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In January, 2016, the Board of Directors of the American Professional Society on the Abuse of Children approved a position paper on allegations of child maltreatment and intimate partner violence in divorce/parental relationship dissolution. This commentary describes the range of dynamics that can lead to allegations of interpersonal violence in divorce/relationship dissolution, outlines the process employed in developing the position paper, and provides a description of the contents of the position paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the development of family mediation in Israel within the theoretical framework of the competition between professions (Abbott, 1988; Shamir, 1993), and the co-optation model of Coy and Hedeen (2005). It describes the formal institutionalization of family mediation in Israel and examines the claims made by lawyers, therapeutic mediators, and lawyer-mediators about the nature and boundaries of their professional enterprise and their goals and practices. Based on 254 questionnaires, semi-structured taped interviews and professional documents, our study found differences in the way the professionals construct the nature of the competition over mediation. While lawyers describe mediators as invading their realm of divorce practice, therapeutic professionals view mediation as a new field of knowledge which they are claiming as their own, in competition with legal professionals. Moreover, although elements of Coy and Hedeen's (2005) co-optation model were useful in describing the developing relationship between the divorce professionals, we found different strategies of resistance at each stage of the process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the Discourses of Marriage Research Group (DoM) founded by Dr. Lucy Jones (University of Nottingham) in 2012, we have been thinking, talking, and writing about the language of marriage for some time; to date the group has published four papers, focusing particularly on same-sex marriage debates in the UK. When in 2016 the British Association of Applied Linguistics (BAAL) put out a call for events in a series in conjunction with Cambridge University Press (CUP), the idea of an interdisciplinary seminar dedicated to discourses of marriage seemed a good one. Beginning this issue, Ursula Kania's paper on same-sex marriage legislation in Germany adds to a growing body of literature on media representations of same-sex/equal marriage debates in different national contexts. [Extracted from the article]

This is an introduction to a collection of papers on developmental trauma which describe psychological and biological effects of exposure to extreme adversity that affects all of development from childhood into adulthood. Each of the papers contributes a different lens in the way we think about and treat people who have experienced trauma. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to answer the question if and under which conditions a talaq performed in an Islamic state may be recognised in European states. The authors provide an analysis of various forms of talaq performed in different Islamic states and reach conclusions on the effects that may be recognised in Europe, with an outlook towards a possible uniform approach. The recognition of talaqs in England and Wales, Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina are used as examples for different solutions to similar problems before European courts. The EU legislator has not adopted a uniform approach to the application and recognition of talaqs in the EU. The CJEU got it wrong in Sahyouni II and missed the opportunity to contribute to a uniform EU policy but its subsequent decision in TB opens the door for the CJEU to overturn Sahyouni II if another case concerning a non-EU talaq divorce comes before them. The Hague Divorce Convention of 1970 is an international instrument that provides for appropriate solutions. Ratification by more states in which a talaq is a legally effective form of divorce and by more European states would provide the much-needed security for families moving from Islamic states to Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the ways in which home is experienced by children within post-separation families, who spend time within more than one parental home. To do so it draws on semi-structured interviews with fifteen young adults looking back on their childhood experiences. It argues that for these young people, home is a complex achievement, created and constrained, in part, through emotional encounters with domestic objects, interiors and furnishings. Resonating with previous studies which have emphasised the entanglement of family and home(un)making practices, it finds that children's family relationships are produced, communicated and undermined through the 'stuff' within their homes, creating feelings of inclusion and exclusion from their domestic environments. This paper, therefore, argues that domestic materialities are a significant means through which the (re)-and-(un)making of familial relationships in post-separation is performed; building on recent work within the emerging field of family geographies which has drawn attention to the importance of everyday materialities in the doing of family. Conclusions are thus drawn which suggest the value of such an approach to the interdisciplinary literature on post-separation and calls for more research into the various spatialities and materialities of the post-separation family are made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study undertakes a bibliometric analysis, science mapping, and visualization of the consequences of marital union dissolution on the household members, including parents, children, and other relations. We also analyze the temporal trends of the scientific production and citation of authorsand sources, and institutions/countries' collaborations using data from published documents indexed on SCOPUS within the last four decades. The paper highlights five outcomes. First, there is an upward trend in scientific production on divorce and the consequences, which mirrors the increasing divorce rate in different cultures and societies. Second, the clusters of terms identify various adverse effects of divorce on the household members, including a severe economic impact on women and children. Even the dissolution of bad marriage carries significant emotional and psychological pains on the household members. Third, parental divorce can constitute an adverse childhood experience with potentially long-term consequences in some cases where the offspring cannot recover from the emotional trauma. Fourth, divorce can cause health problems, including social, behavioral, psychological, and mental health problems to the parents and children, and economic challenges. Fifth, the results using network analysis show that the consequences of divorce are not linear but