The Importance of the Domestic Disputes - Case Study Example

Introduction Modern way of life has put on lot of pressure on social relationships between individuals and as such there exists always a constant stress and tension between the individuals. Domestic violence or domestic abuse can significantly indicate towards patterns of abuse and use of coercive power by one partner against another partner. Domestic violence therefore is mostly a result of domestic dispute. Domestic disputes therefore are also one of the important off-shoots of modern society which ranges from simple argument on minor domestic issues to the use of violence against each other. As domestic disputes and their resolvation require a very careful and dedicated efforts not only by the family members but by the external agencies too which are mandated with the job of resolving domestic disputes in order to bring in more social harmony. Due to such importance of the domestic disputes, many countries have institutionalized the resolution of domestic disputes by creation of organizations which provide dispute settlement services. One important question therefore that arises is the performance of such organizations in delivering such services to the end users. Since these organizations are typically involved in providing such specialized services therefore the evaluation also matters most because it effectively define the parameters against which the performance of such organizations is evaluated. This research will attempt to evaluate the services of the social support center in UAE and how the services could be improved by studying the evaluation programs that are in place in other countries to evaluate such organizations. Literature Review Domestic violence may be the result of the domestic violence between the different partners that may be arising due to the disputes between the members of the family. It is critical to note that the domestic disputes can range from simple disputes on children to the most lethal abuse involving physical violence against each other. This also means that the domestic violence can be a direct result of the domestic disputes and it can occur regardless of any gender or other specific parameters which can make it more unique in nature. (Lebow, 1999). The domestic disputes therefore are of any kind including disputes regarding financial matters, simple day to day issues as well as more complicated ones. The underlying causes of such disputes can be depression, social pressures, economic necessities as well as peer and family influence can effectively result into domestic disputes all the family members including husband and wife. The results of such behaviors therefore can often transform into suicide, split of families as well as the improper care of children. Such aspects of domestic disputes therefore give rise to the strong social disharmony within the society and finally loosening of family values and structure of the society. As such there must be some explicit mechanism which can allow the couples and family members to seek support in the shape of counseling and other means which can improve their communication and further facilitate the tense relations between the different family members to bring back the ties to the normal. In such situations the role of dispute resolution groups play greater role in settling such domestic disputes and offer viable solutions. Some of the most important aspects of domestic dispute resolution therefore include community based efforts which can effectively solve the problems at the regional level. Though such services are present however, the evaluation of the performance of such services is one of the most challenging aspects too. From a service evaluation point of view, the dispute resolution programs therefore require possessing certain special characteristics as well as features which outline its performance in terms of settling the disputes. It is critical to note that the women and children are the worst affectees of the domestic dispute and it is therefore important that mediators must strike a balance in such a manner that the overall damage to the mental and physical health of the children and women is minimum. (Hague, 2005). Thus one of the successful yardsticks of the performance of dispute resolution services is how effectively they manage the family relations while providing advice in order to settle domestic dispute issues. On whole, a good evaluation program of such domestic dispute resolution services must contain following important features: Legal Mandate An important aspect of the domestic resolution services is whether such services or organizations have any kind of legal mandate. Having a proper legal mandate allow the service to effectively ensure that it is legally capable of offering the service and it has the required powers to enforce its decisions or at least contribute towards lessening such incidents. It is therefore critically important that the dispute resolution organization must provide a legally binding advice and this can effectively be introduced through the use of court of law also as most of the domestic disputes can involve the courts of law to decide upon the issue. (Chapin, 2009) As such the performance evaluation therefore needs to be viewed from the perspective of how the organization can coordinate with the legal authorities to ensure that the domestic disputes does not turn into domestic violence and overall social harmony remain intact. Monitoring and Screening Mechanism One of the important assessment criteria for evaluating the services of such organizations is the presence of monitoring and screening mechanism. The existence of monitoring and screening mechanism provides the mediators an effective tool to systematically screen out the patterns of domestic violence. This screening and monitoring mechanism however, need to be properly documented and followed strictly. Screening mechanism shall also be well documented and properly reviewed after some period of time in order to ensure that it inculcates latest patterns of domestic disputes and violence in order to ensure that the mediators have the requisite information and knowledge. Policies and Procedures Existence of policies and procedures provide a framework itself which governs the day to day operations of the organizations. In order to evaluate the services of the organizations, it is therefore most important that the policies and procedures shall be evaluated and compared with the best practices in the industry to check their compliance with the best practices. A good policy framework therefore also needs to provide clear understanding of how the organization will deal with the children, adults, women, men, old etc. such policy framework therefore must be properly evaluated. (Horton, 2008) Training and Development Training and development of the mediators is another critical criteria which needs to be evaluated when evaluating the services of such organizations. Without proper training and development of the mediators, it is almost impossible to provide satisfactory services to the clients. While evaluating the services, it is therefore important that the training and development policies of the organization must be evaluated also. Training and development shall result into the quick disposal of the cases while at the same time increasing the disposal rates and decreasing the overall costs for the organization. Thus the effective presence of training and development infrastructure must result into such efficiency. (Ostermeyer & Keilitz, 1997) Compliance with code of ethics In order to effectively evaluate the services of such organizations, one of the most critical aspects is the compliance with the applicable code of ethics. Though code of ethics may be different for each organization however, the compliance with the code of ethics can serve as the first breeding grounding for evaluating the performance of the service. What is also significant to understand that the code of ethics basically outlines the fundamental duties and obligations of a mediator and how they interact and behave with the clients? This however, can only be assessed after interacting with their clients to understand as to whether their mediators possess the adequate understanding of their own code of ethics which effectively govern the overall performance of the mediators The above are some of the key indicators which must be evaluated in order to effectively check and improve the services of dispute resolution service providers. Bibliography 1. Chapin, J. (2009). Domestic Violence Beliefs and Perceptions across the Lifespan. International Journal of the Humanities , 7 (1), 49-57. 2. Hague, G. (2005). Domestic Violence Survivors Forums in the UK: Experiments in Involving Abused Women in Domestic Violence Services and Policy-making. Journal of Gender Studies , 14 (3), 191-203. 3. Horton, A. (2008). Domestic Violence: The Untold Story. Journal of Human Behavior in the Social Environment , 18 (1), 31-47. 4. Lebow, R. N. (1999). Domestic Dispute Resolution and International Conflict. Journal of Peace Psychology,Peace and Conflict , 5 (4), 375 - 376. 5. Ostermeyer, M., & Keilitz, S. L. (1997). MONITORING AND EVALUATING COURT-BASED DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROGRAMS. New York: National Center for State Courts. Read More