviews. Findings from this study show that family counselors are concerned for children involved in interparental conflicts, but this concern does not necessarily manifest in their reporting to the child welfare services. Rather, our findings show that the family counselors prefer to utilize their own services and that of other stakeholders in such situations. Enduring conflicts present significant challenges relating to the assessments and decisions of what is the most adequate help for the unique child and family. The article points toward professional thresholds for intervention and risk of child maladjustment as a challenging aspect of practice in high-conflict cases.

Family law professionals’ views of post-separation parenting apps

Abstract The rapid proliferation of smartphones has led to a bewildering array of post-separation parenting apps, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic. These apps usually comprise a messaging tool, shared calendar, expense tracker, and a means to download messages and documents for courts. In Australia, as elsewhere, family law professionals are increasingly being asked about, or asked to recommend, smartphone apps to clients. There is also an emerging trend for courts to mandate the use of post-separation parenting apps in high conflict cases. The present study sought to explore the views and experiences of family law professionals on post-separation parenting smartphone apps (N = 344). Data were collected in Australia and New Zealand through an online survey, distributed to a diverse population of family law professionals. We found that (i) family law professionals generally reported little knowledge of co-parenting apps; (ii) around one third of family law professionals reported that their clients had experienced, or concerns about, coercive control through an app; (iii) around two thirds of family law professionals who had recommended an app had not tried it; and yet (iv) three quarters reported recommending apps to clients. Our central argument is that family law professionals and separated parents alike need a comprehensive and more nuanced understanding of the benefits and risks of post-separation parenting apps and their features.

Whose Life is it Anyway? Exploring the Social Relations of High-Conflict Divorce Cases in Southern Norway

The paper reports on findings from an empirical study based on qualitative interviews with Norwegian parents identified as part of a high-conflict divorce situation and interviews with caseworkers from a child welfare service. The site of study is an institutional circuit of concern, assessment, and referral involving the court, child welfare services, and a public family therapy service. The paper draws on the social ontology and analytic concepts of institutional ethnography and adopts parents’ standpoint to explore how their knowledge and experience are shaped through encounters with professionals in the process of being identified and assessed as a high-conflict divorce case. The focus on people’s doings and their expert knowledge about their doings sets institutional ethnographic research apart from more conventional forms of qualitative inquiry that focus on informants’ inner experience. The paper highlights how a generalized professional discourse seems to permeate the work that parents and caseworkers jointly engage in, sometimes subsuming the knowledge and experience of those involved. When the issues of life as subjectively known and experienced are different from those of the institutional discourse, there is a danger that what is important to those whose lives they concern escapes the dialogue between parents and professionals.

AI as the Court: Assessing AI Deployment in Civil Cases

Lawyers and some branches of the government use artificial intelligence based programs to take decisions and develop their business strategies. In addition, several research teams have developed AI programs that are able to predict court decisions. Similar systems may be used in courts in the near future to administer files, support judges, or maybe replace them. In this paper, we assess possible consequence of deploying AI in European courts. The paper is divided in four main sections. First, we distinguish between AI in the court – when AI is used by parties or the court administration, – and AI as the court – AI that can support or replace judges. Second, we categorise civil cases in Europe according to their complexity and conflict, suggesting that judges may be assisted by AI systems, but cannot be replaced for complex high-conflict cases. Third, we assess to what extent AI can replace judges and still meet the legal requirements following from (1) principles of access to justice like accessibility, transparency, and accountability; and (2) from the fundamental right to an effective remedy and the right to a fair trial as protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. Fourth, we conclude that under the current legal framework it is already feasible to replace judges by AI for non-complex low-conflict cases. In addition, using only AI to decide cases with higher complexity and conflict would threaten access to justice as well as the right to a fair trial. We, also, recognizes that in the future an increasing use of AI in courts will challenge our traditional understanding of concepts like access to justice and the right to a fair trial. This understanding will be driven by the perception court-users will have of AI as the court.

