Parenting Coordination: Resolving high conflict parenting disputes in the USA

Research has demonstrated the significant negative impact of ongoing inter-parental conflict on children (PR Amato, ‘The Consequences of Divorce for Adults and Children’ (2000) 62(4) Journal of Marriage and the Family 1269; B Rodgers and J Pryor, Divorce and separation: The outcomes for children (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, 1998); J Wallerstein and S Blakeslee, The unexpected legacy of divorce (Hyperion, 2000)). In addition to the harm they may be causing their children, ‘high conflict’ separated and divorced parents have frustrated attorneys and created additional workloads for the courts. In reaction to these issues, courts and state legislatures have often turned to third-party, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) processes such as mediation, arbitration, and parent education for solutions (M Geasler and K Blaisure, ‘1998 Nationwide survey of court-connected divorce education programs’ (1999) 37 Family & Conciliation Courts Review 36; J Clare, L Roundtree and E Manley, Alternative dispute resolution in North Carolina: A new civil procedure (North Carolina Dispute Resolution Commission, 2003); J Walker and S Hayes, ‘Policy, practice and politics: Bargaining in the shadow of Whitehall’, in P Herrman (ed), The Blackwell Handbook of Mediation: Bridging theory, practice, and research (Blackwell, 2006))