Abused Mothers’ Safety Concerns and Court Mediators’ Custody Recommendations
Open accessAbstract
This study adds to research on family court's response to custody in the context of intimate partner abuse (IPA). Mediation is often used to assist family court with custody negotiation; however, debate exists in the field regarding its use when IPA exists. The following study examines experiences with court mediation among a sample of victimized mothers who divorced abusive husbands. Mixed-method data were collected from 19 women. Findings demonstrate that abuse is rarely considered in custody recommendations, as most court mediators prefer joint custody. Implications for the ongoing debate, as well as future directions for research, are discussed.
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Threatening behaviour and an individual's perceived sense of threat based on the pattern of past violence may be largely invisible and not understood by professionals involved in family court litigation.
“Threatening behaviour––and an individual's perceived sense of threat based on the pattern of past violence they have experienced––may be largely invisible and not understood by professionals involved in family court litigation (Haselschwerdt et al., 2011; Katz et al., 2020; Rivera et al., 2012; Saunders et al., 2013).”
From Post‐separation abuse: A concept analysis (2023) · cites this paper as Rivera et al., 2012
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- Authors
- Rivera, E. A., Zeoli, A. M., & Sullivan, C. M.
- Affiliations
- Michigan State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Rivera, Echo A.
- Venue
- Journal of Family Violence
- Published
- 2012-03-20
- Volume
- 27
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 321-332
- ISSN
- 0885-7482 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-2851
- PMC
- PMC3491813
- OpenAlex
- W1982194932
- Cited by
- 50
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 4 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 3 · 2015: 3 · 2014: 4 · 2013: 1
- FWCI
- 2.93
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- europepmc.org
- Licence
- www.springer.com/tdm (tdm)
- Locations
- Journal of Family Violence (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute of Mental Health (R24MH075941)
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (K12HD065879)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Health › Intimate Partner and Family Violence
- Social Sciences › Law › Family and Matrimonial Law
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- intimate partner violence, child custody, judicial mediation, family court, joint custody, divorce, safety concerns
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