Am J Psychiatry 1986; 143:192-197
Copyright © 1986 by American Psychiatric Association
Divorce and child custody resolution: conflicting legal and psychological paradigms
JW Jacobs
The resolution of divorce conflict, especially the determination of child
custody, is a major social policy concern of both the legal and mental
health professions. The differences between the adversarial and mediation
legal approaches parallel the phenomenological/psychoanalytic and the
family therapy models of the mental health field. A philosophical and
practical relationship exists uniting the adversarial and
phenomenological/psychoanalytic traditions, while mediation is strongly
aligned with family systems theory and therapy. Each paradigm offers
American families alternative methods of resolving disputes. A greater
synthesis of paradigms is required to give effective help to divorcing
couples and their children.
