Findings from the first ever empirical study of enforcement challenge some existing assumptions about how the family courts enforce their own orders in child contact cases following parental separation. Recently, there has been public and policy concern that too many enforcement cases arise because implacably hostile mothers deliberately flout contact orders made in court. Questions have been raised about whether the courts have failed to ensure compliance, and whether tougher sanctions are needed. The research, based on analysis of a national sample of 215 cases, was conducted by Professor Liz Trinder of Exeter University and funded by the Nuffield Foundation. It found that implacably hostile mothers do exist, but they are a very small minority of enforcement cases. Much more common were cases where both parents were locked in conflict, or there were significant safety concerns, or older children themselves wanted to reduce or stop contact. The findings show the approach of the court appeared broadly determined by the case type. A ‘co-parenting support’ approach was mostly used with conflict cases as a means to set a clearer framework and help parents communicate. A ‘protective approach’ was used mainly with risk cases. A punitive approach was used primarily with the few cases we classified as implacably hostile. There were a small number of cases where the court could have been more robust, but on the whole the court responded appropriately to the case before it. The research has implications for current policy discussions about enforcement. The researchers conclude that adequate punitive sanctions are in place, and that policy attention should now focus on the full range of enforcement cases, particularly high conflict cases where both parents need more help to work together to implement an order. A summary of the research findings is attached. It is also available online at: nuffieldfoundation.org/sites/default/files/files/enforcement%20briefing%20paper%20final.pdf. A final report will be published in Autumn 2013. [quoted from Nuffield Foundation]
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 07:45:15 +0000
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