Present and past: children and young people's views on court ordered contact

By Ann Buchanan

This article describes research from two different studies on the views of children and young people on court ordered contact. The first study looked at is the Nuffield study, where 100 families and 30 children were interviewed at the time of court involvement, and their progress reviewed a year on. The second study which was funded by Kings College involved 100 young adults age 18-25 whose parents had been divorced in their childhood. In the case of 28 young adults, the parents had been involved in court order contact.

The article covers areas such as how the children found out about their parents divorce and the children's experience of the court process.

Results show that the main problems for children involved in court ordered contact are:

• Living with ongoing parental tensions
• Conflict when meeting up with the non-resident parent
• The children felt that their views were not heard

These problems may affect their future relationships and happiness in later years.

This research will be of interest to all those who work with separating and divorcing families.

Buchanan, A (2007) Present and Past: Children and young adults' views on court ordered contact. ChildRight 233 Febuary 2007 pages 12-16.

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