multi-directional. Finally, most research output originates from countries with a high divorce rate. The study reveals upward trends in the literature production, the divorce rate across all marriage groups and social status, and religious groups. The paper contributes to integrating scholarship in divorce consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the use of the term 'gachul (absconding from home)' in courts and immigration policies to punish the behavior of marriage migrant women who enter South Korea after marriage and then leave their husbands. The study focuses on penalized mobility outside migrants' marital homes, which is interpreted as deviance from the expected family role. By conceptualizing home as a confinable space, the paper discusses migrant women's exclusion from citizenship based on their contribution to the family. The paper draws from cases heard in criminal courts and laws and policies, paying attention to the conflation of criminal, immigration, and family laws and the effect on marriage and family. Notably, it highlights cases of uxoricide, marital rape, and international child abduction. The cases reveal that judicial and executive bodies penalize marriage migrants' departure from home, regardless of the justification for their actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This rapid review aimed to understand the rates of suicidal ideation and behaviours in men who are separated from intimate relationships, the co-occurrence of risk factors, and the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions for them in order to inform future suicide prevention efforts. Method: The review method followed a streamlined systematic review process which facilitates an expedited review of the evidence related to the review questions. We searched three academic databases (Cochrane, Medline and PsycINFO) for peer-reviewed articles published between 2010 and 2019 in English using keywords related to men who are separated from an intimate relationship; suicidal thoughts, attempts and deaths; suicide rates; and suicide prevention interventions. Results: Four systematic reviews and 22 papers featuring primary studies were included in the review relating to suicide rates and risk. No papers were identified relating to the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions for this group. The evidence base was rated as good. The findings suggest that men who are separated from an intimate relationship are at higher risk of suicide. Discussion: The review identified an increased risk of suicide among men who are separated, but no evidence about the effectiveness of suicide prevention interventions for them. More work is needed to unpack the interplay between personal and sociodemographic factors and the risk of suicide for separated men in order to inform suicide prevention efforts with these men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The editors of this excellent volume can't have believed their luck when, a few months after the workshop at which these papers were presented, the government issued a consultation paper on reform of the legal requirements for divorce (Ministry of Justice [1]). Fifty years of the Divorce Reform Act 1969: edited by J Miles, D Monk and R Probert, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2022, 295 & xiii pp., £85 (currently £76.50), ISBN 978-1-50994-788-1 In Part Three, Rebecca Probert does for the novel what Brown's chapter does for film, exploring how novelists depicted the legal process of divorce, post-Divorce Reform Act. [Extracted from the article]

After a long decline, fertility in Tunisia, as in some Arab countries like Algeria and Egypt, recorded an unexpected increasing trend over the 2000 – 2018 period. To account for such demographic change, this paper re-examined the behavior of the main fertility decline factors tested by the previous empirical studies (such as education, income, mortality, and contraceptive use) to check whether they have changed in favor of an upward fertility evolution. Deepening the analysis, it introduced three new socio-economic factors that are likely to favor fertility increase: divorce, unemployment, and longevity. The dynamic one-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation on a cylindrical data panel from 1998 to 2018 for eight Tunisian regions confirmed the positive effect of these new variables. Additionally, the education-fertility interaction was found to be no longer obvious. The family planning program appeared to no longer play its role in limiting fertility. The income effect overcame the substitution effect in favor of a fertility increase. The observed increasing fertility trend in Tunisia seems to be more explained by the dominance of some sociocultural factors. Thus, policymakers should seek to better focus on the family institution's behavior to sustain fertility decline and improve the efficiency of its family planning program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global economic restructuring saw the dramatic expansion of feminised labour and extensive mobilisation of women from less wealthy to wealthier countries to supply reproductive labour. Some migrant women perform unpaid reproductive labour through marriage migration in their roles as wives, mothers and daughters-in-law. The paper seeks to understand the divorce experiences of low-income marriage migrant women in Singapore after their marriage with Singaporean husband has ended. By engaging theorisations on transnational families, the paper discusses the transnational aspects of the women's divorce biographies. Using empirical data collected through in-depth interviews, this article examines how the women work out their transnational divorce biographies in these three areas: one, coping with divorce proceedings and obtaining legal representation; two, working out the rights to remain in Singapore and other livelihood issues; and three, negotiate with ex-spouse over post-divorce co-parenting arrangements. To avoid framing the women's experiences in 'victim versus agent' binary terms, the paper examines both their struggles and strategies using a transnational, intersectional feminist framework. This analytical perspective allows the paper to discuss how unequal effects of globalisation and intersection of the women's social identities shape their divorce trajectories, in terms of the struggles they face and strategies they employ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews literature on migration and marriage and highlights contributions of the papers in this special issue. The papers show that Asian marriage migrants' experience of integration and assimilation are complex, nuanced, and heterogeneous across migrants' sociodemographic backgrounds, ethnic profiles, and political contexts. The heterogeneities in Asian marriage migrants' assimilation trajectories challenge the classic assimilation theory which assumes an unilinear integration trajectory in all relevant aspects. This issue diversifies the academic discourses on migration and marriage by going beyond marriage migration to include how other types of migration shape family formation processes including divorce and remarriage. It also examines the mechanisms underlying the migration-marriage link. Finally, this special issue widens methodological repertoires in the field of marriage and migration by using quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method analyses to divulge the complexity of the relationships. Topics examined in these papers include variations in economic well-being, cultural assimilation, gender inequality vis-à-vis marriages, migrants' subjective well-being, and how policies pertinent to cross-cultural marriages affect migrants. Unlike in the western societies where race/ethnic integration is a dominant concern, in Asia, the extended families of marriage migrants and their spouses, patriarchy, religion, and caste also play a big role in Asian migrants' family formation behaviours. