Who We Are:

In 1987 a group of clinical psychologists and professors from Ohio University joined with local judges and family law attorneys to form the Center for Divorce Education (CDE), a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization. The Center was envisioned to serve as a resource to help educate judges, attorneys, and parents about ways to make divorce less damaging to both children and parents.

In the Beginning -- Identifying Key Risk Factors:

Throughout the 1980’s research conducted by Drs. Donald A. Gordon and Jack Arbuthnot focused on developing and testing interventions for the reduction/prevention of juvenile delinquency. During that time their collective research revealed two key observations: (a) that a majority of delinquents were coming from families where parents had separated or gone through a divorce; and (b) that of those families, at least one parent typically dropped out of the child’s life (usually the father). A search of the behavioral science literature confirmed these observations, and identified parental divorce, conflict, and parental absence as key risk factors for delinquency.

Drs. Gordon and Arbuthnot next began interviewing hundreds of adolescents whose parents were divorced. The purpose: to identify factors that caused the most lasting damage to the children (risk factors) as well as those factors that produced the most well-adjusted children (protective factors). These interviews along with other studies confirmed their observations of families of delinquents – namely that ongoing parental conflict and loss of contact with a parent were the most important risk factors.

Changing Behavioral Patterns:

Confirming that parental conflict which precedes and follows divorce is a key contributing factor to one parent greatly diminishing or breaking contact with their children, and leads directly to delinquency, Drs. Gordon and Arbuthnot next moved to develop an intervention for divorcing and separating families that would help (a) reduce the parental conflict, (b) increase cooperation for co-parenting, and (c) keep both parents involved in the children's lives.

By the mid-1980’s through continued research and testing, the evidence and skills-based curriculum, Children in Between (formerly known as Children in the Middle), was developed. Shortly thereafter the Center for Divorce Education was established to help disseminate the curriculum and support ongoing development of additional curricula to address improved family interaction while going through divorce or separation.

Today:

Today the Center for Divorce Education continues to support research that keeps our programs on the cutting edge and topics most relevant to families and their experiences. We continue to collaborate with professionals (collaborative law attorneys, social service providers, mediators, and more) and researchers pursuing studies in topical areas that families themselves find most useful (reconciliation, alternative dispute resolution, and more).

The Center receives funding from federal and private foundation grants, as well as through the sales of the educational materials developed by Drs. Arbuthnot and Gordon. To learn more about the programs offered through the Center, please see our Programs tab of this website.