Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

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Date of Award

2026

Document Type

Dissertation - NSU Access Only

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Halmos College of Arts and Sciences - Department of Conflict Resolution Studies

First Advisor

Cheryl Duckworth

Second Advisor

Neil Katz

Third Advisor

Urszula Strawinska-Zanko

Keywords

alternative dispute resolution, children of divorce, conflict resolution skills, court-ordered education, dispute resolution, divorce, emotional processing, family court, family court litigants, grounded theory, mental health outcomes, parent education programs, parenting education, process themes, qualitative research, semi-structured interviews, social outcomes, thematic analysis, topical themes, U.S. society

Abstract

Marriage, and subsequently divorce, is a common experience in U.S. society. Studies on the effects of divorce demonstrate a pattern of significantly negative social and mental health outcomes for individuals who experience divorce, especially for the children whose parents are divorcing. The threat of the negative impacts of divorce and the transition of family courts from a history-facing, judgement-oriented process to a future-facing, dispute resolution-oriented process has led to the development of parent education programs designed to minimize the negative impact divorce can have on children. A review of literature on this topic reveals that, while there is some discussion of conflict resolution skills in some of the curricula, there are no identified publications that include alternative dispute resolution (ADR) education for family court litigants. Utilizing grounded theory methodology, this study utilized semi-structured interviews of family court litigants who participated in a court-ordered ADR education program to learn how participants used ADR education in their family court cases. Results of this study show participants identified three major thematic categories in how they use ADR education: topical themes, emotional themes, and process themes. Integrating these themes show that parties engage with ADR education topics that are relevant to them and resolve elevated emotions through cognitively processing ADR class information and through processing their experience through their observation of other class participants.

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