Families in Conflict: When Parental Alienation, Resist Refuse Dynamics, Parent-Child Contact Problems and Domestic Violence Make the Family Law Matter More Complex - Proposed Solutions
Virginia E. Griffin, Esq.
Virginia E. Griffin.
Legal techniques used for conflict resolution are historically adversarial. Therefore, the legal system must consider the health, safety, welfare, and best interests of children caught in the crossfire of family law conflict.
In fact, the very tools by which an advocate presents a case to the factfinder (judge) can be emotionally harmful to the litigants and especially damaging to children. When a custody dispute involves complex psychological issues, children can be vulnerable because conflicts inevitably escalate to family court. Children can be (intentionally or unintentionally) harmed by the dysfunctional behavior patterns or requisite coping skills of the litigants and by the entire adversarial family law system. With the recent Federal and State legislation passed in the U.S. precluding Courts from ordering intensive therapeutic intervention, alternative proposed orders must not only help protect children from conflict but also serve to assist the entire family system on behalf of those children caught in conflict.