The Ongoing Debate about Mediation in the Context of Domestic Violence: a Call for Empirical Studies of Mediation Effectiveness

* Ms. Landrum holds a Juris Doctor (JD) and a Certificate in Dispute Resolution from The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Prior to attending law school, she earned a Ph.D. in history from The Ohio State University. She would like to thank Sarah Randolph Cole for her insight and comments on drafts of this article. 1 See, e.g., Lisa G. Lerman, Mediation of Wife Abuse Cases: The Adverse Impact of Informal Dispute Resolution on Women, 7 HARV. WOMEN’S L.J. 57 (1984); Laurie Woods, Mediation: A Backlash to Women’s Progress on Family Law Issues, 19 CLEARINGHOUSE REV. 431 (1985); David B. Chandler, Violence, Fear, and Communication: The Variable Impact of Domestic Violence on Mediation, 7 MEDIATION Q. 331 (1990); Barbara J. Hart, Gentle Jeopardy: The Further Endangerment of Battered Women and Children in Custody Mediation, 7 MEDIATION Q. 317 (1990); Karla Fischer, Neil Vidmar, & Rene Ellis, The Culture of Battering and the Role of Mediation in Domestic Violence Cases, 46 SMU L. REV. 2117 (1992); Douglas D. Knowlton & Tara Lea Muhlhauser, Mediation in the Presence of Domestic Violence: Is It the Light at the End of the Tunnel or Is a Train on the Track?, 70 N.D. L. REV. 255, 264 (1994); Kerry Loomis, Comment, Domestic Violence and Mediation: A Tragic Combination for Victims in California Family Court, 35 CAL. W. L. REV. 355, 367 (1999); Sarah Krieger, Note, The Dangers of Mediation in Domestic Violence Cases, 8 CARDOZO WOMEN’S L.J. 235, 240–41 (2002); Nancy Ver Steegh, Yes, No, and Maybe: Informed Decision Making About Divorce Mediation in the Presence of Domestic Violence, 9 WM. & MARY J. WOMEN & L. 145, 147 (2003) [hereinafter Ver Steegh, Yes, No, and Maybe]. This paper focuses on mediation in the United States, but this topic has also been a debated issue in other countries. See, e.g., Lois Chiang, Reports of ASIL Programs: ASIL Peking University Program Addresses Protection of Women’s Rights, THE AM. SOC’Y OF INT’L L. NEWSL. (Nov. 1995) (describing how Australia does not encourage mediation where there has been domestic violence, while China was not yet considering the power imbalances involved in mediation where the parties include a domestic violence victim and her abuser); Cynthia L. Chewter, Violence Against Women and Children: Some Legal Issues, 20 CAN. J. FAM. L. 99 (2003) (discussing issues related to domestic violence and mediation in the Canadian context); Raquel Aldana & Leticia M. Saucedo, The Illusion of Transformative Conflict Resolution: Mediating Domestic Violence in Nicaragua, 55 BUFF. L. REV. 1261 (2008); Barbara Davies & Stephen Ralph, Client and Counsellor Perceptions of the Process and Outcomes of Family Court Counselling in Cases Involving Domestic Violence, 36 FAM. & CONCILIATION CTS. REV. 227 (1998) (analyzing family law mediations of cases involving domestic violence in Australia); Sandra Zaher, The Feminization of Family Mediation, 53 DISP. RESOL. J. 36 (1998) (focusing primarily on the development of family mediation programs in Canada, but also addressing programs in the United States).