This study investigated whether attendance at the Children Cope With Divorce program for divorcing parents was associated with differences in the litigation behavior of the parents consistent with a lowered level of conflict between the parties. 130 cases from Morgan County, Indiana, in which the parents attended the program were randomly selected and compared with 130 cases from the same county in which the parents did not attend the program. As a control, 130 cases from before, and 130 cases from after the date on which program attendance became a requirement in Morgan County, were randomly selected from Tipton County, Indiana, where divorcing parents do not attend a program.Measures of mean time in litigation (MTL) and of the numbers of 4 types of court petition were obtained for each of the 4 groups from court records. Four hypotheses predicting an association between program attendance and shorter MTLs and lower mean numbers of court petitions filed were tested. Hypotheses One and Two were tested by one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Hypothesis Three was tested by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Hypothesis Four was tested by 2 X 2 multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). All test results were nonsignificant. None of the hypotheses was supported.Possible reasons for the nonsignificant results are presented, as are limitations of the design and methodology. Other possible dependent variables which might be measured are described. The importance of collecting demographic data is mentioned. Limitations of the program studied in this project are discussed at length. In the absence of clear evidence of the effectiveness of any type of such program for divorcing parents, the courts must weigh the possible value of such a program against its cost. However, given our present state of knowledge about such programs, sponsors should select a program which presents a broad range of information. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/176257 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Free, Stephen H. |
| Contributors | Gerstein, Lawrence H. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 105 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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