Agreement, Maintenance, Satisfaction and Relitigation in Mediated and Non-Mediated Custody Cases

Abstract

Data from 169 mediated cases and 61 non-mediated cases from a County Court Custody Mediation Program were analyzed in terms of incidence of agreement, long-term maintenance of agreement, disputant satisfaction with process and outcome, and rates of relitigation or recidivism. It was hypothesized that mediated cases would have high rates of agreement and high rates of agreement maintenance; that disputants in mediated cases would be more satisfied than disputants in non-mediated cases; and, that mediated cases would have lower incidents of relitigation or recidivism than non-mediated cases. Results confirmed all hypotheses. However, in terms of relitigation, the data revealed that mediated cases had more general involvement with the court than non-mediated cases; although once mediation occurred there was a significant drop in relitigation. [Article copies available for a fee from The Haworth Document Delivery Service:

DIVORCE MEDIATION: Research and Reflections

“…Furthermore, we found that parents were more satisfied with mediation than with adversary settlement six weeks after dispute resolution (Emery & Wyer, 1987b; Emery, Matthews, & Wyer, 1991), a year and a half later (Emery, Matthews, & Kitzmann, 1994), and twelve years following the initial settlement (Emery et al, 2001). Many other researchers report finding greater satisfaction with mediation in comparison to adversary settlement, and in general, parties report a high degree of satisfaction with mediation (Beck & Sales, 2001; Jones & Bodtker, 1999; Kelly, 1996). Thus, we are confident that mediation produces higher levels of satisfaction than adversary methods based on our own findings and those of others.…”

“…We did find a trend for greater compliance with child support orders among nonresidential parents who mediated, although noncompliance was quite high in both groups (Emery, Matthews, & Kitzmann, 1994). Others also have found higher rates of compliance with various aspects of separation agreements (Irving & Benjamin, 1992; Irving, Benjamin, Bohm, & MacDonald, 1981; Kelly, 1990; Pearson & Thoennes, 1989), although the evidence is somewhat mixed and parents who mediate may actually use court services more often (Jones & Bodtker, 1999). We suggest, however, that repeated use of court services may be a positive, not a negative, outcome for mediation.…”

Divorce mediation outcome research: A meta‐analysis

“…After mediation was completed, members of the Emery research team visited each family's home, where the structured interview took place and self-report questionnaires were completed. Other studies such as Jones and Bodtker (1999) and Meyer (1992) used archival court record data to identify mediation and litigation participants and mailed self-report questionnaires to them. As for Marcus, Marcus, Stilwell, and Doherty (1999), who were interested in comparing mediation and litigation groups just…”

“…As indicated in Table 1, studies either included all divorce issues in mediation or limited mediation to only childrelated issues such as custody. Specifically, Kelly (1989) and Marcus, Marcus, Stilwell, and Doherty (1999) used all-inclusive mediation while Emery, Matthews, and Wyer (1991); Jones and Bodtker (1999); and Meyer (1992) limited mediation to child-related issues.…”

Is Domestic Violence Relevant?

“…In addition, families who enter into mediation tend to have fewer custody hearings (Emery, Matthews, & Wyer, 1991). Mediated disputed custody cases had histories of greater involvement in the court system, however when mediation occurred, the consequence was reduced to relitigation (Jones & Bodtker, 1999). Not all findings regarding mediation have been positive.…”