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Latinx community is the fastest growing demographic in the United States and faces high rates of xenophobia and racism because of myths surrounding immigration and criminality. Therefore, Latinx communities are faced with many challenges. Parental configuration and educational attainment are key areas to explore the Latinx community in U.S. society. Utilizing a national representative sample from the Educational Longitudinal Study (ELS) from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), this paper employs an intersectional framework to investigate the relative impact of parental divorce on Latinx students' educational attainment outcomes. This paper finds: (1) for both male and female students, parental divorce had no impact on educational attainment; (2) students in public schools had lower educational attainment than their counterparts; (3) cultural capital was significant for Latinx males; (4) parental social capital was significant for Latinx females; and (5) socioeconomic status proved to be significant for both males and females. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights Professor Gavin Jones’ seminal work on Asian divorce patterns, with a particular focus on Southeast Asia’s Muslim communities. Beginning in the 1980s, Jones addressed the challenges of fragmented and often unreliable demographic data on divorce. With careful compilation and analysis of aggregate data, paired with firsthand surveys and ethnographic studies, he set a foundation for examining shifting divorce trends in Southeast Asia. His findings challenged prevailing ethnocentric perspectives and questioned the notion that modernisation invariably leads to rising divorce rates. Jones stressed the importance of understanding divorce within the broader social, cultural, and historical contexts of the respective societies. Beyond his individual research, he was instrumental in cultivating a community of scholars studying marriage and divorce in Asia and fostering collaborations. Jones’ insights into Asia’s demographic shifts have been invaluable, and his legacy will continue to influence demographers for generations to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we pay tribute to the late Emeritus Professor Gavin W. Jones and his outstanding contributions to the scholarship on marriage. Following a chronological assessment of his large body of work on marriage, we reflect on Gavin’s general approach to research changing marriage patterns within and across diverse regions of Asia. His approach to studying marriage went beyond the conventional demographic focus on examining shifts in age at first marriage. He showed how examining shifting patterns across different, yet interrelated aspects of marriage offered an important window to understand the broader complexities of economic and socio-political change in the region; showing why there is much more to demography beyond counting births, deaths, and migration. As two generations of demographers, we reflected how his work and approach to research continue to influence our research and engagement with the region. Gavin’s legacy extends beyond demography and Indonesian/Malay studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we identify and validate the structure of the acrimony scale and introduce two shorter versions: the AS-18 and the AS-10. Investigations using two large, independent samples of family mediation clients suggest a two-factor solution. We make a theoretical case for distinguishing between acrimony and conflict, and for measuring both acrimony and the capacity for cooperation remaining in a relationship between separated parents. We find that both dimensions can be retained in the shorter versions of the scale, which nevertheless demonstrate good reliability and validity. The subscales for the AS-10 consist of six items measuring "relationship hostility" and four items measuring "parental cooperativity." These short subscales may be useful in practice and research settings where it is necessary to measure either parental acrimony, potential for cooperation, or both, whilst minimizing respondent burden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a panel of province-level data in South Korea over the last two decades, this paper examines the effect of divorce on female and male suicide rates. By focusing on the types of divorce and the reasons for divorce, I find that a higher mutual-consent divorce rate is associated with a decrease in female suicide rate, whereas the judicial divorce rate is positively associated with male suicide rate. For the reasons for divorce, I find that an increase in divorce rate caused by unfaithful acts, a representative reason for judicial divorce, raises female suicide rate, while divorce rates caused by main reasons for mutual-consent divorce are negatively associated with female suicide rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My response aims to demonstrate how a capacity for triangular space allows us to tolerate and encompass differences of all sorts, ranging from theoretical orientations to family and coupling structures. I re-emphasize the contemporary Kleinian/Bionian Oedipus as a developmental model of the mind that is a departure from the classical model of the Oedipus complex and its associated anchoring in psychosexual development. I reargue the necessity of divorcing Oedipal theory from its historical heterosexist bias and highlight the clinical relevance of a contemporary Oedipal lens when working with a wide variety of non-heteronormative relationships, including, LGBTQ couples, families and single parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While parental divorce can have a profound effect on the development of a child, the effect of a custody conflict following divorce can have an extreme, traumatic, and lifelong impact on a child. The conflict between the parents