Description of Study: Reports on the findings of two studies of three custody and visitation mediation programs and one divorce mediation program that included support and property division as well: the Winnipeg Study, and the Divorce and Family Mediation Study (Montreal, Saskatoon, St. John’s).

Method: Winnipeg Study: administered questionnaires to participants entering mediation between November 1985 and April 1986; conducted telephone interviews 3-4 months post-mediation; examined client files, intake sheets, court files, and archival data from petitions filed in 1983. DFMS Study: analyzed court records on recently filed separation and divorce cases; conducted interviews with former spouses from these cases six months after the case settled.

Comparative: No

Comparison Groups: Those couples who used mediation and those who did not

Sample Size: Winnipeg Study: questionnaires administered to 282 participants, interviews with 138 participants; DFMS Study: data collected on 1773 court files (363 in which mediation was used), 905 parties interviewed (324 of whom participated in mediation).

Variables Examined: Satisfaction, resolution rate (both studies); outcomes, compliance, relitigation, legal fees, time to case closure (DFMS Study only)

Program Variables: All programs were voluntary. Winnipeg, Saskatoon, and St. John’s: mediators were staff who also conducted custody evaluations (but not of same cases). Montreal: court referred cases to a mediation service. Mediation in general was facilitative to therapeutic.

Case types: Divorce-Custody, Divorce-General, Domestic Relations, Family

Findings: Across sites, 80% to 90% of respondents felt the mediator was fair; 16% felt pressured into an agreement before they were ready. The settlement rate in the Winnipeg Study was 65% per the mediators, 46% per the parties. The settlement rate in the DFMS Study was49% full and 15% partial per court records, 38% full and 20% partial per the parties.

The DFMS Study found that the average support agreed to in mediated cases was $430/month for mediated cases, as compared to $332 in non-mediated cases. The difference was greatest in Montreal (28% when controlled for income) and Saskatoon (11% when controlled for income). There was no evidence that mediation had an impact on compliance except in Montreal, where 97% of women who mediated reported compliance as compared to 66% of women who did not mediate. Relitigation data was available only for Montreal, where 18% of cases returned to court, of which 97% were not mediated. Custody: sole custody to mother was less likely in mediated cases (54.7% v 79.4%).

Legal costs were higher for parties who mediated, except in Montreal, in which they were slightly lower. Time to case closure was longer for non-mediated cases. The greatest difference was seen in Montreal, in which uncontested divorce cases closed 7 weeks sooner and contested divorce cases closed 23 weeks sooner.