Responding to Severe Parent–Child Rejection Cases Without a Parentectomy: A Blended Sequential Intervention Model and the Role of the Courts

There have been significant developments over the past two decades that have expanded our understanding of the dynamics of parent–child contact problems post‐separation, which have resulted in some changes in judicial processes to respond to these cases. One significant advancement is a more sophisticated differentiation of the nature and severity of contact problems, which better assists legal and mental health professionals to provide more suitable legal and clinical interventions. However, the issue of innovative court processes has received limited attention. The authors describe a subgroup of families within the “severe” category, for whom an expanded intervention model, referred to as a Blended Sequential Intervention is proposed. This approach involves a reversal of care with court mandated therapeutic support for the rejected parent and child, but also involves the favored parent in the therapeutic plan from the outset, and is intended to avoid a permanent “parentectomy” of the child from either parent. The authors discuss how the courts should respond to these cases, and posit that until all therapeutic treatments are exhausted, interim orders should be preferred to final determinations, and judges should maintain oversight. The authors discuss the critical role of judicial leadership in working with lawyers and mental health professionals to manage and address the issues in these high conflict cases.

THE USE OF ELDERCARING COORDINATION FOR RESOLVING CASES INVOLVING OLDER ADULTS AND HIGH-CONFLICT FAMILY DYNAMICS

The Association for Conflict Resolution and The Florida Chapter of the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts developed a model of Eldercaring Coordination for use in guardianship/probate cases involving high-conflict family dynamics that interfere with the well-being and safety of an older adult, limit adherence to court orders, impede court processes, or detract from the efficacy of guardianship and other appointments by the court. Developed by 40 organizations and entities in the United States and Canada, Eldercaring Coordination focuses on improving family dynamics so that the older adult, family members, and other involved parties can better work together and with professionals to make thoughtful and informed decisions and to support each other during times of transition. The purpose of this research was to gather information about participant experiences with Eldercaring Coordination. A pre-post test design was employed in which data were collected from older adults or their surrogates, family members and other court-ordered participants, judges and court administrators, and the Eldercaring Coordinators themselves. Findings from post-tests of 23 judges and court administrators revealed that the most common advantages of Eldercaring Coordination were that the intervention prioritized the older adults’ needs and improved family relationships. Post-test surveys from 17 Eldercaring Coordinators indicated some positive outcomes for older adults and their families, but also a need for enhanced authority, greater support from attorneys, and more cooperation from participants. Preliminary findings support the assertion that Eldercaring Coordination holds promise for intervening in high-conflict court cases involving older adults.

Discussion, Part II: Psychoanalytic Reflections on the Impact of Separation and Divorce: High-Conflict Parents and Their Children: The Inside Story

ABSTRACTIn Part II of his discussion, Straus turns his attention to high- and very high-conflict separation and divorce cases. He points out that it would be extremely difficult for these parents to emotionally support an analytic treatment for their child. He gives the inside story of how these parents, once at least “good enough,” can now barely parent at all, and describes the evolution of their personal destruction and harm to their children. He speaks to what the childhood experience now becomes for the child of high-conflict parents. Straus also illustrates with personal examples the raw feelings, such as anger and hate, that get stimulated for the professional who engages with these families in this very challenging and heart-wrenching work.

Feeling the pressure to take sides: A survey of child protection workers' experiences about responding to allegations of child maltreatment within the context of child custody disputes

Families involved in high conflict child custody disputes pose unique challenges for child protection services. Little is known about the struggles faced by child protection workers when responding to complaints made by acrimonious ex-partners within the context of child custody disputes. This paper reports on an exploratory cross-sectional online survey of child protection service providers (n = 208) from five child protection agencies. Results show that the majority of workers expressed feeling higher levels of stress when dealing with families involved in child custody disputes, attributed to repeat allegations and counter allegations, the ongoing acrimony between the parents, pressure from the parents and legal professionals to take sides in the dispute and a lack of protocols to work with families involved in high conflict. The lack of specialized training to work with parents stuck in high conflict and the demands placed on workers, already struggling with large caseloads, contributed to workers feeling overwhelmed and ineffective when working with families entrenched in child custody disputes. Implications are discussed including the need for early identification of high conflict cases, specialized services to address the unique needs of families involved in child custody disputes and increased collaboration between child protection services and external service agencies.