that occurred prior to their divorce can be sustained long after the parental divorce, reinforcing highly dysfunctional patterns of relationships between the parents, between each parent and child, and then put the child at risk for pathological patterns of relationships with peers and intimates. Though difficulties in the development of mature object relations and a mature sense of self are obviously at risk given this milieu of overt interpersonal conflict, anger, hatred, and parental preoccupation, difficulties in a child's capacity to explore the environment, i.e. play, learn academically, and value their body can also be adversely affected. This paper presents cases from varying stages of childhood development to demonstrate the potentially traumatic effects on the development of children living through parental custody conflict, as well as the lifelong effect on an adult experiencing a parental custody conflict in childhood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores high-conflict divorces and separations by critically analyzing their central features. It draws on qualitative materials produced through professionals' work with high-conflict cases. A content-oriented analysis of the materials revealed three types of high-conflict separations differentiated by the following features: 1) confrontational interaction, 2) exacerbation of complicated psychosocial problems, and 3) post-separation violence and/or stalking. Based on these findings, we consider professional responses and interventions in helping families. The aim of the paper is to augment our understanding of high-conflict separations and differentiated professional responses to them in order to help parents and children who are undergoing a high-conflict divorce or separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Sudan became a juridical state in July 2011. Its statehood materialised after protracted north-south civil wars were brought to an end by the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). The CPA set forth self-rule for an interim period and a referendum on independence for the South Sudanese in January 2011. While the two states split peacefully, post-separation relations between the Sudans has been complicated. This paper explores the unamicable political divorce of South Sudan from Sudan. It examines the key post-separation issues that have remained sources of contention and conflict between the Sudans. Based on a qualitative approach, and primary and secondary sources of data, the paper argues that border claims over Abyei and Heglig/Panthou, the politics of oil, mutual subversion, historical grievances, and internal political dynamics continue to drag the two countries into conflict. It argues that because of their importance to the socio-economic and political vitality to both states, border claims and oil remain particularly important in shaping relations between the Sudans. Unless managed properly, based on a win-win approach, the divergence on outstanding issues will exacerbate state building challenges in the world's newest state of South Sudan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores 35 mothers' understandings of home after relationship separation, along with barriers and facilitators to creating home post-separation. No previous research has done so. We found that for mothers, like their children, home was complex and multidimensional, and rarely defined just in terms of physical space. Rather, it was a relational concept, with physical space providing the context for relationships with family, neighbourhood and community, to feel safe, and the opportunity to be oneself. More than half the mothers in the study reported experiencing domestic and family violence by their former partners and, for some, this had continued after separation. While the ongoing impacts of domestic and family violence significantly challenged some mothers' ability to create home, separation and a level of liberation from violence could also mean that they were able to create home for the first time for themselves and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper offers a descriptive narrative and visualization of the life challenges children and parents face after the trauma and anxieties created by divorce. Using data from 1339 published documents indexed on the Web of Science and a visual analytics technique, the study highlights several challenges. Marital union breakdown has significant negative consequences on the household members, with severe economic effects on women and children. Parental divorce causes damaging effects on children and can lead to antisocial and behavioral problems and psychological and health problems. Also, adversities from divorce can have multidimensional consequences on the parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although research on adult ADHD has become more prevalent since the condition's recognition in the 1990s, information remains scarce about if and how it impacts functionality in relationships. Adults with ADHD can experience interpersonal relationship difficulties due to the disorder's signature symptoms of hyperactivity, impulsivity, and inattentiveness, as well as due to adult ADHD's oft-observed dimension of emotional lability. Adults with ADHD tend to have more trouble navigating romantic relationships and are more likely to be divorced than adults without ADHD. The purpose of this paper is to perform a systematic literature review of empirically based studies of integrative couples therapy wherein at least one partner struggles with adult ADHD. Future research, gaps in the literature, and practice implications also are discussed, including hope for focus on the positive aspects of ADHD for individuals and partnerships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To date, few empirical studies on same-sex divorce have been published. This paper presents a grounded theory analysis of in-depth interviews with a small convenience sample of six divorced gays and lesbians in order to address two related questions: how do gays and lesbians account for their divorce experiences? And what do these accounts suggest about the meanings they attach to marriage? Results suggest a distinction between what I term relationship-focused accounts, which explain the account-teller's divorce by emphasizing that his or her marital bond had come undone, and self-focused accounts, which emphasize how the marriage created problems for the account-teller him- or herself. Furthermore, this paper shows how relationship-focused accounts draw upon the meanings embedded in the companionate model of marriage whereas self-focused accounts draw upon those embedded in the individualized model of marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past decade, Si Xiao, Xianglong Zhang, Xiangcheng Sun and others have proposed a Confucian Philosophy of Family (CPF) movement as a response to issues in contemporary China. These issues