The English legal system in the area of social work with children and families can be bewildering and complex and it is vital therefore that any textbook on the subject uses case law, case studies and research to critically-engage social workers and students alike. This book does just that - by examining, and putting into clear practical context, the current law and policy relating to social work with children and families. A guide for both students on placement as well as Newly Qualified Social Workers (NQSWs) entering their first roles within children and families teams, Practical Child Law for Social Workers is essential reading for a fast-paced and complex area of social work.

Random Families is about the unprecedented families that have grown up at the intersection of new reproductive technologies, social media, and the human desire for belonging. Children of the same donor and their families, with the help of the internet, can now locate each other and make contact. Based on over 350 interviews with children (ages 10-28), their parents and related donors from all over the U.S., Random Families chronicles the chain of choices that couples and single mothers make from what donor to use to how to participate (or not) in donor sibling networks. Children reveal their understanding of a donor, the donor's spot on the family tree and the meaning of their donor siblings. Through rich first-person accounts of network membership, the book illustrates how these extraordinary relationships-woven from bits of online information and shared genetic ties-are transformed into new possibilities for kinship. Random Families offers down-to-earth stories from real families to highlight just how truly distinctive these contemporary new forms of family are.

Divorcing Traditions is an ethnography of Islamic legal expertise and practices in India, a secular state in which Muslims are a significant minority and where Islamic judgments are not legally binding. Katherine Lemons argues that an analysis of divorce in accordance with Islamic strictures is critical to the understanding of Indian secularism. Lemons analyzes four marital dispute adjudication forums run by Muslim jurists or lay Muslims to show that religious law does not muddle the categories of religion and law but generates them. Drawing on ethnographic and archival research conducted in these four institutions-NGO-run women's arbitration centers (mahila panchayats); sharia courts (dar ul-qazas); a Muslim jurist's authoritative legal opinions (fatwas); and the practice of what a Muslim legal expert (mufti) calls "spiritual healing"-Divorcing Traditions shows how secularism is an ongoing project that seeks to establish and maintain an appropriate relationship between religion and politics. A secular state is always secularizing. And yet, as Lemons demonstrates, the state is not the only arbiter of the relationship between religion and law: religious legal forums help to constitute the categories of private and public, religious and secular upon which secularism relies. In the end, because Muslim legal expertise and practice are central to the Indian legal system and because Muslim divorce's contested legal status marks a crisis of the secular distinction between religion and law, Muslim divorce, argues Lemons, is a key site for understanding Indian secularism.

Answers to many legal questions often depend on our understanding of the relationship between the human brain and behavior. While there is no evidence to suggest that violence is the sole result of cognitive impairment, research does suggest that frontal lobe impairment in particular may contribute to the etiology of violent behavior. Murder in the Courtroom presents a comprehensive and detailed analysis of issues most relevant to answering questions regarding the link between cognitive functioning and violence. It is the first book to focus exclusively on the etiology and assessment of cognitive impairment in the context of violent behavior and the challenges courts face in determining the reliability of neuroscience evidence; provide objective discussions of currently available neuropsychological tests and neuroimaging techniques, and their strengths and limitations; provide a methodology for the assessment of cognitive dysfunction in the context of violent behavior that is likely to withstand a Daubert challenge; and include detailed discussions of criminal cases to illustrate important points. Clinical and forensic psychologists and psychiatrists, cognitive neuroscientists, and legal professionals will be able to use this book to further their understanding of the relationship between brain function and extreme violence.

Although the 'Israeli case' of bioethics has been well documented, this book offers a novel understanding of Israeli bioethics that is a milestone in the comparative literature of bioethics. Bringing together a range of experts, the book's interdisciplinary structure employs a contemporary, sociopolitical-oriented approach to bioethics issues, with an emphasis on empirical analysis, that will appeal not only to scholars of bioethics, but also to students of law, medicine, humanities, and social sciences around the world. Its focus on the development of bioethics in Israel makes it especially relevant to scholars of Israeli society - both in and out of Israel - as well as medical practitioners and health policymakers in Israel.

Providing a panoramic and interdisciplinary perspective, this book explores the interrelations between globalization, borders, families and the law. It considers the role of international, multi-national and religious laws in shaping the lives of the millions of families that are affected by the opportunities and challenges created by globalization, and the ongoing resilience of national borders and cultural boundaries. Examining familial life-span stages - establishing spousal relations, raising children and being cared for in old age - Hacker demonstrates the fruitfulness in studying families beyond the borders of national family law, and highlights the relevance of immigration and citizenship law, public and private international law and other branches of law. This book provides a rich empirical description of families in our era. It is relevant not only to legal scholars and practitioners but also to scholars and students within the sociology of the family, globalization studies, border studies, immigration studies and gender studies.