The mediating role of the therapeutic alliance in understanding early discontinuance

Objective: The objective of this study was to test whether the therapeutic alliance mediated the relationship between previously identified predictors of premature termination and dropout during the first three sessions of treatment. Method: In this naturalistic study, 994 cases receiving individual, couple and family, or high-conflict coparenting therapy provided demographic information and completed assessments prior to treatment. Following the first session, clients completed a measure of the therapeutic alliance. Two hundred and five (20.6%) discontinued therapy prior to the fourth session. Logistic and ordinary least squares regression was used across m = 20 imputed datasets to examine the effect of pressure to attend therapy, age, gender, education, distress, therapy format, and therapist experience on whether clients continued in therapy and whether the alliance mediated this relationship. Results: After controlling for age, therapist experience, education, and pressure to attend therapy; general distress and participating in high-conflict coparenting were associated with higher rates of early termination. The effect of both distress and therapy format on dropout, however, was mediated by the therapeutic alliance. Conclusions: By focusing on improving the therapeutic alliance with high-conflict coparenting cases as well as clients with higher levels of distress, therapists may be able to increase client retention.

Commentary regarding parenting coordination in cases of high conflict disputes

ABSTRACTThere is oftentimes no distinction in disputed divorce or child custody cases between “high conflict” and “abusive” relationships. This commentary addresses the important distinction between high conflict divorce cases and cases of intimate partner violence (IPV) and highlights the differences between the two terms. It further explores the role of parenting coordination efforts in high conflict cases and how those efforts are not always appropriate in cases of abuse. There is also further discussion regarding the importance of appropriate training for parent coordinators and, at minimum, what that training should entail.

The Challenge of High-Conflict Family Cases Involving a Child Protection Agency: A Review of Literature and an Analysis of Reported Ontario Cases

Child protection agencies (CPAs) are increasingly becoming involved in high conflict custody and access cases. High conflict cases often involve a number of dynamics that place children at risk of harm. Allegations of domestic violence (DV), child abuse, and alienation are common in high conflict cases. This paper reviews of the limited research available on domestic family law cases that intersect with the child protection system. The second part provides an analysis of information obtained from 210 reported cases from Ontario 2010 to 2015 involving custody and access disputes where a report was made to a CPA. The paper concludes by offering observations about high conflict custody and access cases that intersect with the child protection system, and suggestions for future research.

High-Conflict Family Cases Involving a Child Protection Agency: Report on Experience of Child Welfare and Family Justice Professionals and Suggestions for Good Practices

Child protection agencies (CPAs) are increasingly becoming involved in high conflict custody and access cases. High conflict cases often involve a number of dynamics that place children at risk of harm. Allegations of domestic violence (DV), child abuse, and alienation are common in high conflict cases. This paper reports on information collected from interviews with 64 Ontario professionals who have experience with high conflict separations that involve CPAs. These professionals include judges, parents’ lawyers, lawyers from the Ontario Office of the Children’s Lawyer (OCL), OCL clinical investigators (CI’s), private custody assessors, mediators, as well as CPA workers, supervisors and lawyers. The paper concludes by offering some recommendations for the different professional groups who confront high conflict family cases involving child protection intervention.

Editorial

This issue of PER consists of 11 articles and one case note dealing with a wide range of topics in the global legal landscape. Monray Botha analyses the responsibility of South African companies towards their employees for achieving social justice in the corporate world. Fawzia Cassim examines how identity thieves use the personal information of individuals to commit identity fraud and theft, and looks at legislative solutions introduced in South Africa, the United States of America, the United Kingdom and India to combat identity theft crimes. Howard Chitimira discusses the regulation of market manipulation in Australia with the purpose of assessing if lessons can be learnt from it for South Africa. Leentjie de Jong deals with parenting coordination, a new alternative dispute resolution process to alleviate the negative effects of high-conflict co-parenting cases on the South African court system and the children of divorce. Yvonne Donders investigates the cultural dimensions of the right to health endorsed by several treaty provisions and treaty monitoring bodies and comes to the conclusion that states can implement the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of health in a culturally sensitive and responsible way by consulting cultural communities and individuals. Joel Modiri reflects on the development of a radical democratic political theory that shifts analytical and conceptual registers in which the relationship between law and poverty is conventionally addressed and argues for the creation of a radical alternative that defatalizes the present. Stephen Peté's unconventional historical examination of the Barberton Prison Complex during the 1980s is published in two parts. The first part deals with the deaths of three prisoners and the injury of many others during a day of violence at the Barberton prison farm on 29 December 1982 and the second part examines a string of violent incidents which occurred within the Barberton Prison Complex during the course of 1983, leading to nine inmate deaths. Robbie Robinson raises the question of whether or not the constitutionally entrenched right to make decisions concerning reproduction may be limited, as the continued existence of the State may ultimately be jeopardised if the size of the population is not limited to the available levels of subsistence. Olufemi Soyejudiscusses the incapacity of low-income countries to realise the Millennium Development Goals and seeks to make a case for the adoption of a development-driven approach to law as a linchpin for the post-2015 development agenda. Carmel van Niekerk considers the constitutionality of section 294 of the Children's Act 38 of 2005, which permits commissioning parents to engage in surrogacy arrangements only in instances where they are able to provide a genetic link to their future offspring. In the only case note, Salona Lutchman evaluates the implications ofSS v Litako 2014 SACR 431 (SCA): A Clarification on Extra Curial Statements and Hearsay.
 

