When it comes to contact disputes, what are family courts for?

This is a pre-copy-editing, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in Current Legal Problems following peer review. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at the link below.The easy answer to the question ‘What are family courts for?’ is of course, in the traditional civil adversarial system, to make decisions and to resolve disputes. But the answer has not been straightforward in child and family disputes, and recently it has become even less clear cut. This article is intended to examine how the role of the family court has been changing in the context of contact disputes, why it has changed and what the implications of the latest developments might be. It will suggest that there is now a blurring of the roles of adjudication and social work intervention and consider what this might lead to