2.Main Content
1994 Family mediation
This page contains an outline of this research, and a summary of the key findings. Details of how to find the full report can be found at the bottom of the page.
Title
“Mediation: the Making and Remaking of Co-operative Relationships. An evaluation of the effectiveness of comprehensive mediation”
What is it about?
Until 1990, all the not-for-profit family mediation services in England and Wales offered mediation to resolve disputes about arrangements for children (“child-focused” mediation), but did not mediate disputes about financial settlements or property issues. In 1990 the Joseph Rowntree Foundation funded five “comprehensive” mediation pilot projects, which developed ways of mediating disputes about finance and property as well as children. These five pilots, which were delivered by National Family Mediation services and researched by the Newcastle Centre for Family Studies, were designed to test whether comprehensive mediation (or all-issues mediation, as it became known) was more effective than child-focused mediation, and to compare different practice approaches.
In 1993 the government published a consultation paper on “Looking to the Future - Mediation and the Ground for Divorce”, in preparation for what became the Family Law Act of 1996. The Newcastle research was seen as contributing significantly to this debate about the role of family mediation in the new divorce process.
Who did it?
The research was carried out by Janet Walker, Peter McCarthy and Noel Timms at the Relate Centre for Family Studies at Newcastle University. It was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, and published by Joseph Rowntree in April 1994
The findings are based on couples using mediation services at the five pilot projects during 1991 and 1992: 102 couples using all-issues mediation and 298 couples using child-focused mediation. The research team produced quantitative data from client questionnaires and qualitative data from client, solicitor and mediator interviews. They comment that the low level of response to the questionnaires means that it was hard to identify significant differences in the quantitative analysis.
Key findings
- Child-focused mediation took an average of 3 hours to complete, and all-issues mediation averaged 15 ½ hours.
- There was a significantly higher rate of agreement in all-issues mediation than in child-focused mediation. In all-issues mediation, 39% of couples reached agreement on all issues, 41% reached agreement on some issues and 20% reached no agreement. In child-focused mediation, 19% reached agreement on all issues, 44% reached agreement on some issues, and 37% reached no agreement.
- Couples using all-issues mediation were much more likely to feel that the process was helpful. On average, 64% felt that mediation had helped them with objectives such as improving communication, reducing tension, helping to negotiate and clarifying areas of disagreement. Of those couples using child-focused mediation, 46% felt that mediation had helped with the same objectives. In both cases, 9% felt that mediation had made things worse.
NB: These outcomes and satisfaction rates were quoted in the subsequent government white paper as findings that proved the value of family mediation. This was then used to justify giving the mediation process a prominent role in the proposed divorce law reforms, and introducing public funding for family mediation. However, it is worth noting that the research was intended to compare child-focused mediation with all-issues mediation, not to compare mediation with other forms of dispute resolution such as lawyer negotiation or court hearings.
A three-year follow-up study published by Joseph Rowntree in 1996 showed that users of all-issues mediation were more likely than users of child-focused mediation to feel that mediation had helped them end the marriage amicably, reduce conflict, maintain good relationships with their ex-spouses and feel less bitter and resentful after divorce. They were also more content with existing childcare arrangements and less likely to have disagreements about child contact. Again, these findings have often been quoted as though they demonstrate that mediation produces longer-lasting agreements than courts. It is important that they are understood in the context of the original research.
The original research published in 1994 and the follow-up report are available to purchase from the Relate Centre for Family Studies, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle NE1 7RU, tel 0191 222 7647. Joseph Rowntree have published a summary of the 1996 follow-up research in its series of “Findings”, available free at:
Joseph Rowntree family mediation research findings
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