Vaiko psichologinės gerovės užtikrinimo sunkumai konfliktiškų šeimų bylose

The objective of the study is to analyse how child’s psychological wellbeing and development is preserved in high-conflict child-custody cases. We have analysed contemporary legal aspects of discontinuation of marriage and discussed child’s psychological problems and psychopathological signs which formed during a delayed and high-conflict parents’ divorce process or due to post-divorce disputes between the parties; the psychopathological signs were diagnosed during a child’s psychological-psychiatric assessment. We have also investigated which questions are sought to be addressed by the court, requesting an assessment of child’s psychological wellbeing.Research materials and methodology. The analysis was based on court enquiries submitted to child psychiatrists and psychologists of the Child’s Developmental Centre of Vilnius University Children’s Hospital in year 2007 - 2011 and on conclusions and recommendations of a complex psychological-psychiatric assessment. 449 enquiries and 60 conclusions and recommendations of complex psychological-psychiatric assessment were analyzed. Using qualitative and quantitative methods of analysis court enquiries were divided into categories based on their content and frequency.Results. We were able to categorize enquiries into three groups allowing us to assess child’s three key needs: 1st group – enquiries related to a child’s her opinion on a given subject, 2nd group – enquiries analysing if that opinion is not influenced, 3rd group – enquiries related to assessing child’s emotional relation to other family members. Categories of enquiries according to their frequency: I. Family relationships: enquiries related to assessing child’s emotional relation to other family members; II. Opinion: enquiries asking to directly determine child’s opinion on that matter (for example, in relation to place of residency); III. Influence: enquiries analysing if that opinion is not influenced: IV. Consciousness: enquiries related to child’s ability to express his/her opinion;. The court made only two enquiries on child’s psychological wellbeing; recommendations on addressing child’s mental health problems made up only 3.6% of total number of enquiries.30% of all court enquiries were not categorized due to their diversity or irrelevance. Most of them were either repetitive, or not reflecting child’s interest or not requiring special psychological knowledge. It demonstrates that the parties participating in a court process lack knowledge related to: child development, family system and psychodynamics.Conclusions: 1. The research of child‘s needs in legal family process revealed the complexity of the analyzed problem which involves both legal and psychological aspects. During a legal process, a child involved in a family conflict triangle is demanded to express his/her opinion on his/her parents while being psychologically and emotionally dependent on them. 2. Child‘s opinion should be taken into consideration only after having considered child‘s interests (understanding them as a holistic concept involving child‘s physical, mental, spiritual, moral, psychological, and social development) and after having assessed each of the parents‘ ability to ensure them. In our research population, the court‘s enquires sought to clarify a child‘s opinion and a possible influence on this opinion by others, whereas enquires related to parents‘ abilities to satisfy child‘s interests were rare. 3. During a child and family assessment, multiple psychological problems and emerging psychopathological symptoms were discovered, it demonstrates that child‘s developmental needs are neglected during a family legal conflict. 4. Timely psychological or psychiatric help is crucial in prevention of child‘s mental health disorders. 5. A scientifically based approach and knowledge of child‘s development and family system‘s psychodynamic processes is to be included in specialists‘ development and studies.