October 2021

• Published date: 01 October 2021
• Author: Barbara A. Babb,Marsha Kline Pruett
• Date: 01 October 2021
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12597

EDITORIAL NOTE

OCTOBER 2021

Welcome to the new season and the October 2021 issue of Family Court Review. We hope you

and your loved ones have remained safe and healthy during the resurgence of the pandemic. Life

still remains complicated in so many ways. The current health crisis has highlighted the importance

of the role of science. Similarly, this special issue on the role of evidence-based and evidence-

informed practices affecting family law matters is needed now more than ever.

A huge thanks to special issue editors Lyn Greenberg, Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, and Marsha

Kline Pruett, who so thoughtfully and innovatively have compiled this issue. In their introduction to

the special issue, “Evidence-Based and Evidence-Informed Practice for ‘Real World’Family Law

Challenges,”they explain the difference between these two characterizations. They describe how

they have structured the articles in the issue, and they briefly introduce the authors, including prom-

inent researchers, lawyers, and judges, and their topics. As the special issue editors state in the

conclusion to their article, “It is early days for systematically integrating scientific evidence into

family law, but that means there are many exciting opportunities for the field to develop.”Indeed,

the special issue articles provide guidance about how to take effective and productive action on

those possibilities.

In the first of three additional articles in this issue, “Perceived and Actual Knowledge Gain

among Juvenile Drug Treatment Court Team Members: A Pre-Post Analysis of On-Site Training

and Technical Assistance,”co-authors Logan Yelderman, Jasmine Idrogo, Martha-Elin Blomquist,

and Angela Broadus survey practitioners in these specialty courts and discuss the implications of

their findings relative to recommended practices.

A second article, “Dispute Resolution Choices for Property Settlement in Australia: Client Views

on the Advantages and Disadvantages of Family Dispute Resolution and Legal Pathways,”by

Genevieve Heard and Andrew Bickerdike, explores various dispute resolution methods available to

clients in Australia’s family justice system. The authors provide empirical evidence concerning

clients’views about these approaches, and they identify perceived advantages and disadvantages for

each technique.

Glenda Lux and Sandy Gill author the final article, “Identifying Coercive Control in Canadian

Family Law: A Required Analysis in Determining the Best Interests of the Child.”They discuss

how coercive control manifests in family law matters, the effects of this behavior on children, and

intentional and necessary considerations to design effective parenting ar rangements.

Two book reviews add to the value of this special issue for all family justice system

practitioners. As an advisory note to our readers, these are the final book reviews FCR plans

to publish. The FCR Editorial Board members have decided to discontinue the book review

practice.

In the first of our final two book reviews, Michael Saini and Leslie Drozd offer their thoughts on

Parental Alienation: Science and Law, edited by Demosthenes Lorandos and William Bernet. As

FAMILY COURT REVIEW, Vol. 59 No. 4, October 2021 631–632, doi: 10.1111/fcre.12597

© 2021 Association of Family and Conciliation Courts