include high divorce rates, low birth rates, caring for seniors, and other related issues. This proposal is an attempt to modernize traditional Confucianism and to make it relevant in contemporary China. In this paper I argue that this attempt faces external and internal challenges. The external challenges to CPF include the trademarks of contemporary philosophy, such as the methodological naturalism, epistemic pluralism and ethical individualism. Furthermore, there are three competing readings of CPF, which poses its own internal challenge to CPF. CPF scholars have failed to clarify if they are engaged in a project of interpretation, which is to elaborate the idea of family in the Confucian tradition, or as a project of justification, which is to justify Confucian understanding of family as a universal and objective value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In family law proceedings, children's views are increasingly sought and included in non-evaluative reports, such as Views of the Child Reports. This paper explores the controversial nature of including children's voices in contested separation/divorce cases and examines the implications of interviewing children given the prevalence, hidden nature, and potential harm to children in cases of intimate partner violence. We contend that voices of children, and their potential exposure to intimate partner violence must be considered during Views of the Child Reports interviews. These factors inform our proposed practice strategies for professionals conducting these reports and our recommendations for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out descriptive baseline data on the first 111 Australian families participating in a current study of the efficacy of child- focused and child-inclusive Family Law Mediation. The families come from the first of two treatment groups in that comparative study. While outcome data are not yet available on this group, the baseline data, gathered prior to intervention, are of interest and value. The paper describes the nature of parents' conflict with each other, the strength of their parental alliance, and the psychological functioning of theft children at the time of presentation to the mediation service. High mental health risk for the children in these families is evident, both from parents' and children's perspectives. Uniquely, the paper includes the perceptions of 73 children about theft parents' conflict and its impact on them. Implications are discussed, underscoring the imperative of early intervention with separating families that includes screening of the children's experience of conflict and their own needs for recovery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article summarises Australian research into separated and divorced fathering. It attempts to take stock of what is known in order to identify research gaps for the development of a forward-looking research agenda. My hope is that the piece will encourage more considered empirical attention to postseparation fathering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers fathers' understandings and experiences of home after relationship separation – an issue that has received little research attention to date – through interviews with four separated fathers conducted as part of a larger qualitative study. Key themes to emerge were: the significance attached by participant fathers to home and homemaking through their focus on everyday interactions; the concern that their home might be viewed by children as secondary; and a sense of the vulnerability and transience of home arising from their children's presence and absence. Viewed overall, the fathers in this study conveyed their determination to offer their children a loving, stable, and secure home life as a fundamental dimension of their commitment to post-separation fathering while also describing key challenges they experienced in doing so. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience-building interventions have not yet targeted older adults, despite the importance of well-being for maintaining independence and health. The 'My Generation' programme aims to build resilience through greater access to social networks, well-being activities, and psycho-educational support; this paper examines service evaluation data from its pilot implementation to identify factors leading to positive outcomes. The 'My Generation' programme comprises eight weekly 2-hour group sessions; each session includes both psychoeducation and a well-being activity. Participants were invited to complete questionnaires at the start and end of the course, and 12 weeks later. These included measures of well-being, loneliness, social connections and self-efficacy. Baseline assessments were completed by 239 older people (average age 71, range 50-97), attending 38 courses in four centres. Most were female (80%), 40% were widowed, 25% divorced/separated and 64% lived alone. Demographics did not differ between those completing post-intervention assessments (N = 137) and those who did not. Compared with normative data, participants had significantly lower well-being and greater feelings of loneliness than age-peers. Significant improvements in well-being, self-efficacy, social connections and one measure of loneliness were evident at post-intervention and follow-up assessments. Improvement in well-being at post-intervention was greater in those who were divorced/separated and who were not carers, and at follow-up in females and those living alone. The 'My Generation' package appeared effective in improving well-being, self-efficacy, social connections and aspects of loneliness in at-risk older people. More research is needed to identify the intervention's key components and possible between-centre differences in outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using time-diary data from the Time Use in Economic and Social Accounts (TUESA) 1975–76, which covers heterosexual couples in the United States, this paper analyzes the relationship between a state’s adoption of unilateral divorce and couples’ time allocation. Married women in states with unilateral divorce spend less time on core housework than those in states without unilateral divorce, and married men contribute to a greater share of housework. This paper also uses cross-state and time variation in divorce law adoption by including additional data from the early 1990s to estimate the effect of a state’s adoption of unilateral divorce on daily time use. The analysis confirms the findings for women in the 1970s: the availability of unilateral divorce substantially decreases married women’s time spent on housework. The results suggest that the adoption of unilateral divorce law shifts the relative bargaining power within heterosexual married households to women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extended family relationships may serve as either resources or as additional stressors as families negotiate stressful life events such as divorce. As families go through several readjustments and reorganizations following divorce, extended family members both affect and are affected by these changes. Existing literature provides valuable insights regarding post-divorce extended family relationships but they were mostly conducted over 25 years ago. In order to provide up-to-date information on current post-divorce extended family relationships, the current paper examined post-divorce relationships with their extended family members of 369 divorced individuals with children (66% women and 34% men). Participants reported on contact and closeness with their extended family members, as well as perceived influence of extended family members on their daily lives. In addition, the supportive role of extended family following divorce was explored. Results, generally, suggests that divorced individuals tend to have higher levels of contact and emotional closeness with extended family members from their own family rather than former spouse's family. Relatedly, people reported higher perceived influence and support received from one's own family. Demographic variables such as gender and years since divorce appeared to influence post-divorce relationships with extended family members in unique ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overarching purpose of this paper was to explore the legal resolution of companion animal custody disputes in the event of a couple's divorce or dissolution of a cohabiting union. I conducted content analysis on court cases throughout the U.S. between 1944 and 2019 and on policies enacted between 2016 and 2019 in Alaska, California, Illinois, and New Hampshire, the only states to date that have implemented legislation stipulating how companion animal custody disputes should be legally resolved. Results indicate that the law is moving away from a legal standard that defines animals as personal property to one concerned with the best interests, well-being, or care of companion animals and the strong emotional attachments of individuals to them. The implications of these court cases and legislation are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examining the relationship between social media, anti-gender and everyday polarisation, this article identifies the ways social media platforms reflect the mundane amidst the interactions of users over social and political issues, showing how micro-stories can foreground macro-political tensions online. We examine a Twitter event over an outing that showed vigorous debates on issues pertaining to gender and its socio-political connotations in Turkey, employing textual and content analyses of reactions shared through hashtags and mentions. The outing involved a child custody battle in court and a secret recording, exposing the sexual identity of a woman popstar #Intizar. The paper shows how Twitter facilitated conservative, homophobic and patriarchal reactions that harnessed deep political polarisation between the AKP government's supporters and those declaring solidarity with LGBTI+ issues. A mundane divorce story exhibited the deep political tension in Turkey, which also exemplifies the depth of increasing online polarisation over gender on a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The birth of a child can negatively impact relationship functioning, especially if one or both partners did not intend to have a child. As such, unintended or disagreed-upon births may elevate the risk of dissolution. In this paper, we use the National Survey of Family Growth to consider how married couples characterize the intendedness of their first birth and examine its linkage with dissolution. Nearly one-third of first marital births are unintended by at least one parent. When fathers do not intend the birth, regardless of whether or not mothers do, couples report an elevated risk of dissolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Child contact arrangements with parents following separation and divorce are strongly endorsed for children in both public policy and law where safe, but can be difficult to sustain. Entrenched high-conflict post-separation relationships between parents can cause substantial emotional risks to children as well as impacting severely on parents' mental health. This paper describes a qualitative study, aimed at examining parents' experiences of contact arrangements post-separation, undertaken within a mixed methods random allocation study of therapeutic outcomes for parents in entrenched conflict over their children. Two established semi-structured interviews with 22 parents were jointly subjected to thematic analyses. A thematic analysis across interviews revealed three main themes: 'Dealing with contact evokes extreme states of mind' for parents; when speaking of contact, the child is 'everywhere and nowhere' in the parents' minds; 'the hardest thing about contact is dealing with my ex-partner'. These findings indicate the immense strain children and parents are under and shed much light on the desperate states of mind for parents, particularly the anxieties driving relentless child contact disputes. This paper may contribute to the understanding of parents' experiences of contact arrangements post-separation, potentially providing important information which can inform best practice for professionals working with this population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article highlights some of the findings of a very extensive paper involving both a new economic theory of governance and a range of major empirical tests. In this extensive paper, I rectify the market governance model of B Holmstrom and J Tirole, “Market liquidity and performance monitoring” (1993) 101Journal of Political Economy678–709, reverse many of their theoretical findings without altering their assumptions, and develop and test a number of hypotheses concerning company board structure and incentives in the presence of informed trading of company shares in the stock market. Both Bengt Holmstrom (2016) and Jean Tirole (2014) are recent Nobel Laureates. In my theory, the use of market-based incentives for the CEO and board members diminishes with firm size as larger firms benefit more from this informed trading which I equate with “market monitoring” of board decisions. Most studies of the impact of changes in company board composition prior to this suffer from problems due to the “endogeneity” of board compositional changes with such changes potentially due to specific problems facing individual companies. This makes cause and effect difficult to disentangle. Here “exogeneity” stems from the forced departure of “non-independent” directors with substantial shareholdings from boards due to regulatory-induced pressure. These departures are due to the peculiar recommendations of the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) Corporate Governance Council (CGC) who deem substantial