Mediation at Different Stages of the Divorce Process (From Divorce and Family Mediation, P 34-47, 1985, James C Hansen, ed. - See NCJ-100688)

• NCJ Number: 100690
• Author(s): S C Grebe
• Date Published: 1985
• Length: 14 pages
• Sale Source: Lockheed Martin
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This essay explains the theories that have viewed divorce as a process over time (Bohannon, Brown, Ibrahim, Kaslow, and Kessler) and suggests the implications of these models for divorce mediation.

Abstract

Bohannon (1971) identified six stations of divorce: emotional, legal, economic, coparental, community, and psychic. Ibrahim (1984) paralled the stages of divorce with the stages of dying identified by Kubler-Ross, adding threat, separation, shock, and a new start to Kubler-Ross' stages of denial and isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Kessler (1975) identified seven divorce stages: disillusionment, erosion, detachment, physical separation, mourning, second adolescence, and hard work. Kaslow (1981) proposed a dialectic model having the stages of deliberation, litigation, and reequilibration. Brown (1976) postulated a two-stage divorce process: the decisionmaking phase and the restructuring phase. In explaining each of the aforementioned views of divorce stages, implications are drawn for the appropriateness of mediation at each of the stages, and mediation problems and benefits likely to characterize each stage are identified. 16 references.