Details
This book is concerned with the regulation of family relationships,in particular the issue of openness and contact in the many different family situations in which it may arise. The shift towards a presumption of contact, and its articulation within diverse fields of family law and practice raises a whole series of questions which this book seeks to explore. For example: Why has the contact presumption emerged? What is meant by contact, and with whom. What is the value and purpose of it? What makes it work or not work? What is the role of law and other forms of external intervention in promoting, regulating or facilitating contact and to what extent should 'familial' relationships be subject to state regulation? More broadly, what can we infer about current conceptualisations of family, parenting (and the relative importance of social and biological parenthood) and childhood from policy and practice towards contact?
These and other questions were explored in a series of seminars organised by the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group in 2002. The book is the product of these seminars.
Family Law and Policy at the University of Cambridge.
Bridget Lindley is a solicitor and family mediator and was a Senior Research Associate at the Centre for Family Research, University of Cambridge.
Martin Richards is Emeritus Professor of Family Research at the Centre for Family Research at the University of Cambridge.
Liz Trinder is a Reader in Family Studies at the School of Geography, Politics and Sociology at Newscastle University.
...valuable insights on the law, government policy, and sociological research, as well as a topical consumer critique of the family law system.
Helen Rhoades, The University of Melbourne
International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family
April 2005
…essential reading for parents and professionals, as it explores the meaning and significance of parent-child relationships after family breakdown An informative and inspirational book for all who care about the well-being of this nation's children.
David Cannon
Shared Parenting Information Group
October 2003
This collection of essays offers valuable insights into different aspects of contact to all those working with families experiencing separation.
ChildRIGHT
March 2004
The major benefit of this book for me was to highlight the tensions within the different disciplinary perspectives that both explain and complicate the problematic area of continuing contact with children in families that, for whatever reason, become disrupted.
The book contains a wealth of data, research studies, literature, ideas and arguments that should be valuable to practitioners as well as academics seeking to engage with the current issues.
Fiona Raitt
Scolag Legal Journal
June 2004
The issue of contact is explored in depth from a variety of perspectives, and results in an informative and compelling read. . . . Family court advisers across the board are likely to find topics and themes that will inform and potentially enhance their professional skills, knowledge and practice. It is the sort of operational and professional issue that CAFCASS, as a social work agency, ought to think long and hard about. All CAFCASS offices should have access to a copy of this book.
Jim Lawson, Family Court Adviser
Family Court Journal
August 2004
…this collection provides a good review of the social, legal and psychological research that demonstrates the complicated issues faced by the law, by policy-makers and particularly by family members as they come to define and express their children's welfare in the context of contact.
Alison Diduck, University College London
The British Journal of Sociology
May 2005
