Divorce Mediation Really Works

By Steven G. Mehta

I just heard of a friend of mine who spent $70,000 in legal bills and his wife spent over $200,000 to get divorced. I couldn’t help but think, why didn’t they go to mediation. Well a new review of other
long term studies has found that divorce mediation does help and is
better than the alternative: trial.

According to Researcher Lori Shaw in her Meta study entitled, Divorce mediation outcome research: A meta-analysis, mediation produced a grand effect size of 0.36 difference from litigated matters. According to Ms. Shaw, this small-to-moderate effect size reveals that
across the included studies mediation is a beneficial alternative to
litigation for divorcing couples.

Although Ms. Shaw’s research is invaluable in helping to determine the scientific validity of mediation, it is clear that parties need to
resort to mediation first rather than last. In the case of my friend,
after the combined expenditure of $270,000, they decided to go to
mediation. Had they chosen this alternative as the first choice, the
family could have been much happier and much more wealthy. As it
stands, these parties succumbed to the illness named, divorce
pyschosis. After the love is gone, they go to all efforts to punish
the other.

Research Source: Conflict Resolution Quarterly

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Permalink Reply by Ryan Kelleher on October 28, 2010 at 4:35pm

Interesting Post. I find it bizarre that people would lose out on that amount of money! It is interesting to see how people are using mediation more and more in the divorce process. It only makes sense. With the economy the way it is, and jobs hard to come by, it seems like not using a form of ADR would be foolish. With the divorce rate skyrocketing in the last decade (41% of first marriages) many people are looking to leave things on civil terms. Therefore, why not use ADR?? It's cheaper, more civil, and who knows, maybe things will be worked out. With the cost of divorce litigation in this country increasing drastically, the fact that litigation is focused mainly on "revenge" and not a sensible solution and the process becoming harmful to children, I agree with you on the fact that it is absurd for people not to use ADR in most divorce situations.

Ryan Kelleher (ADR Student, University of Massachusetts, Amherst)