LGBTQ Divorce and Relationship Dissolution: Psychological and Legal Perspectives and Implications for Practice brings together social science and legal perspectives to examine the timely topic of relationship dissolution and divorce among sexual and gender minorities.

This Handbook presents up-to-date scholarship on the causes and predictors, processes, and consequences of divorce and relationship dissolution. Featuring contributions from multiple disciplines, this Handbook reviews relationship termination, including variations depending on legal status, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The Handbook focuses on the often-neglected processes involved as the relationship unfolds, such as infidelity, hurt, and remarriage. It also covers the legal and policy aspects, the demographics, and the historical aspects of divorce. Intended for researchers, practitioners, counselors, clinicians, and advanced students in psychology, sociology, family studies, communication, and nursing, the book serves as a text in courses on divorce, marriage and the family, and close relationships.

This comprehensive second edition inspires therapists to utilize clinical work to pragmatically address intersectional oppressions, lessen the burden of minority stress, and implement effective LGBTQ affirmative therapy. A unique and important contribution to LGBTQ literature, this handbook includes both new and updated chapters reflecting cutting-edge intersectional themes like race, ethnicity, polyamory, and monosexual normativity. A host of expert contributors outline the best practices in affirmative therapy, inspiring therapists to guide LGBTQ clients into deconstructing the heteronormative power imbalances that undermine LGBTQ relationships and families. There is also an increased focus on clinical application, with fresh vignettes included throughout to highlight effective treatment strategies. Couple and family therapists and clinicians working with LGBTQ clients, and those interested in implementing affirmative therapy in their practice, will find this updated handbook essential.

This textbook offers a comprehensive overview of research on LGBTQ-parent families. The new edition of the textbook provides updated information and expands on the range and depth of current research. The volume features contributions from scholars in psychology, sociology, human development, family studies, gender studies, sexuality studies, legal studies, social work, and anthropology. In addition, the textbook offers an international perspective, with coverage spanning many diverse nations and cultures. Chapters highlight key research, exploring sexual orientation in relation to other key social identities, such as gender, race, and nationality. Chapters also discuss new, emerging areas of research, including asexuality and immigration. The textbook concludes with a section on the growing sophistication of research methodology in the study of LGBTQ-parent families. The second edition includes new chapters discussing: LGBTQ-parent families and health. LGBTQ foster parents. LGBTQ adults and sibling relationships. LGBTQ-parent families and poverty. LGBTQ-parent families and separation/divorce. LGBTQ-parent families and religion. LGBTQ-parent families and grief/loss. Methods, recruitment, and sampling in research with LGBTQ families. Teaching/pedagogy on LGBTQ-parent families. LGBTQ-Parent Families, 2nd Edition, is a valuable updated resource for graduate students as well as veteran and beginning clinicians across disciplines, including family studies, family therapy, gender studies, public health, social policy, social work and child and adolescent psychology as well as related disciplines across mental health and educational services.

The modern emergence of mediation in the West in the 1980s represents a profound transformation of civil disputing practice, particularly in the field of family justice. In the field of family disputes mediation has emerged to fill a gap which none of the existing services, lawyers and courts on the one hand, or welfare, advisory or therapeutic interventions on the other, could in their nature have filled. In the UK mediation is now the approved pathway in the current landscape of family dispute resolution processes, officially endorsed and publicly funded by government to provide separating and divorcing families with the opportunity to resolve their disputes co-operatively with less acrimony, delay and cost than the traditional competitive litigation and court process. The consolidation of the professional practice of family mediation reflects its progress and creativity in respect both of the expanding focus on professional quality assurance as well as on developments of policy, practice guidelines and training to address central concerns about the role of children in mediation, screening for domestic abuse, sexual orientation and gender identity as well as cross-cultural issues including the role of interpreters in the process. Other areas of innovation include the application of family mediation to a growing range of family conflict situations involving, for example, international family disputes (including cross border, relocation and child abduction issues). Written by leaders in family mediation, this title provides a contemporary account of current practice developments and research concerning family mediation across a range of issues in the UK and Ireland.