shareholders on company boards to be “non-independent”. Interestingly, the UK regulator adopts the same peculiar stance. Various market and accounting measures of performance, investment decision-making with respect to acquisitions, and negotiation and monitoring of CEO and non-executive director pay substantially worsen in the presence of this external market monitoring by informed institutional traders. I conclude that informed traders utilize information about the actions of board members that reinforce the market-based incentives of CEOs, other executives, and outside directors with substantial shareholdings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper investigates how exposure to sunshine affects the suicide rate in Japan, especially in relation to economic variables. Using prefecturebased data on socioeconomic variables for the years 1993-2009, the paper confirms existing research in finding a significant correlation between suicides and unemployment, for both men and women. The interaction between sunshine and unemployment is also significant, and further analysis reveals that unemployment is not an important factor for suicide in high-sunshine prefectures, whereas in low-sunshine areas the effect of unemployment on the suicide rate rises. The divorce rate is highly significant and positive for men, but significant and negative for women, suggesting that many Japanese women consider divorce liberating. Current suicide research in Japan with its strong emphasis on economic variables may benefit from an inclusion of measures of general well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With analytical and methodological aims, this paper raises the difficulties of studying how well the financial frameworks governing marriage and divorce might serve the catchment group of same-sex couples to whom they are henceforth available. It calls for disaggregating the legal content of marriage for the purposes of analysis. By reference to the empirical social science, it then sets out the basis for challenging the assumption that access to marriage on the existing terms best remedies same-sex couples' long-time legal neglect. But crucial methodological difficulties arise when looking to research in order to assess the fitness of existing marriage law for same-sex couples. The available data do not speak to key elements of marriage law. Underscoring the limits of social science research, the paper draws out the role of justice and identity claims in marriage law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Young people whose parents are separated or divorced form a significant and increasing proportion of young people who attend school. To date, empirical research with young people whose parents are separated or divorced has tended to focus on either their household context, or their school context, rather than on both contexts together. This paper redresses this singular focus by examining the intersection of the experiences of young people at both home and school. Purpose: The paper seeks to map the empirical evidence of young people's home and school experiences as they move between households and schools. Sources of evidence: The paper provides a narrative review of the literature from the 1990s to the present, locating Australian research within an international context. The review is framed by four main questions. What is the impact upon young people of the family transitions that occur when parents separate or divorce? What is the everyday impact upon young people of moving between one household and another? What does the research reveal regarding educational, social and emotional outcomes for this group? What does the research reveal regarding their school experiences? Main argument: The review reveals a paucity of Australian research at the intersection of home and school. It shows that, while young people from these contexts form a growing proportion of the school population, there is little empirical evidence of what is actually occurring in their everyday lives. The review reveals the importance of researching from the perspectives of the young people themselves. Conclusions: Evidence provided in the paper shows that many young people whose parents separate or divorce are affected socially, emotionally and educationally. Such evidence points to the need for research into the everyday experiences of the young people at school, in order to identify, from their perspective, how schools can better cater for these young people and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper focuses on South African Muslim women’s experiences with engaging religious leaders in matters pertaining to divorce initiatives. By presenting a selection of Muslim women’s narratives on divorce initiatives, this paper argues that particular problematic power relationships rooted in outmoded patriarchal legal norms dominate religious leaders’ engagement with Muslim women. Three central themes are analysed in order to exemplify some of these dynamics: (1) the Muslim Judicial Council’s (MJC) reconciliation-at-all-costs approach; (2) the husband’s reputation; and (3) women’s experiences of marginalisation when presenting their case at the MJC. On the basis of these data, this paper argues that it is imperative to change the current modes of engagement so that women’s particular experiences in marriage are taken seriously and dealt with in ways that are concomitant with ideals of gender justice and equality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the influences of gender as an identity on an individual's ability to exercise agency in decision-making about internal migration in Vietnam. Women and men exert agency with reference to prevailing social norms in order to negotiate for or against their own migration and that of others. It has been well recognised that, beyond sex, their specific gender identity as mothers or fathers, daughters or sons, husbands or wives, etc. impacts on who can migrate for what kind of work. However, this study explores the more neglected ways in which gender structures migration. While my findings show that decision-making about migration was overwhelmingly consensual in nature, this did not necessarily mean that migration was equally in everyone's best interests. Women's agency around their own migration was in part constrained because they were forced to negotiate for their interests whilst trying to preserve family harmony. While social norms supported men's power to make unilateral decisions and while they resorted to powerful threats of divorce to get their own way, this did not prevent wives from resisting unwelcome decisions by ‘passive' means. The paper deepens feminist insights into the ways in which migration is gendered. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

