Family Law and I: A Mother Perspective

By Susanna Susara Kruger

This thesis examined the language of the four Acts that one immigrant family was subjected to, when it went through protection, parenting, relationship property division, and dissolution of marriage proceedings of the New Zealand Family Court. The key literature topics researched, were: Language of the Family Court (local sources); Language in the Courtroom (international sources); and, Law and Other Disciplines such as culture and psychology. Journalistic sources and current affairs were referenced to introduce the study. A qualitative research methodology was used to identify over 50 examples of language of the family court reflecting a violent character. An autobiographical ethnography research method was used to relate personal experiences of the participant as researcher, assembled from hindsight, to argue in what ways the application of such language resulted in adjudications in favour of the powerful. It was a study of Self, by Self, for Self. This study described the language and cultural assumptions that family law made and the devastating impact of its adversarial family court on the family. This study produced 14 key findings pertaining to the researched family; the research questions, study aim and reason, and the investigated dilemma; lawyers and judges; parents, children, and stepparents; the four Acts; the McKenzie Friend; and separation education. This study developed the theory that the family court's culture, practised by legal professionals, is written in the language of family law, inherently a type of violence, a legally violent system, reflecting the dominant culture of its society. This study was conducted from a pre-defined worldview; however, it allowed the researcher to generate unusual knowledge, supported by academic evidence. This study delivered four recommendations, to legal professionals and politicians; families; McKenzie Friends; and regarding future research. This thesis should help educate the separating or separated family on how to improve equity outcomes for themselves. This thesis makes room for future studies of more families in relation to the same Acts and/or a study of one family in relation to other Acts; giving law, a human face.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1731229550
• ISBN13: 9781731229557
• Release Date: November 2018
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 122 Pages
• Weight: 0.42 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"