Evidence‐based and Evidence‐informed Practice for “Real World” Family Law Challenges

• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Author: Marsha Kline Pruett,Lyn R. Greenberg,Amy Holtzworth‐Munroe
• Date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12598

EVIDENCE-BASED AND EVIDENCE-INFORMED PRACTICE

FOR “REAL WORLD”FAMILY LAW CHALLENGES

Marsha Kline Pruett, Lyn R. Greenberg, and Amy Holtzworth-Munroe

A judge is assigned a divorce case. The parents are reporting high conflict, and the mother’s

attorney has reported that the children are seeing a therapist due to anxiety and depression about

the divorce. The mother would like help learning how to de-escalate conflict with the father, and

the mother believes the father needs parent training as he has not been very involved in daily par-

enting tasks. The judge would like to send the parents to a parenting program that focuses on

decreasing interparental conflict and increasing parenting skills. Unfortunately, it’s in the middle of

the Covid-19 pandemic, so the local parenting program for divorcing parents is not running in-

person groups. Thus, the judge considers the possibility of online programs.

A family mediator meets an unmarried, separating couple sent by the court to consider media-

tion to settle child support, custody, and parenting time disputes. During the separate mediation

intakes with each parent, one parent reports being a victim of quite concerning levels of intimate

partner violence. Following discussion of that issue with that parent, the parent insists that they

would like to try mediation, rather than going to court. The mediator wonders if, and how, it might

be safe to mediate with this case.

Nine-year old Janice has always been a good student despite occasional difficulties paying atten-

tion in class. Her parents separated 8 months ago and, since beginning the 4

th

grade 3 months ago,

her grades have plummeted. She is acutely anxious, has begun to resist going to school and says

she has no friends. Her parents have starkly different interpretations of her behavior, each blaming

the other and suggesting that the other parent’s time be limited. The teacher has recommended that

Janice be evaluated for learning disabilities and that a therapist be consulted to address Janice’s

resistance to attending school. The parents are in dispute about what to do.

Most family law practitioners—whether hailing from mental health, legal or judicial disciplines—

believe that science improves programs and outcomes for families in the legal system. They may or

may not understand that science. It may be poorly implemented or misapplied. It may either have little

impact or, in some cases, even cause more harm than good. To maximize the use of research in fam-

ily law and avoid harmful outcomes, two aspects of science-based practice in family law must be con-

sidered. First, the quality of the science itself matters: the better the science, the more helpful it is

likely to be. Second, the quality of application matters: the gold standard is using the best science

available in a sound way, neither overreaching nor ignoring data that are available to inform practice

inclinations and recommendations to the court. This Special Issue of Family Court Review aims to

educate practitioners about different levels of scientific evidence, appreciate its various applications,

and recognize its limitations through current examples of programs and practices relevant to the field

of family law.

The underlying premise of this special issue is that all forms of science contribute to best prac-

tice. When practices are science-based, parts or components of a program or method are based on

social science evidence. As Davis and Sexton (this volume) ar ticulate, there are various stages of

evidence. In the pre-evidence stage, preliminary evidence, perhaps for a small or specific popula-

tion, suggests the utility of an intervention. However, the science is just being developed, and more

Corresponding: mpruett@smith.edu

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 59 No. 4, October 2021 633–640, doi: 10.1111/fcre.12598

© 2021 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts.