Another Survey.

In my attempt not to read anything about the break up of Madonna and Guy Ritchie's marriage I overlooked this rather interesting comment in The Guardian. This focuses on the welfare of children when there parents separate and highlights the results of a survey of 1,000 children under the age of 15 from both separated families and those still intact published yesterday by the Centre for Separated Families. 25% of children from separated families don't consider themselves to be happy compared with 10% from intact families still. Also, children whose parents are separated are more likely not to want children themselves and have fewer friends.

It is suggested outcomes for children could be improved by adopting early interventions to enable parents to resolve difficulties without involving the courts. The parents would then be encouraged to understand that two parents are better than one and unless there was very good reason to make an exception, the courts would expect a child to see the non-resident parent regularly. If the parent with care blocked contact prison would be the sanction. An early interventions project, based on the idea of therapeutic justice on the other side of the Atlantic , could have made a difference but it was replaced by a pilot of the family resolutions project which didn't work.