Chinese societies across Asia — in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, mainland China, and elsewhere — are undergoing a fundamental transition. All are struggling with a socialization process that has emphasized support for traditional Confucian and folk principals and values, while daily being confronted by modern Western ideologies that stress existentialism, individuality, and competition.

Traditional values continue to underline the importance of marriage and childbearing in meeting filial obligations. As such, marriage continues to be seen as involving a lifelong commitment. Chinese women, it is thought, should only marry once, and are expected to remain unmarried on the death of a spouse. By...

For decades, divorcing couples in Hong Kong and elsewhere were necessarily subject to the vicissitudes of the adversary system, modeled after Great Britain. While some of the parties may have lamented its limitations, their comments carried little or no weight, for there was no alternative. This remained so so long as the system was functional, that is, so long as the number of cases flowing through the courts remained low. When the number of such cases began to rise, and rise sharply over a relatively short time, the system began to breakdown. Court dockets became full, backlogs began to appear,...

Family mediation first became available in Hong Kong as a pilot service in 1988. But it was not until May 2000, with the launching of the Pilot Scheme on Family Mediation, that it received the full support of the government. In so doing, Hong Kong followed other Western nations in recognizing the need for an alternative to litigation for divorcing couples in dispute. However, Hong Kong made this selection pursuant to its own unique history. In this chapter, we briefly review the events of the past 15 years that lead to this decision, including changes in the economy, the political...

When we first began writing about family mediation some 20 years ago, there were only a handful of mediation models available. All were institutional in character, focussing exclusively on facts, issues, and negotiation techniques, and applying a standardized process. Such models were and are effective with many clients, and continue to deserve respect. However, as seasoned clinicians, we felt that a practice model should and could offer clients more. In our view, a best practice model should:

build on a base derived from theory

pay attention to client’s feelings and relationships

intervene sufficiently to allow more dysfunctional couples to participate...

Culture is an essential part of every people. It defines how they see themselves, how others see them, and how they stand apart from or overlap with other peoples (Duryea, 1992; Hofstede, 1980). It follows that in seeking assistance, the service requirements of clients from different cultural groups will vary systematically. As seen in Benjamin (1996), ideas about family life, parenting, religion, the role of the extended family, and the role of the service provider are all quite different, for example, among Blacks as opposed to Asians in North America. It follows that no single model of service will suffice...

There is no consensus as to what constitutes an appropriate set of practice skills in family mediation. With few exceptions (Barsky, 2000: 45-51, 149-157; Boulle & Kelly, 1998: 163-196), available texts neither list such skills nor describe them in detail, being content merely to describe the process (Folberg & Taylor, 1984; Landau et al., 2000; Leviton & Greenstone, 1997; Moore, 1996). Moreover, most descriptions of mediation process give little or no attention to issues of culture. On both counts, this state of affairs is inadequate to the needs of most mediation students, since it is unreasonable to assume what the...

More than half of all divorcing couples in Hong Kong have one or more dependent children (Lam-Chan, 1999). For these couples, sharing responsibility of their children will be a common issue, and one that here and in the West is often a hotly contested one (Ahrons & Rodgers, 1987; Saposnek, 1998). If anything, this is even more true among Chinese families, as most are child-centred, making the issues of child custody and child sharing absolutely central. The issue also coincides with the training and background of family mediators, many of whom are social workers or psychologists, and are well experienced...

In Chinese culture, peaceful settlement of conflict by an honourable and trustworthy third party has a long tradition (Irving & Benjamin, 1987: 46). It is hardly surprising, then, that couples in modern-day Chinese communities would welcome the involvement of a mediator to assist them in resolving disputes arising from divorce.

In the absence of an indigenous model of family mediation, we chose a model from the West, TFM, as it was the model most in tune with Chinese culture (A. Chan, 1997: 19). Such compatibility derives from several features of the model, as described below.

Familism is a key features...

Basic elements are those that appear in all parenting plans. While there are several variations in the literature (Emery, 1994; Lyster, 1997; Ricci, 1997), the TFM version encompasses eight elements which we explore below, followed by brief comment on supplementary elements that crop up occasionally (see Appendix 1 of this chapter for a sample parenting plan).

All plans must specify how the children will spend time with each of their parents. Four daily schedules are the most common.

Over a two-week interval, in Week 1, the children spend three days with mother, two with father, then two with mother. In...

Family mediation is intended to assist families going through conflict. This can apply to multi-generational disputes or to disputes among family members involved in a family-run business. However, the typical context in which it is applied is that of families undergoing divorce. In most cases, this involves couples who are going through divorce for the first time. In turn, the rising divorce rate itself ensures that a growing number of families are formed through remarriage in which one or both partners have themselves been previously married and divorced.

Remarriage speaks to the abiding faith previously married spouses have in marriage...

Money is integral to the marital relationship. As such, conflict over its acquisition, accumulation, distribution and expenditure are commonplace, if not universal (Millman, 1991). Indeed, Betcher and Macauley (1990) regard money as one of “the seven basic quarrels of marriage.” Across couples, such conflict varies widely in both frequency and severity. At one extreme, conflict about money may be routine but mild and infrequent, and thus integral to the ongoing marital relationship. At the other extreme, it may be frequent and bitter, and may prompt couples to seek help (Carter & Peters, 1996) or become a key reason for divorce...

Chinese societies everywhere are changing. In the not too distant past, family life for most was governed by ancient Chinese principles. International trade and the recent information revolution have made almost every society a member of the global community. More than ever before, the people in various Chinese societies have been exposed to outside influences. Many families have either turned away from traditional beliefs and values, or have mixed the old ways with the new. That transition is ongoing as we speak, and has some ways to go.

The gradual emancipation of women is only one of the consequences of...