Effects of Different Dispute Resolution Methods on Women and Children After Divorce

Bohmer, Carol; Ray, Marilyn L.. Family Law Quarterly, Jun. 1, 1994

The authors looked at the custody and financial outcomes of mediated cases in New York and Georgia and compared them to outcomes of attorney-negotiated and judicially assisted settlements. They found that because there were no child support guidelines in place and joint custody agreements were most often broken when the case was mediated, women in New York fared worse financially when they mediated their case. In Georgia, which had child support guidelines in place, there was no difference in outcomes among the three forms of dispute resolution.

Description of Study: Examination of monetary and custody agreements reached in mediated, attorney-negotiated, and judicially-assisted settlement in New York and Georgia.

Method: Used mailed questionnaires to collect data about specific terms of divorce settlements from parties.

Comparative: Yes

Comparison Groups: Cases settled through mediation, cases settled through attorney negotiation, and cases settled with judicial assistance

Sample Size: 190 individuals in Georgia were sent questionnaires (69 who participated in mediation, 51 whose settlements were attorney-negotiated, and 70 who reached settlement with judicial assistance); 83 completed them. 302 individuals were sent questionnaires in New York (135 from the mediation group, 67 from the attorney-negotiation group, and 70 from the judicial assistance group); 124 responded.

Variables Examined: Monetary and custody outcomes, compliance with the agreement

Program Variables: Programs not described.

Findings: Women (and, according to the study authors, therefore children) fared worse in mediation in New York because the compliance with joint custody agreements was lower in mediated cases (80% compared to 95% of cases with attorney-negotiated settlements and 94% of cases with judicially-assisted settlements) and 29% of mediated settlements did not include child support terms (compared to 26% of attorney-negotiated settlements and 17% of judicially-assisted settlements); there was no difference in outcome between dispute resolution methods in Georgia.