Among the elementary human stories, parenthood has tended to go without saying. Compared to the spectacular attachments of romantic love, it is only the predictable sequel. Compared to the passions of childhood, it is just a background. But in recent decades, far-reaching changes in typical family forms and in procreative possibilities (through reproductive technologies) have brought out new questions. Why do people want (or not want) to be parents? How has the 'choice' first enabled by contraception changed the meaning of parenthood? Looking not only at new parental parts but at older parental stories, in novels and other works, this fascinating book offers fresh angles and arguments for thinking about parenthood today.

Interest in the problem of children who resist contact with or become alienated from a parent after separation or divorce is growing, due in part to parents' increasing frustrations with the apparent ineffectiveness of the legal system in handling these unique cases. There is a need for legal and mental health professionals to improve their understanding of, and response to, this polarizing social dynamic. Children Who Resist Post-Separation Parental Contact is a critical, empirically based review of parental alienation that integrates the best research evidence with clinical insight from interviews with leading scholars and practitioners. The authors - Fidler, Bala, and Saini - a psychologist, a lawyer and a social worker, are an multidisciplinary team who draw upon the growing body of mental health and legal literature to summarize the historical development and controversies surrounding the concept of "alienation " and explain the causes, dynamics, and differentiation of various types of parent-child relationship issues. The authors review research on prevalence, risk factors, indicators, assessment, and measurement to form a conceptual integration of multiple factors relevant to the etiology and maintenance of the problem of strained parent-child relationships. A differential approach to assessment and intervention is provided. Children's rights, the role of their wishes and preferences in legal proceedings, and the short- and long-term impact of parental alienation are also discussed. Considering legal, clinical, prevention, and intervention strategies, and concluding with recommendations for practice, research, and policy, this book is a much-needed resource for mental health professionals, judges, family lawyers, child protection workers, mediators, and others who work with families dealing with divorce, separation, and child custody issues.

Family Law provides a comprehensive guide to family law legislation and practice in Ireland. It is an essential tool for family law students and practitioners but also for those outside of the legal profession whose work crosses over this area of law, and those with a general interest in how family law operates in Ireland.
Edited by a leading expert in the field, this fourth edition covers extensive areas of family law practice in Ireland and has been fully updated to include recent significant legislative changes introduced by the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitees Act 2010. It contains revised coverage of separation agreements, judicial separation, divorce and ancillary orders, as well as of the law relating to children.

This book provides an alternative perspective on an issue fraught with difficulty - the enforcement of prenuptial agreements. Such agreements are enforced because the law acknowledges the rights of spouses to make autonomous decisions about the division of their property on divorce. Yet this book demonstrates that, in the attempt to promote autonomy, other issues, such as imbalance of power between the parties, become obscured. This book offers an academic and practical analysis of the real impact of prenuptial agreements on the relationships of those involved. Using a feminist and contractual theoretical framework, it attempts to produce a more nuanced understanding of the autonomy exercised by parties entering into prenuptial agreements. This book also draws on an empirical study of the experiences and views of practitioners skilled in the formation and litigation of prenuptial agreements in New York. Lastly, it explores how the court might address concerns regarding power and autonomy during the drafting and enforcement processes of prenuptial agreements, which in turn may enhance the role that 'prenups' can play in the judicial allocation of spousal property on the breakdown of marriage.

"This book examines the divorce aspects of the Brussels II bis Regulation (Regulation 2201/2003). It gives detailed consideration to the new jurisdictional rules and to the likely interpretation of the core jurisdictional concept of 'habitual residence'. The scope of the Regulation is analyzed, and particular attention is given to its possible application to civil partnerships and same-sex marriages. The book also analyzes the Regulation's impact on ancillary relief matters and its interaction with related measures of Community and national law in that context. The new recognition procedures are considered in detail, as are the defences to recognition, and the wider consequences of automatic recognition are assessed. The book provides in-depth coverage of relevant case-law of the national and Community courts, and particular attention is given to the likely impact of the cases decided under the 1968 Brussels Convention and under Regulation 44/2001 (including the Owusu case)"--

Children come into the world completely helpless, and require well-functioning families and schools to meet their needs, protect their interests and nurture their potential. This book argues that healthy child-development depends on values, ideas and structures that promote justice for children and families; in particular, checks and balances that favour: * Fairness: allowing fair distribution of resources, so that every child and family have the best possible chance to reach their potential. * Protection: resources for families, neighbourhoods and schools to help protect and encourage their children, alongside the means to intervene, should this protection fail. * Autonomy: encouraging children's voice and participation in decision-making at a level commensurate with their maturity. Authored by leading experts in the field, the book is comprised of short, highly readable chapters with an interdisciplinary appeal, for practitioners of social science, law, social work, psychology, paediatrics, psychotherapy, psychiatry and public health alike.

