A new research network co-funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) aims to become the authoritative voice on the emotive areas of family law and policy.
Family policy is constantly under the spotlight in the UK and issues of the importance of marriage and relationship breakdown are always hot topics in the media and in politics. Experts in law and social sciences from four leading universities in the South West and Wales are collaborating to form a network to become the authoritative voice on the emotive areas of family law and policy.
The new Network on Family, Regulation and Society aims to produce high quality research and pool expertise in areas such as child protection, family justice issues, cohabitation and the effects of separation and divorce on children. They aim to make an impact on policy and practice of family law, by bringing robust research evidence to bear on proposals for reform of policy or practice. The Network is being led by the University of Exeter in collaboration with the Universities of Bath, Bristol and Cardiff. This cross university partnership will provide the opportunity to concentrate previously dispersed expertise, harness a range of national and international research links and deepen existing links between its members.
Given the nature of the research, the Network will also include contributions from three leading third sector organisations that specialise in this area: One Plus One, Resolution and the Family Law Bar Association. These will contribute ideas to the setting of future research agendas.
An agenda setting workshop on Family, Regulation and Society held on 15 – 16 March was hosted by the Nuffield Foundation and jointly funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), the Nuffield Foundation and the Family Bar Association.
Anne Barlow, Professor of Family Law and Policy at the University of Exeter said, ‘We now have an increasingly rich understanding of change and growing diversity in family structures, process and practices over the last decade. These will include parenting after parting, new reproductive technologies, children’s rights, changed living patterns, cross-border families and relationship breakdown. Our workshop will address the legal and policy implications of the profound recent changes in family life, locating these within a national, international and comparative context.’
She added, ‘Family policy is hotly debated in politics and problems can arise when debates are reduced to highly emotive commentary without the research to back it up. This area of law and policy affects so many people in very personal, sensitive and intimate ways and it is critically important that high quality research informs the debate.’
The Network seeks to be a highly visible unit that can provide a rapid response to announcements made in parliament as well as having the capacity to respond to media enquires and current media issues.
There are a limited number of family law experts across universities in the UK and the formation of this new Network will enable a greater concentration of expertise to address important issues within the area of family, regulation and society. A recent Nuffield Foundation report found that there is a shortage of socio-legal researchers and that more needs to be done to encourage professionals into this area of law and social sciences. This will also be a focus for the new Network.
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For more information:
AHRC Communications Manager Jake Gilmore 0117 9876 773 / j.gilmore@ahrc.ac.uk
Editors notes:
About Arts and Humanities Research Council: Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.
The Nuffield Foundation is a charitable trust with the aim of advancing social well-being. It funds research and provides expertise, predominantly in social policy and education. It has supported this project, but the views expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of the Foundation.