"Cases and materials on family law for law students taking a family law course"--

This far-reaching and contemporary new Encyclopedia examines and explores the lives and experiences of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals, focusing on the contexts and forces that shape their lives. The work focuses on LGBTQ issues and identity primarily through the lenses of psychology, human development and sociology, emphasizing queer, feminist and ecological perspectives on the topic, and addresses questions such as: · What are the key theories used to understand variations in sexual orientation and gender identity? · How do Gay-Straight Alliances (GSA) affect LGBTQ youth? · How do LGBTQ people experience the transition to parenthood? · How does sexual orientation intersect with other key social locations, such as race, to shape experience and identity? · What are the effects of marriage equality on sexual minority individuals and couples? Top researchers and clinicians contribute to the 400 signed entries, from fields such as: · Psychology · Human Development · Gender/Queer Studies · Sexuality Studies · Social Work · Sociology The SAGE Encyclopedia of LGBTQ Studies is an essential resource for researchers interested in an interdisciplinary perspective on LGBTQ lives and issues.

A compelling examination of the social and legal experiences of lesbian, bisexual, and queer stepparent families Lesbian, bisexual, and queer families formed after the dissolution of a marriage face a range of obstacles. In Queer Stepfamilies, Katie L. Acosta offers a wealth of insight into their complex experiences as they negotiate parenting among multiple parents and family-building in a world not designed to meet their needs. Drawing on in-depth interviews, Acosta follows the journeys of more than forty families as they navigate a legal and social landscape that fails to recognize their existence. Acosta contextualizes the legal realities of LGBTQ stepparent families and considers the actions these parents take to protect their families in the absence of comprehensive policies or laws geared to meet their needs. Queer Stepfamilies reveals the obstacles these families face in family courts during divorce proceedings and custody cases, and highlights their distrust of courts when it comes to acting in their children’s best interests, especially in the event of an origin parent’s death. As LGBTQ families continue to make social and legal strides in acceptance and recognition, this important book shows how queer stepparents find ways to make their unconventional families work, despite the many social and legal obstacles they encounter. Acosta provides a fresh perspective, broadening our understanding about families in the twenty-first century.

The editors and contributors of this comprehensive text provide a unique and important contribution to LGBT clinical literature. Spanning 30 chapters, they discuss the diverse and complex issues involved in LGBT couple and family therapy. In almost 15 years, this book provides the first in-depth overview of the best practices for therapists and those in training who wish to work effectively with LGBT clients, couples, and families need to know, and is only the second of its kind in the history of the field. The clinical issues discussed include • raising LGBT children • coming out • elderly LGBT issues • sex therapy • ethical and training issues Because of the breadth of the book, its specificity, and the expertise of the contributing authors and editors, it is the definitive handbook on LGBT couple and family therapy.

This is the first comprehensive and interdisciplinary volume on divorce and relationship dissolution among LGBTQ people. With the goal of informing policy, practice, and future research, the volume gathers and expands current knowledge on: LGBTQ people's relationship and dissolution patterns, the divorce and child custody rules and processes that now apply to many LGBTQ families, and the surrounding political and cultural environment in the United States. Among the fascinating lines of inquiry explored are: What factors contribute to relationship stability and well-being among LGBTQ people, and what factors lead to instability and strife? How do stigma and prejudice impact LGBTQ relationships in terms of risk of, or resilience against, dissolution? How does access to the legal institution of marriage and parenthood impact same-sex couples' stability? What unique issues do LGBTQ people who are separating or divorcing face in the context of navigating custody of their children? What are the unique dissolution issues for transgender people, LGBTQ people leaving previous heterosexual relationships, and those whose relationships end due to the death of a partner? How do gender, race/ethnicity, immigration status, economic status, and other characteristics intersect with such issues? How can therapists and lawyers sensitively and effectively assist LGBTQ people who are experiencing relationship dissolution and its aftermath? This book attends to the empirical, demographic, personal, and legal experiences of LGBTQ individuals experiencing divorce and dissolution, and is an exciting resource for scholars, students, and practitioners in a wide range of fields, including law, psychology, social work, sociology, and political science.