July 2015

• Date: 01 July 2015
• Published date: 01 July 2015
• Author: Andrew Schepard
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12155

EDITORIAL NOTES

JULY 2015

SPECIAL FEATURE: PEACEMAKING FOR DIVORCING FAMILIES

This Special Issue, guest edited by Forrest (Woody) Mosten, brings to mind a book I read many

years ago that profoundly influenced me (and many others). The core idea of Viktor Frankl’s Man’s

Search for Meaning is that a search for a meaning in life is a primary human drive. Positing a pri-

mary drive for meaning challenges the psychoanalytic perspective that emphasizes that human

behavior is driven by unconscious desires.

Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and a psychologist, reminds us that what we do and how we think

about it actually matters. To Frankl we are more than the sum of our biology, our environment, and

our ids. We can choose to be who we are. Frankl’s argument is that, if we choose wisely, we can tri-

umph even in the face of the extraordinary human tragedy of the concentration camps. We have the

power to shape our attitudes and responses to the challenges life presents us and that we inevitably

grow thanks to these challenges. He tells us that, even on a crowded planet, every life is important.

He makes us want to “do right”.

I sense a touch of Frankl in this Special Issue, which could have been entitled The Divorce Dis-

pute Resolution Professionals’ Search for Meaning. Woody and the authors that he has assembled

ask us to think about what it means to do right by the families we serve.

The essays go beyond trying to improve the way we practice collaborative law or mediati on to

asking why we do so. They ask that we consider how to bring peace to the families we work with. In

his guest editor’s introduction, Woody describes the distinction between mediation and peacemak-

ing. Mediation (of which Woody is a world-class practitioner and trainer) is a process that looks very

different in different settlings (a court-based program strapped for funds versus a private mediator

working with affluent families in her office). Peacemaking, in contrast, “is a set of values, personal

attributes, goals, and behaviors that guide our work.” It is a broader commitment than simply trying

to avoid litigation. It is, in essence, finding meaning in the search for ways to improve the lives of

the people we work with, help them repair their relationships, and encourage them to responsibly

manage future conflict. That commitment can manifest itself in many ways and in many different

processes.

I leave it to Woody to introduce the authors that he has assembled. They include a lawyer, a

judge, mediators (both family and international), a custody evaluator, a parenting coordinator, and a

rabbi who is also a mediator. I am pleased that two law professors are part of the group. Collectively,

the authors are what I would describe as “seasoned optimists” who learn from experience and never

give up on the possibility for positive change in themselves and others. Even though they write from

different perspectives, they all point to the conclusion that peacemaking for divorcing families is

possible.

I will not describe Woody’s credentials for guest editing this Special Issue, as readers are famil-

iar with them. It suffices to note that this is the fourth Special Issue that Woody has edited during my

tenure of more than twenty years as editor of Family Court Review (FCR). (The other Special Issues

Woody edited are Mediation Training [January 2000], Unbundled Legal Services [January 2002],

and Collaborative Practice [April 2011].) In addition, he has also contributed essays to FCR on topics

like family law education and the future of divorce lawyers. These contributions reflect the scope of

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 53 No. 3, July 2015 355–356

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C2015 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts