Hello, I'm A Voice, Let Me Talk

This research report has been undertaken to examine the efficacy of a model which involves working with children who are actually included with their parents in parts of the mediation process at the time of separation.

Provision for such an intervention does not exist in the Family Court jurisdiction in New Zealand and hence this model of child-inclusive mediation is innovative in its combination of type and, in particular, its timing. The following evaluation of the model facilitates a real understanding of how children and their parents experience involvement in such an intervention.

This solution-focused model, which is not costly to implement, is predicated on family collaboration and grounded in research. Seventeen families at different stages of parental separation were interviewed following attendance at a mediation process. Children had attended parts of this mediation with their parents. The families were recruited from Family Court referrals under Section 9 of the Family Proceedings Act 1980. The 26 children ranged in age from six to 18 years.

Findings have indicated a high level of satisfaction with this process from both children and parents. Parents registered a heightened awareness of the effects of conflict on their children, recognition of a child’s need for parental co-operation and an enhanced ability to make agreements about co-parenting with their former partner. Children in the study felt that their strong need for a voice and for information from within the familial context was satisfied by this involvement. They reported a decrease in anxiety about the emotional and practical issues facing them as their family life was rearranged.

Parents also commented on how much less anxious their children were.