The role of social work practice and intervention in divorce mediation

Abstract

Marriage is one of the oldest institutions of mankind. It is the coming together of a man and woman for the purpose of procreation and society. In our society marriage is a social institution in which a male individual marries a female individual, provided both have attained their respective adulthood as specified by the law of the state. Although the definition of marriage varies with culture it can, in a nutshell, be defined as a social union or legal contract between spouses that establishes rights and obligations between the two of them, between them and their children and between them and their in-laws. It therefore falls within the ambit of those who are specifically trained in psycho-socio counselling to minimise the damaging consequences of a failed marriage.