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Record no:

1 of 1

Author:

WASOFF Fran;

Title:

Public attitudes and law reform: extending the legal framework for child contact to unmarried fathers, grandparents and step-parents?

Reference:

Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law, 31(2), 2009, pp.159-172.

ISSN paper:

0964-9069

ISSN online:

1469-9621

Abstract:

As children are now more likely to live in non-traditional families and experience family transitions, more kin act as de-facto parents, at least in some respects. Unmarried fathers, grandparents and step-parents are increasingly pressing their claims for extending rights of contact with children after parental separation. Law reformers are said to be sensitive to public attitudes about changing family norms. This paper traces how one European jurisdiction, Scotland, took account of these in relation to child contact in a family law reform process that culminated in the Family Law (Scotland) Act 2006. It compares the direction ultimately taken with public opinion, using evidence from a family attitudes module of the Scottish Social Attitudes survey. Where public attitudes are clear-cut, law reform can move in the direction of social attitudes. But where social attitudes are ambivalent or incompatible with other pressures for reform, they do not offer a steer for the direction of law reform.

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Format:

article;

Topics:

children; contact; family law; fathers; grandparents; policy formulation; public opinion; separated parents; step families;

Content Type:

research;

Country/Region:

Scotland;

Record ID:

www.scie-socialcareonline.org.uk/profile.asp?guid=237edd4c-5369-4d37-a28f-793ebaba5df4

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