ABSTRACT
This chapter provides the family justice system of England and Wales approaches so-called "private" child-related parental disputes. It focuses on the litigation process in family courts, which in this respect can be seen as the equivalent of a secondary or tertiary preventive support system. The chapter examines the social and psychological significance of symbolic legal ritual, judicial authority, all of which can be linked conceptually to notions of psychological balance/ stability and disequilibrium in family relations. It argues that the resort to the family justice system in cases of high conflict parental dispute can be viewed, as a search for a new and better emotional equilibrium to correspond to a just/fair basis upon which to base the family's post separation/divorce life. The chapter suggests that the current economic downturn and anticipated major cuts to the budgets of family courts and related services provide a golden opportunity to reform the structure of a system which has been reluctant to change.
