Dr Frances Britton and Mandy Drommer present the findings of their qualitative study involving twenty-three men who participated in mediation sessions and five mediators from metropolitan and two regional locations. The researchers used semi-structured interviews as their main data collection method. This research project was conducted in a research partnership between Relationships Australia WA’s Family Relationship Centres (FRC’s) and university researchers in Western Australia.

1. Men’s lived experience
and the implications for
mediation services
Ms M. DrommerDr K.F Britton

2. • Acknowledgement of Dr Carolyn Johnson who is unable to be present
• Outline of the presentation
• Drs Britton and Johnson (2012) undertook a study into the development
of Parenting Plans involving Family Relationship Centre (FRC) clients in
WA
• Part of that research involved a critical case analysis involving a non-
residential father who reported that his situation was not understood in
mediation (Britton & Johnson, 2015)
• In 2015 Relationships Australia (WA) funded a project to examine men’s
experience of Family Law mediation process in 3 FRCs; in one
metropolitan and in two regional areas
© Katherine Frances Britton
Background

3. • Debate - about men’s help seeking patterns or services not being inclusive
of men’s needs
• Men’s reluctance in seeking help for health, psychological, career or
relationship issues which can relate to men’s grief
• Services not responsive to men’s needs (Nahon & Lander, 2010)
• Limited literature on men’s experience of the mediation process
• Two Australian studies separately examined FDR practitioners and men’s
perspectives (Fletcher & StGeorge, 2010)
• Current study sought to address the gap in the literature on men’s
experience of the mediation process
© Katherine Frances Britton
Review of literature

4. • Design- A qualitative study to include the perspectives of men and a small
number of mediators. Practitioner team of practitioners provided advice
• Sample- 27 fathers and 5 mediators across three locations participated
• Method- Semi-structured interviews were used
• Ethics approval- was sought and received from The Human Research
Ethics Committee at UWA prior to commencement of the study
• Data collection- Participants were advised of the voluntary participation,
right to withdraw and the protection of their privacy and anonymity
• Data analysis – Used Nvivo to identify initial themes and drew on
similarities and differences across and between groups and previous
literature to create major themes
© Katherine Frances Britton
Methods

5. • Fathers’ experience of grief in relation due to unpredictable or lack of
contact with their children and mothers’ gatekeeping
• Discuss two interconnected areas- co-parenting and the impact of
socioeconomic status (SES) on fathers’ decision making in relation to
children
• Fathers reported that child support was an important factor in informing
mothers’ co-parenting decisions
© Katherine Frances Britton
Findings

6. • The role of socioeconomic and differing forms of capital (economic, social
and knowledge) impacted on fathers’ decision making
• Social capital-support networks; family/friendship and profession
• Men’s responses varied on socioeconomic dimensions; occupation
education and housing
• There was a connection between occupation/education and capacity to
understand and participate in the mediation process
© Katherine Frances Britton
Findings-SES dimensions

7. • Fathers reported the greatest level of grief or emotional pain was the lack
contact with the children which is supported by Australian literature
(Fletcher & StGeorge, 2010)
• Some reported a sense of hopelessness in not being able to change co-
parenting situations. Low levels of cooperation in co-parenting is in line
with previous research (McGene & King, 2012)
• Herr (1996, p. 6-7) maintains that socioeconomic status is like a coffee
percolator in which information is filtered
• Higher levels of unemployment and fathers on low incomes were more
evident in regional areas
© Katherine Frances Britton
Findings and discussion

8. • Provide written preparation/material at each stage of the process
• Bring the mothers along with the journey too
• Continue to keep the children central at each stage
© Katherine Frances Britton
Changes to mediation services

9. Britton, K. F., & Johnson, C., H. (2012). The process of developing
Parenting Plans: Parents' perceptions. Retrieved from Curtin University,
WA:
Britton, K. F., & Johnson, C. H. (2015). Engagement and participation of
men in mediation. Journal of Family Studies, 1-12
doi:10.1080/13229400.2015.1020986
Doka, K. J., & Martin, T. L. (2011). Grieving Styles: Gender and grief. Grief
Matters, 14(2), 42-45.
Field, J. (2008). Social capital (2nd. ed.). London: Routledge.
Fletcher, R. J., & StGeorge, J. M. (2010a). Men’s help-seeking in the
context of family separation. Advances in Mental Health, 9(1), 49-62.
doi:10.5172/jamh.9.1.49
Fletcher, R. J., & StGeorge, J. M. (2010b). Practitioners' understanding of
father engagement in the context of family dispute resolution. Journal of
Family Studies, 16(2), 101-115.
© Katherine Frances Britton
References

10. Herr, E., L. (1996). Career development and work bound youth In R. Feller
& G. R. Walz (Eds.), Career transitions in turbulent times: Exploring
work, learning and careers (pp. 245-256): ERIC.
McGene, J., & King, V. (2012). Implications of new marriages and children
for coparenting in nonresident father families. Journal of Family Issues,
33(12), 1619-1641. doi:10.1177/0192513x12437150
Nahon, D., & Lander, N. R. (2010). The effectiveness of gender role re-
evaluation and non-gender-focused group psychotherapy in the
treatment of recently separated men. International Journal of Men's
Health, 9(2), 102-125. doi:10.3149/jmh.0902.102.
Warr, D. J. (2004). Stories in the flesh and voices in the head: Reflections
on the context and impact of research with disadvantaged populations.
Qualitative Health Research, 14(4), 578-587.
doi:10.1177/1049732303260449
© Katherine Frances Britton
References continued