In dem Band werden die Grundlagen, Entwicklungen, Diskurse und empirischen Wirklichkeiten familienanaloger Formen der Hilfen zur Erziehung diskutiert. Auf der Basis empirischer Befunde zum Alltag in familienahnlichen Arrangements werden Spezifika eines stationaren Angebotes eroertert, das sich durch institutionelle wie familiale Anteile auszeichnet.

The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child is acknowledged as a landmark in the development of children's rights. Article 3 makes the child's best interests a primary consideration in all actions concerning children and requires States Parties to ensure their care and protection. This volume, written by experts in children's rights from a range of jurisdictions, explores the implementation of Article 3 around the world. It opens with a contextual analysis of Article 3, before offering a critique of its implementation in various settings, including parenting, religion, domestic violence and baby switching. Amongst the themes that emerge are the challenges posed by the content of 'best interests', 'welfare' and 'well-being'; the priority to be accorded them; and the legal, socioeconomic and other obstacles to legislating for children's rights. This book is essential for all readers who interact with one of the Convention's most fundamental principles.

One of family law's greatest challenges within the 21st Century is facing the decreased rate of marriages and the increased number of unmarried co-habiting couples. All over the world, lawmakers and courts have met this challenge with different legal solutions. Currently, eleven American jurisdictions recognize the doctrine of common law marriage, but for other jurisdictions have abolished the doctrine within the last fifteen years. Common Law Marriage presents a thorough legal history of common law marriage, from its origins to current law and possible future developments in law. Dr. Goeran Lind researches current law by analyzing American cases, discussing the legal requirements for the establishment of a common law marriage, as to capacity, contract, implied agreement, cohabitation, holding out, and burdens of proof. As Lind points out, due to the choice of law principles, courts all over the United States must decide on common law marriages on a case-by-case basis. As long as couples move from one state to another, individual state courts in the United States must apply the doctrine of common law marriage and decide if such a marriage has been established when a couple has lived in, or visited, a common law marriage state. Common Law Marriage provides an avid look at the level of expertise regarding the doctrine of common law marriage and expresses the evident need for guidance concerning it.

Brought up in the stately grandeur of Burghley House as heir to the earldom of Exeter, Henry Cecil seemed to have made a suitable match to the heiress of Hanbury Hall, but their marriage was to end in disaster when Emma eloped with Henry's friend, the local curate. Heartbroken, Henry turned his back on aristocratic life, taking up residence in a remote Shropshire village and marrying a farmer's daughter - without having obtained a divorce from his first wife.... The story of Henry Cecil's matrimonial entanglements became an overnight sensation in the 1790s, and even through into the twentieth century was still being told and retold in poetry, song, ballet and prose. 'A Noble Affair' untangles fact from fiction and explores the difficulties Henry faced in extricating himself with honour from the situation. Written by three scholars who have carried out extensive research into marriage, adultery, bigamy and divorce in eighteenth-century England, this new account illustrates just how limited the options once were for those who experienced marital breakdown, and discovers that in some respects Henry did indeed behave nobly.

Whilst there may be universal agreement that 'something must be done' about child abuse, there is much less clarity about what qualifies as child abuse and what should be done about it. Policy makers often invoke the law at times of crisis which are seen to demand a societal response. The presence of legislation on the statute book or the creation of rules and protocols which professionals must follow is one socially acceptable sign that the problem has been recognised and that an effective response has been implemented. In the last two decades of the twentieth century, the numerous controversies about the response of public agencies and the courts to allegations of child abuse, as well as campaigns to reform the treatment of child witnesses in adversarial trial systems, provided the impetus for legal reform in both criminal and civil proceedings in England and Wales. These legal initiatives were ad hoc responses to specific problems, and not part of a coherent and integrated programme of reform across the criminal and civil systems. Legislators and the courts in family, criminal, and tort proceedings have constructed different liability and evidential rules in parallel rather than in tandem with the other courts adjudicating the same issues, and often regarding the same child. Similarly reforms in other common law jurisdictions have often been only partially understood by lawmakers in England and Wales. This book looks across the legal and geographical boundaries within which the legal discussion of child abuse is usually confined. It considers the themes and policy considerations driving each form of legal response to the problem of child abuse. It also provides a detailed discussion of the law governing the trial of allegations of child abuse in the key areas of family, criminal and tort law in English law, and compares this with the approaches in other common law jurisdictions using the adversarial mode of trial, in particular in Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia. In its breadth and depth, Child Abuse Law and Policy Across Boundaries marks a significant contribution to the rapidly evolving field of child protection law.