List of key persons contacted for the expert consultations
We contacted universities in Canada that offer graduate programs in social work or psychology to locate research occurring in such sites. We requested that these faculties identify staff members who were teaching or conducting research in the area of children and divorce. Subsequently, we contacted all of the identified staff to determine if their teaching and/or research interests were related to the issue of the concept often referred to as parental alienation. We purposely did not define the concept in our communications to limit the potential for bias.
At our request, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council searched their records and provided us with a list of all research projects in the area of divorce that they had provided financial support to since 1995. The principal investigators of those projects were also contacted in the manner described above.
FOCUS is a project of the Royal College of Psychiatrists (UK) that promotes effective practice in child and adolescent mental health. They moderate an electronic discussion group of approximately 2900 members in 35 countries. The membership was canvassed in a similar manner.
We utilized our knowledge of the more general divorce literature and the results of the search described above to identify a pool of key informants in jurisdictions with which Canada is frequently compared. Given the short duration of the project and budgetary limitations, a short list of key informants was created. The consultation was multi-disciplinary and included a range of professionals who work with changing families such as clinicians, researchers, lawyers and judges. In addition to the FOCUS membership (representing 35 countries), we contacted professionals throughout Canada, and in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom and the United States. By broadening the inquiry beyond Canada, we hoped to learn more about how new family law legislation in several of these countries is influencing the outcome of difficult contact cases.
The primary factor guiding our choices when developing our list of informants was involvement in practice or research in the area of separation. We also included people known to have related conference presentations or publications that needed elaboration in terms of the current enquiry. Every key informant we spoke with was asked to suggest other sources. This was particularly helpful with respect to practitioners and researchers in other jurisdictions. In some instances, key informants provided information (i.e. copies of research papers, journal articles, academic dissertations, etc.) and in other instances we held telephone or in-person meetings.
The Association of Family and Conciliation Courts Annual Meeting was held in June 2002. This meeting provided an important opportunity to hold in-person consultations with additional key informants. It permitted us to expand the list of key informants in a cost effective and efficient manner. The pool of key informants involved in this project is considered representative but not exhaustive.
Questions for the key informant interviews are presented in Appendix C. Extensive notes were taken during the in-person meetings and telephone meetings. A thematic analysis of the notes was undertaken and is presented in conjunction with the literature review.
David Abel
Families in Transition
Family Service Association of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
Constance Ahrons
San Diego, CA
USA
Roderic Beaujot
University of Western Ontario
London, ON
Canada
Sandra Berns
Griffith Law School
Brisbane, QLD
Australia
Rachel Birenbaum
University of Western Ontario
London, ON
Canada
Esther Birenzweig
Families in Transition Family
Service Association of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
Sandford Braver
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
USA
Carole Brown
Private Practice, Sydney, Australia
Formerly, General Advisor Dispute Resolution
Family Court of Australia
Melbourne, NSW
Australia
Madam Justice Dale Clarkson
Family Court of New Zealand
Auckland
New Zealand
Mary Cowper-Smith
Families in Transition
Family Service Association of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
Marion Ehrenberg
University of Victoria
Victoria, BC
Canada
Robert Emery
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
USA
Kathleen Faller
University of Michigan
Ann Arbor, MI
USA
Geraldine Fitzpatrick
St. Georges Hospital
London
United Kingdom
FOCUS Membership
Royal College of Psychiatrists
London
United Kingdom
Ian Freckelton
Monash University
Melbourne, VIC
Australia
Margaret Harrison
Family Court of Australia
Melbourne, VIC
Australia
Joseph P. Hornick
Canadian Research Institute for Law and the Family
Calgary, AB
Canada
Bill Howe
Statewide Family Law Advisory Committee
Portland, OR
USA
Janet Johnston
San Jose State University
Judith Wallerstein Center for the Family in Transition
Menlo Park, CA
USA
Heather Juby
Interuniversity Centre for Demographic Studies
University of Montreal
Montreal, QC
Canada
Stella Kavoukian
Families in Transition
Family Service Association of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
Joan Kelly
Private Practice
Corte Madera, CA
USA
Pamela Kinnear
The Australia Institute
Canberra, ACT
Australia
Christina Lyon
Centre for the Study of the Child, the Family and the Law
University of Liverpool
Liverpool
United Kingdom
Lorraine Martin
Office of the Children's Lawyer
Ministry of the Attorney General (ON)
Toronto, ON
Canada
Willson McTavish
Office of the Children's Lawyer
Ministry of the Attorney General (ON)
Toronto, ON
Canada
Dena Moyal
Office of the Children's Lawyer
Ministry of the Attorney General (ON)
Toronto, ON
Canada
Tara Ney
University of Victoria
Victoria, BC
Canada
Clarice Ondrack
Families in Transition
Family Service Association of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
JoAnne Pedro-Carroll
Children's Institute
University of Rochester
Rochester, NY
USA
Marsha Pruett
Yale University
School of Medicine
New Haven, CT
USA
Jan Pryor
University of Victoria (Wellington)
Wellington
New Zealand
Helen Rhoades
University of Melbourne
Melbourne, VIC
Australia
Martin Richards
Centre for Family Research
Cambridge University
Cambridge
United Kingdom
Peter Salem
Association of Family and Conciliation Courts
Madison, WI
USA
Andrew Schepard
Hofstra University School of Law
Long Island, NY
USA
Marie Simard
University of Laval
Quebec City, QC
Canada
Carol Smart
Department of Sociology
University of Leeds
Leeds
United Kingdom
Anne Smith
Children's Issues Centre
Manawa Rangahan Tamariki
University of Otago
Dunedin
New Zealand
Philip Stahl
Private Practice
Danville, CA
USA
Laurie Stein
Families in Transition
Family Service Association of Toronto
Toronto, ON
Canada
Jo-Anne Stoltz
University of Victoria
Victoria, BC
Canada
Nicola Taylor
Children's Issues Centre
Manawa Rangahan Tamariki
University of Otago
Dunedin
New Zealand
Madam Justice Trussler
Court of Queen's Bench, Alberta
Edmonton, AB
Canada
Richard Warshak
University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center
Dallas, TX
USA
Barbara Whittington
University of Victoria
Victoria, BC
Canada
Justice R. James
Williams Supreme Court of Nova Scotia
Family Division
Halifax, NS
Canada
