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Failure to Flourish: How Law Undermines Family Relationships
Exploring the connection between families and inequality, Failure to Flourish: How Law Undermines Family Relationships argues that the legal regulation of families stands fundamentally at odds with the needs of families. Strong, stable, positive relationships are essential for both individuals and society to flourish, but from transportation policy to the criminal justice system, and from divorce rules to the child welfare system, the legal system makes it harder for parents to provide children with these kinds of relationships, exacerbating the growing inequality in America.
Failure to Flourish contends that we must re-orient the legal system to help families avoid crises and, when conflicts arise, intervene in a manner that heals relationships. To understand how wrong our family law system has gone and what we need to repair it, Failure to Flourish takes us from ancient Greece to cutting-edge psychological research, and from the chaotic corridors of local family courts to a quiet revolution under way in how services are provided to families in need. Incorporating the latest insights of positive psychology and social science research, the book sets forth a new, more emotionally intelligent vision for a legal system that not only resolves conflict but actively encourages the healthy relationships that are at the core of a stable society.
Failure to Flourish contends that we must re-orient the legal system to help families avoid crises and, when conflicts arise, intervene in a manner that heals relationships. To understand how wrong our family law system has gone and what we need to repair it, Failure to Flourish takes us from ancient Greece to cutting-edge psychological research, and from the chaotic corridors of local family courts to a quiet revolution under way in how services are provided to families in need. Incorporating the latest insights of positive psychology and social science research, the book sets forth a new, more emotionally intelligent vision for a legal system that not only resolves conflict but actively encourages the healthy relationships that are at the core of a stable society.
- GenresSocial Work
352 pages, Hardcover
First published May 20, 2014
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May 22, 2017
Huntington accomplishes two important feats with "Failure to Flourish." First, she reconceives family law, establishing a framework based on two concentric circles. The inner circle is the traditional family law that we know--and often lament--of marriage and divorce, child support and custody, etc. The outer circle, "structural" family law, denotes the pervasive state forces that impact households, such as zoning laws that incentivize urban sprawl or elements of the tax code, like the mortgage interest deduction, that establish a choice architecture encouraging certain decisions. Second, she situates family law within broader child development dialogues. There have been a number of inspiring publications and research findings in the past decade showing the importance of stable, secure, positive relationships for children's outcomes--think of folks like Paul Tough and James Heckman. Huntington highlights strategies for centering such relationships in family law practice. Fascinating stuff.
Some ancillary thoughts:
1. An aspiring JD/MSW, I was very intrigued by this work. I'm constantly reading about poverty and its aftereffects, and those book on my shelf that take a sociological approach often denounce family court. I appreciate Huntington's attempt to show family law as an arena for stabilizing families.
2. What are "Failure to Flourish's" implications for lawyers, judges, social workers, and administrators within the field? Huntington characterizes her best practices--collaborative law, the approximation rule, etc.--as rare glimmers of hope. It must be difficult to reform an inherently antagonistic system.
3. I'm *very* excited to pick up Mettler's "Submerged State." The best books always lead you to your next read, amirite?
Some ancillary thoughts:
1. An aspiring JD/MSW, I was very intrigued by this work. I'm constantly reading about poverty and its aftereffects, and those book on my shelf that take a sociological approach often denounce family court. I appreciate Huntington's attempt to show family law as an arena for stabilizing families.
2. What are "Failure to Flourish's" implications for lawyers, judges, social workers, and administrators within the field? Huntington characterizes her best practices--collaborative law, the approximation rule, etc.--as rare glimmers of hope. It must be difficult to reform an inherently antagonistic system.
3. I'm *very* excited to pick up Mettler's "Submerged State." The best books always lead you to your next read, amirite?
Displaying 1 of 1 review