Reviews : Access to Agreement Gwynn Davis and Marian Roberts Open University Press, 1988; £8.95 pbk, 163pp
| Author | Nigel Stone |
| Published date | 01 June 1989 |
| Date | 01 June 1989 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/026455058903600205 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
70
REVIEWS
Comments,
contributions
and
sugges-
tions
to
Keith
Skerman,
Probation
Office, 191A
Askew
Road,
London
W12.
Tel
01-603
5511.
Access
to
Agreement
Gwynn
Davis
and
Marian
Roberts
Open
University
Press,
1988;
£8.95
pbk,
163pp.
South
East
London’s
Family
Concilia-
tion
Bureau
is
a
fascinating
hybrid:
a
non-coercive,
voluntary
mediation
ser-
vice
that
is
the
Creature
of
a
statutory
court
welfare
service,
sharing
premises
and
staff.
The
authors
were
invited
to
research
the
project
and
chose
to
can-
vas
the
views
of
51
recipients
of
its
supposed
benefits.
This
is
thus
primari-
ly
a
consumer
study
rather
than
an
organisational
analysis,
illuminating:
just
what
it
is
that
mediators
have
to
offer
within
’party
control’;
what
exper-
tise,
style
or
values
do
they
adopt;
how
truly
voluntary
are
negotiations;
are
gender-based
power
imbalances
per-
petuated ;
how
is
the
outcome
affected
by
the
stage
reached
in
the
divorce
or
by
the
influence
of
new
partners?
Though
over
20%
of
parents
had
been
referred
to
the
bureau
by
the
court
or
by
the
court
welfare
officer
assigned
to
their
case
(and
some
inevitably
had
difficulty
in
distinguish-
ing
the
separate
role
of
the
bureau),
the
overall
picture
emerges
of
sensitive
practice
which
succeeds
in
handing
back
authority
for
decision-making
to
parents,
which
can
provide
a
vital
start-
ing
point
for
improved
future
family
negotiation,
even
if
neat
solutions
are
not
achieved
immediately.
Some
process
aspects
remain
puz-
zling.
When
the
mediators
see
each
parent
separately
after
the
initial
brief
introduction,
how
do
they
decide
who
to
see
first
and
what
impact
does
that
have
on
the
encounter
with
the
sec-
ond ?
What
impact
does
mediation
work
have
upon
the
practice
of
staff
who
also _
do
court
welfare
reports?
The
impact
for
this
court
welfare
officer
was
a
heightened
appreciation
of
what
par-
ents
perceive
as
legitimate
bargaining,
what
they
gauge
as
fair
or
unreason-
able,
what
they
value
as
a
’sense
of
solid
purpose’
in
their
workers,
how
to
grap-
ple
as
an
outsider
with
the
private
communication
codes
of
couples,
how
one
can
alienate
parents
by
theory-
based
‘e~ertise’,
the
importance
of
respecting
parents’
legitimate
differ-
ences
over
their
children’s
best
interests.
In
the messy,
tentative
business
of
post-separation
resolution
there
is
much
here
that
is
heartening,
and
this
book
deserves
study
by
Civil
Work
Units
debating
whether
and
how
to
sponsor
and
resource
such
a
service.
Nigel
Stone
Court
Welfare
Team,
Norwich
The
Law
on
the
Misuse
of
Drugs
Rudi
Fortson
Sweet &
Maxwell,
1988,
£27.00
hbk,
330pp.
I
do
not
expect
a
law
book
to
be
fasci-
nating
and
entertaining,
but
this
book
is
full
of
the
most
wonderful
and
arcane
information.
Can
a
person
be
convicted
of
possessing
an
illegal
drug
if
the
amount
is
so
small
that
it
may
only
be
determined
by
chemical
analysis?
Can
a
person
be
convicted
of
importing
an
illegal
drug
if,
by
the
time
the
consign-
ment
arrives
baking
powder
has
been
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