A remarkably high proportion of women wage workers in rural Mozambique are divorced, separated, or widowed. This paper explores the factors underlying the difference between the marital status of these wage workers and other rural women in Mozambique and establishes a strong relationship between labor-market participation and female divorce or widowhood. The association is likely to work in both directions. Moreover, contrastive exploration suggests that divorced and separated women differ from partnered women in many other important respects: they tend to have access to better jobs, and divorced and separated mothers are also remarkably good at investing in their daughters' education compared with other mothers and male respondents. This paper concludes by stressing the limits of regression techniques in teasing out causation and interactions between variables, and by suggesting that policies to increase women's access to decently paid wage employment could make a substantial difference to the welfare of very poor rural sub-Saharan African women and their children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family structures in the United States have changed dramatically. Almost half of children growing up will spend some portion of their childhood in one of the following arrangements: single parent home, two homes, or living with one parent and a stepparent/intimate partner of their parent. Although child and adolescent mental health-care providers are treating children in families with complicated histories, and evidence supported interventions (ESI) typically include caregivers in child treatment, neither research nor manuals speak to variability in family structure, especially if parents are engaged in frequent court contact on divorce/child-related issues and/or there have been allegations of violence, abuse, or impaired parenting behavior. Children whose parents are frequently in court are vulnerable and also at risk of not having access to ESIs – even when an ESI is strongly indicated. Instead, children may be court ordered to alternative treatments or changes in parenting time after allegations of violence without protective or therapeutic interventions. Mental health clinicians can be informed of these risks, knowledgeable about family violence and prepared to expertly and ethically adapt ESI for this vulnerable population. This paper addresses adaptations in ESI for this population by providing a brief review of the underlying developmental and legal issues at play, recommended adaptations, and using three fictional and representative case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voice of the Child Reports have emerged as another method to hear from children involved in their parent's dispute. Until 2016, these Reports had limited use in the province of Ontario. This paper details the content analysis of the Reports written by social workers from interviews conducted with children in the Views of the Child Reports: Ontario Pilot Project. The content analysis was performed of the written text of the interviews with 86 children (38 boys and 48 girls) to describe and gain a richer understanding of children's views and experiences post separation before the court. There was a total of 30 social workers (27 females and 3 males) who wrote the Reports to the court. From a broad perspective, the themes that emerged from the text of the children's interviews included the importance of sibling relationships, the negative impact of interparental conflict and subsequent child–parent relationships, and the appreciation of being listened to about their views and experiences as a result of parental separation. While there is no single best method to obtaining children's views and experiences in parenting disputes, this study provides further evidence of the importance of hearing from children during times of parental separation and divorce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many worldwide live in households with multiple generations of related adults. This paper shows that the number of UK multigenerational households has been increasing but UK multigenerational households have been little studied. The research found that the motivations for multigenerational living are diverse and reflect multiple intersecting structural pressures, including an ageing population, worsening housing affordability and later household formation amongst young people. These intersect with individual circumstances, such as divorce or illness, to make multigenerational living the most practical option for some families. However, forming a multigenerational household is also often an individual and family choice, based on the expectation of mutual benefits brought about by multigenerational living. The research suggests that the extent to which living in a multigenerational household is a positive experience is determined by an individual's degree of agency and choice in the arrangement, rather than an ability to cope with wider structural pressures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research exploring the well-being and pastoral care of pupils attending primary and post-primary schools has become an issue of increased discourse and growing national and international concern in recent years. Society often expects that teachers can support or facilitate pupils experiencing such issues; however, there is little research that explores whether pre-service teachers encounter these issues on school placement and how they approach such concerns if they do. This paper reports on a study of pre-service teachers (N = 354) from the Republic of Ireland (RoI) and Northern Ireland (NI) and the frequency with which they encountered issues relating to bereavement, separation and divorce (BeSAD). To address the training needs, six semi-structured interviews with experts in the area of BeSAD and Initial Teacher Education (ITE) are also included. The quantitative component of the research indicated that nearly half of the pre-service teachers had encountered pupils who had experienced some form of BeSAD whilst on school placement. Respondents lacked confidence when supporting pupils experiencing BeSAD, particularly in relation to separation and divorce. The interviews conducted with experts from NI and the RoI (N = 6) identified the core role that teachers play as advocates for pupils who have experienced BeSAD. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of title to property between married couples remains intractable in Nigeria's social context. Ownership is addressed by Nigerian courts in a discretionary framework devoid of a cohesive conceptualization. By reviewing cases in Nigeria and England the paper finds that the exercise of discretionary justice is a 'cold legal question' and defective in granting a realistic outcome. A different approach is germane to achieve justice in family law. It concludes that the extant judicial approach is at variance with the marital vow 'with all my worldly possessions I thee wed' which imports unity of assets in the social psyche of parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]