Lens of Care @ ACPCS 1 – Amicus’ approach with families in dispute

Underlying many family disputes are non-legal concerns. Powerful emotions sometimes overwhelm rational thinking and cloud judgment. Anger, hurt and grief are often the drivers of litigation, and these emotions may not dissipate with a case when it is concluded in court. The re-ordering of family ties and obligations, coupled with financial stress and disruption of division, mean that parties, their children
and even their extended families may remain at strife long after the court event. 

Children suffer as a result of intra-parental conflict. Social science research has shown that factors such as being under constant stress and anxiety, feelings of guilt, abandonment and shame as well as the stress of financial uncertainty can hinder emotional growth and a healthy development of young children. 

At ACPCS, we aim to align with the family justice system and collaborate with other family legal and social science practitioners to help manage the consequences of family breakdown and nudge families to move forward in the fairest way possible, equipping them, where appropriate and necessary, with tools and resources that will help them move forward legally, emotionally and financially, without needing to go back to the court. We acknowledge that we play a pivotal role in mitigating the potential damage that arises in family disputes, and we are not alone in this work