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Recent legislative changes in England and Wales have eroded children's ability to exercise their article 12 UNCRC rights to information, consultation and representation when parents separate. However, children's voices may be heard through child-inclusive mediation (CIM).
Considered from a children's rights perspective, this book provides a critical socio-legal account of CIM practice. It draws on in-depth interviews with relationship professionals, mediators, parents and children, to consider the experiences, risks and benefits of CIM. It investigates obstacles to greater uptake of CIM and its role in improving children's wellbeing and agency.
Exploring the culture and practice changes necessary for a more routine application of CIM, the book demonstrates how reconceptualising CIM through a children's rights framework could help to address barriers and improve outcomes for children.
About the author
Anne Barlow is Professor of Family Law and Policy at the University of Exeter and a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. She has published widely in the field of family law and has a particular research interest in the regulation of adult relationships and in the family justice system. She has directed a number of socio-legal research projects on family and property issues including on cohabitation law reform and pre-nuptial agreements, funded by the Nuffield Foundation. She led the ESRC-funded Mapping Paths to Family Justice project. Most recently, she led the Wellcome Centre for the Cultures and Environments of Health-funded 'HeaRT' project which explored the risks and benefits of child-inclusive mediation on which this book is based.
Summary
ePDF and ePUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Considered from a children's rights perspective, this book provides a critical socio-legal account of child-inclusive mediation (CIM) practice. It draws on interviews with relationship professionals, mediators, parents and children to consider the risks and benefits of CIM.
