DOI: 10.3886/icpsr02561.v1
title: Divorce Mediation and Domestic Violence in the United States, 1993
title: Version 1

description: This study gathered data on policies and procedures for
 identifying domestic violence issues among divorcing couples and
 examined divorce mediation practices and policies in cases with
 allegations of spousal violence. Mediators and court administrators
 provided information on: (1) whether and how they attempted to gauge
 the level of domestic abuse and the capacity of divorcing parties to
 mediate, and (2) common adjustments to the mediation process made to
 enhance safety in divorce cases where domestic abuse is present. Data
 collection involved a collaboration with the Association of Family and
 Conciliation Courts (AFCC) in the administration and analysis of this
 survey. Court programs providing divorce mediation and/or custody
 evaluations in 1993 were targeted. The questionnaire was mailed in
 late 1993 to 200 institutional members of the AFCC and active
 providers of family and divorce services in the National Center for
 State Courts database. A total of 149 public-sector divorce mediation
 and custody/visitation counseling providers responded. Variables
 include information on the rules, statutes, or guidelines under which
 the program operates, case handling procedures prior to mediation or
 custody/visitation evaluations, and procedures used when clients come
 to mediation. Information is also provided on the number of paid
 professional staff, number of custody/visitation mediations and
 evaluations completed, population of the jurisdiction, the program's
 relationship to the court, types of orientation programs for parents
 provided by the court, if the community had any supervised visitation
services, and the city and state in which the program is located.
description: As mediation becomes more common in the court
 system, and as the widespread nature of domestic violence becomes more
 apparent, the appropriateness of divorce mediation in domestic abuse
 cases has become an issue of increasing national importance. While the
 strongest criticisms have been directed toward the practice of
 mandating abused women to participate in divorce mediation, some
 battered women's advocates object to the use of divorce mediation when
 there has been any domestic assault. Concerns about divorce mediation
 in cases where there has been domestic abuse include the following:
 (1) Mediation decriminalizes domestic abuse and encourages a
 conciliatory approach that does not hold the abuser accountable for
 his behavior, and the abuser may learn there are no adverse
 consequences to violence. (2) Victims might be made to feel partially
 to blame for the abuse. (3) Ensuring the safety of the victim during a
 process that allows the abuser to know the time and place his or her
 partner will be present for mediation becomes an important issue. (4)
 Power imbalances introduced by domestic violence may render mediation
 inherently unfair. (5) The conjoint and compromising nature of
 mediation may discourage abused victims from expressing their anger
 and deny them the benefits that expressed anger can bring. (6) Joint
 custody arrangements favored by mediators may run counter to what is
 best for the victim and their children. (7) Mediation may erode the
 victim's financial status and deprive him or her of the economic
 advantages they may have won through divorce litigation. (8) Questions
 arise regarding the caliber of court-based and community-based divorce
 mediation programs and the ability of staff to properly screen and
 handle cases with domestic abuse. However, most mediators and their
 supporters believe that mechanisms such as screening, individual
 caucusing, and the use of advocates in mediation sessions can help
 mitigate safety and fairness concerns in domestic violence cases. This
 study provides information on mediators' and court administrators'
 handling of these situations by focusing on: (1) whether and how
 mediators and court staff attempt to gauge the level of domestic abuse
 and the capacity of divorcing parties to mediate, and (2) common
 adjustments to the divorce mediation process made to enhance safety in
cases with domestic abuse.
description: Data collection involved a collaboration with the
 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts (AFCC) in the
 administration and analysis of this survey. Court programs providing
 divorce mediation and/or custody evaluations in 1993 were
 targeted. The questionnaire was mailed in late 1993 to 200
 institutional members of the AFCC and active providers of family and
 divorce services in the National Center for State Courts database. A
 total of 149 public-sector divorce mediation and custody/visitation
 counseling providers responded with information on their official
 policies and procedures for identifying domestic violence among the
 population served, and divorce mediation practices and policies in
cases with allegations of spousal violence.
description: Variables examining mediation include whether
 participation in divorce mediation is at the request of one or both
 parties, recommended by some or all judges, or mandated by court rule,
 practice, or state statute, how decisions are made to exclude cases
 from divorce mediation due to domestic violence, how decisions are
 made about special approaches to use in cases of domestic violence,
 the percentage of cases eliminated from divorce mediation due to
 concerns of domestic violence, procedures the program uses to
 determine if a referral is appropriate for divorce mediation, the
 number and type of questions asked of clients to screen for domestic
 abuse, who reviews the screening questionnaire and conducts the
 screening interview, opportunities either party had to obtain
 information or approach program staff about concerns regarding the
 appropriateness of divorce mediation, steps taken when the program
 determines that domestic violence has occurred, who has the authority
 to decide if divorce mediation will take place, types of follow-up
 questions asked of the victim and the abuser when domestic abuse is
 reported, issues not negotiable in divorce mediation when domestic
 abuse has been identified, and the type and number of hours of
 domestic abuse training received by the program's mediators.
 Custody/visitation evaluation variables include how custody/visitation
 evaluations are initiated, if and how the statute or local court rule
 makes special provisions for custody evaluation in cases involving
 domestic abuse, procedures the program uses to gather information
 about parents in custody/visitation evaluations, number and type of
 questions asked of clients to screen for domestic abuse, who reviews
 the screening questionnaire and conducts the screening interview, how
 often various techniques in conducting sessions are used by counselors
 when domestic abuse is reported, percentage of custody/visitation
 evaluations conducted as separate, individual sessions only, a mix of
 joint and separate sessions, or joint sessions only, and the type and
 number of hours of domestic abuse training received by the program's
 counselors. Variables providing general information include number of
 paid professional staff, number of custody/visitation mediations and
 custody/visitation evaluations completed in the previous year,
 population of the jurisdiction, the program's relationship to the
 court, types of orientation programs for parents provided by the
 court, if the community has any supervised visitation services, and
the city and state in which the program is located.
description: Response Rates: A total of 149 questionnaires were returned,
which comprised a response rate of 75 percent.
description: Presence of Common Scales: None.
description: Institutional members of the Association of Family and
 Conciliation Courts (AFCC) and active family and divorce service
providers from the National Center for State Courts database.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Divorce Mediation and Domestic Violence in the United States, 1993
description: All public-sector divorce mediation providers in the
United States.
description: (1) Consistency adjustments were not made by ICPSR.
 (2) The user guide, codebook, and data collection instrument are
 provided as a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. The PDF file format
 was developed by Adobe Systems Incorporated and can be accessed using
 PDF reader software, such as the Adobe Acrobat Reader. Information on
 how to obtain a copy of the Acrobat Reader is provided through the
ICPSR Website on the Internet.