Children's participation in family law decision-making: Theoretical approaches to understanding children's views

The aim of this paper is to explore children's views about their involvement in the post-separation arrangements that were made in their families and via the court process in the light of three theoretical models. It distinguishes between various aspects of children's participation, a term that carries a number of meanings and is used in various ways. In particular, it examines children's reasons for wanting to be involved or not, and the association between the amount of say children thought they had had, how much say they wanted, and the perceived fairness of the arrangements and their happiness with them. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.