Volume 3, Number 4, 1980
Articles
- Wife Abuse: Implications for Socio-Legal Policy and Practice - Michael Benjamin & Susan Adler
This paper begins with a general discussion of socio-legal policy making, followed by a detailed examination of several aspects of the phenomenon of wife abuse: its definition; the scope of the problem; its characteristics; the resources available to respond to wife abuse; and the explanatory models of the phenomenon. This analysis reeals: first, that there is little consensus about the definition of abuse; second, that a large population of Canadian women (and men) are in need of service delivery of some sort; third, that there is a high degree of inconsistency about what is "known" about the phenomenon; fourth, that resources needed to respond constructively to the problem are either absent or underutilised; and fifth, that four explanatory models of abuse are currently available, each of which permits the derivation of policy directives but which tend to be mutually exclusive across models. Critical evaluation of these models suggests that a general systems theory is the most adequate. On the assumption that a good theory leads to good policy, the authors recommend implementation of the policy directives derived from this model and briefly discuss some of the legal and practical implications of this choice.
- Neglect and Violence Toward Children - Peter C. Matthews
This paper discusses some cliniccal observations and some possible legal responses to the neglect and violence towards children. Outlined are the kinds of factors involved in these problems, the types of legal responses and a brief list of options that might be considered in attempts to change the situation.
- Violence Against Women: Does the Legal System Provide Solutions or Itself Constitute the Problem? - Michael D.A. Freeman
Violence against women - particularly against those in a domestic setting - is rooted in the cultural definition of women as subordinate to men. The author examines English law to illustrate how the legal system participates in maintaining women in a position of dependency. His observations, however, are applicable to most other contemporary legal systems that operate within the Western economic sphere.
- Custody and Maintenance: The Role of Provincial Legislation for Divorced Families - Imants J. Abols
Family law has been unduly complicated by the Courts' use of the constitutional doctrine of paramountcy, rather than a recognition of the concurrent jurisdiction of the provincial and federal governments in the area of family law. This applies with particular reference to the Divorce Act and the issues of spousal and child maintenance after divorce, and to child custody.
- The Circularity of Punishment and Treatment: Some Notes on the Legal Response to Juvenile Delinquency - Neil Boyd
Delinquency is the socially constructed product of a reflexive relationship that exists between the State and those who live withing the State. This paper urges that the juvenile delinquency should not be examined from the vantage point of correctionalism and that the imposition of treatment is not meaningfully differentiated from the imposition of punishment. It should therefore not be surprising that treatment programmes for juvenile delinquents are associated with high rates of failure. The author argues that youthful deviance is constantly being re-defined and that efforts to preent and control "juvenile delinquency" fail to come to terms with the complex nature of this phenomenon.
- Diversion of Children from the Juvenile Courts - Mark L. Berlin and Herbert A. Allard
This paper assesses the strengths and weaknesses of diversion in the Canadian juvenile justice system. Generally, the authors find that diversion, as presently practised, is incompatible with the criminal law traditions of the Juvenile Courts and repugnant to the due process of law. They urge law reformers and legislators to exercise great caution before endorsing such programmes.
Review of Periodical Literature
- Burton E. Bernstein: "Lawyer and Social Worker as an Interdisciplinary Team" (1980), 61 Soc. Csewrk 416.
- Florence Bienenfeld: "What Children Say About Divorce: A Guide to Interviewing Children" (1980), 18(2) Concil. Cts Rev. 49.
- Lawyer and Social Worker as an Interdisciplinary Team
- What Children Say About Divorce: A Guide to Interviewing Children
- The Psychologist as an 'Inexpert Witness'
- Child Custody Determination: Issues for Psychological Evaluation
- Comments on Compulsory Reporting and the Judiciary
- Managing Conflict: The Role of the Mediator
- Tenancy by Entireties: A Matrimonial Regime Ignored
- Division of Canada Pension Plan Credits on Termination of Marriage
- Custody and Access Decisions: Minimizing the Damage to Families
- Violence In, Violence Out: Child-Abuse and Self-Mutilation in Adolescent Offenders
- The Family Policy Implications of New Social Program: The New Zealand Accident Compensation Scheme
- Defining 'Dangerous' and 'Hard-Core' Delinquents: The Views of Juvenile Justice System Professionals in British Columbia
In The Family Courts
- Leponiemi v. Leponiemi
- The Queen v. Houle
- Pontmeier v. Pointmeier
- Bagaric v. Juric and Bagaric
Casenotes
- Blood Tests Are Not For the Asking in Paternity Matters (Re D and S) - Erica Abner
Book Reviews
- Alastain Bisset-Johnson and Winifred H. Holland, Matrimonial Property Law in Canada. (Toronto: Carswell, 1980) - Anthony M.J. Pepe
- Julien D. Payne, Marilyn A. Begin, Freda M. Steel, Payne's Consolidated Digest of Cases and Materials on the Divorce Act of Canada. (Toronto: Richard DeBoo) - Gene Colman