Book Review: Family Law and Social Policy
| Published date | 01 June 1980 |
| DOI | 10.1177/000486588001300212 |
| Author | Jocelynne A Scutt |
| Date | 01 June 1980 |
BOOK REVIE\VS 155
traditional control
that
the
west
could
seriously learn from. Industrialized
nations
have
much
to reflect
about
concepts
of
mediation
and
negotiation (as
distinct
from
adversary
procedures)
that
operated
in
some
Asian countries. And,
so
called
primitive
societies
could
teach
us as well
about
relating
the
seriousness
of a crime to
the
harm done to a community rather than to an individual. Philosophies
of
correction
such as restitution
and
"serving" -variations of
which
are
now
under
scrutiny in
the
west -
were
fairly
common
practices
and
it
would
have
been
valuable
(0
have
had
them
covered
in
more
than
a
cursory
fashion.
No
one
minds a
book
that discusses
present
practices in criminal justice in
South East Asia. But
the
book
could
have
presented
an
overview
of
aU
the
practices,
good
and
bad,
traditional
and
modern.
The
Institute of
Criminology
should
leave
it to governments
to
push
their
own
political
barrows
and
not
act
as
aclearing house for South East Asian
propaganda.
The
Institute
is, at
long
last,
beginning
to
take
a
few
tentative steps
towards
intellectual integrity
and
research
usefulness. But it is a
long
march
before
the
journey
is
completed
and
Innovations in Criminal Justice in Asia
and
the Pacific makes
the
journey
even
longer.
PAUL
R
WILS()N
Brisbane
Family
Law
and
Social Policy, John Eekelaar, Law in Context Series, Weidenfeld
and
Nicolson, London, 1978 pp 335 $26.25.
As a lucid exposition of
the
law of domestic relations and its social underpinnings,
John Eekelaar's
new
book, Family
Law
and
Social Policy cannot be faulted. As in his
previous volume, Family Security
and
Family Breakdown,
the
author exhibits an
unmatched
skill in rendering what could be a limited academic treatise into a book
that
can, and should, be read by all members of
the
public, social workers,
sociologists, lawyers and criminologists alike.
The
book comprises four major sections. Part
One
deals with "The Family in
Society", touching upon such issues as
the
purposes of marriage
and
the
family,
current
criticisms of
the
family unit, dysfunctional families,
and
law
and
policy
relating to
the
unit. In Part Two matters are arranged
under
the
umbrella of "Law
and
Protection" -covering
the
origins of modern protective legislation,
modern
social and legal responses to domestic violence generally, to child abuse, and to
the
neglected and deprived child. "Law and Adjustment", as Part Three, covers divorce
processes and ancillary matters of property adjustment on divorce, maintenance
claims for children and spouses, and custody and access for children of divorce.
Support for marriage and support for families through social policies is described in
Part
Four, "Law and Support", outlining laws and social issues pertaining to security
of residence, protection of property, security of income support, problems of
the
de
facto family and problems arising
out
of adoption procedures. Finally, apostscript
debates issues of policy and practice: how far can - or should -
the
law go in
intervening in what might be seen as an area of private interaction,
the
family unit?
John Eekelaar does not limit himself to British laws, weaving into
the
monograph
adescription of and commentary upon relevant legislation and practice in various
United
States' jurisdictions (particularly California), Canada (particularly Ontario),
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