Divorced from Reality: Rethinking Family Dispute Resolution
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The title of this book perfectly tees up the authors’ thesis, and their penetrating analysis makes the book a stimulating read for everyone in the field.
Though focused on mediation’s use in the family area, their discussion yields rich insights for anyone engaged in the challenges of dispute systems design, and their manuscript serves as an enviable model for clear, temperate, and accessible writing.
Murphy and Singer argue that the contemporary landscape that shapes what constitutes a “family” and structures the multiple elements of family dynamics differs significantly from the world in which “Family ADR initiatives” were launched 35 years ago. Their concern is that court personnel, the “dispute resolution community” (meaning mediators and other neutrals), and mental health professionals frame their tasks and responsibilities for helping people involved in a family dispute in a way that has failed to adjust to these significant developments. In short, we are “divorced from reality.”
To use terminology well known in the dispute resolution field, Murphy and Singer examine whether the dynamics structuring family relationships today — the “fuss” — remains suitably matched to the “forum” of classical mediation. Here are some illustrative concerns:
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