Policy papers describe Connecticut's comprehensive policy for preventing family violence and addressing the needs of victims and are based on the view that violence and threats of violence are criminal acts and unacceptable behavior and classify societal responses to spouse abuse as coercive and controlling or empowering and compassionate. Additional papers discuss how the assumptions on which mediation is based are not valid in cases involving wife abuse; present a model of divorce mediation used at the Neighborhood Justice Center in Honolulu, Hawaii; and review research on the effects of domestic violence on children and its implications for custody and visitation agreements. Further papers describe innovative approaches to the practice of mediation and spouse abuse including the use of the Conflict Assessment Protocol and special procedures used by two divorce mediators in situations involving spouse abuse. Chapter reference lists and index