ABSTRACT
Our major focus so far has been upon intervention in marital problems with a view to helping to resolve, or at least ease, them. Relationships sometimes deteriorate to such an extent, however, that their dissolution becomes inevitable. There is therefore an argument for some intervention to be directed towards minimizing the disruptive consequences of marital and family breakdown, a view held by the Finer Committee (DHSS 1974), since this represents, both literally and figuratively, the ultimate problem faced by any marriage. Conciliation differs fundamentally from other approaches that have been discussed because, apart from intrinsic differences, it is a developing area of practice, emerging from dissatisfaction with the present legal system and a search for an alternative, rather than from an established area of social work practice or an established body of social work theory.
