Gendered Dynamics in Family Court Counselling.

Abstract

This article examines Family Court counselling by drawing on accounts provided by 21 women who participated in a wide-ranging study about women's experiences of difficulties with negotiating care and contact arrangements for their children through New Zealand's family law system. The study was based on semi-structured interviews that were later transcribed in full and analysed thematically. Overwhelmingly, the 18 women who spoke about counsellor-led conciliation did so in negative terms. Their critiques point to the way in which gender enters into almost every dimension of the conciliation process--from the gender of the actors, to the nature of their interactions, and to the solutions advocated--in ways that served fathers' interests at the expense of mothers' abilities to care for and protect their children. Our findings raise important questions about the principle of gender neutrality and supposed impartiality of Family Court counsellors, as well as the extent to which decisions made during Family Court counselling are the result of a consensus between the parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)