The family justice system in England and Wales has undergone radical change over the past 20 years. A significant part of this shifting landscape has been an increasing emphasis on settling private family disputes out of court, which has been embraced by policy-makers, judges and practitioners alike and is promoted as an unqualified good. Mapping Paths to Family Justice: Resolving Family Disputes in Neoliberal Times examines the experiences of people taking part in out-of-court family dispute resolution in England and Wales. It addresses questions such as how participants' experiences match up to the ideal; how recent changes to the legal system have affected people's ability to access out-of-court dispute resolution; and what kind of outcomes are achieved in family dispute resolution. This book is the first study systematically to compare different forms of family dispute resolution. It explores people's experiences of solicitor negotiations, mediation and collaborative law empirically by analyzing findings from a nationally representative survey, individual in-depth interviews with parties and practitioners, and recorded family dispute resolution processes. It considers these in the context of ongoing neoliberal reforms to the family justice system, drawing out conclusions and implications for policy and practice.

ePDF and ePUB available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. 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.

In 1940, when the Red-Headed Kid is born, sex is a subject that never comes up. Men who openly want sex are perverts. Woman who like sex are whores and homosexuals are social pariahs. But, beneath the surface, things aren't what they seem. Kinsey is asking questions that have never before been asked, and, as the fifties commence, the subject begins to come out of the closet. No one is supposed to DO it yet, but at least the world is beginning to openly admit that it exists. Then, the sixties storm in. Margaret Sanger legitimizes birth control, which frees women of the threat of unwanted pregnancy, and all hell breaks loose. Over the course of seventy years, the Kid experiences every minute of the sexual revolution. From the 1940s, when sex is never mentioned, to "no sex at all" in the 1950s, to "sex around the clock" in the sixties and seventies, to "no sex" again when AIDS suddenly appears, and then on to "endlessly dangerous sex" far too soon after that. In spite of the book's overall sexual content, PART ONE of THE RED-HEADED KID is not overtly sexual. It is the gentle story of a small boy growing up in a warm family, a reminiscence of the forties and early fifties. It chronicles the rise of the baby boomers, their schools, their pets, their joys, and their problems. It discusses parental relationships and the social norms that inform and shape the attitudes of a generation that is taught never to grow old. It is NOT specifically sexual, other than in the way we all experience sexual thoughts as we come of age. Only the last chapter, SPERMARCH, deals directly with the subject of sexual awakening, a prelude to the evolution of our hero as he moves through the fascinating years during which men and women can experience sex without fear. It is a time of absolute freedom, the like of which may never be seen again. PART ONE of THE RED-HEADED KID is available on the Kindle from Amazon Books. PART TWO is scheduled for publication in the late winter of 2014.