Lesson Eight Family Law

一、 Definition of Family Law ► Family law is an area of the law that deals with marriage and family-related issues, such as marriage, divorce, child, adoption, succession, etc.

二、 Domestic Violence ► （一） Definition ► Domestic violence is physical, sexual, economic, or psychological abuse directed towards one ’ s spouse, partner, or other family member within the household. ► （二） Forms of domestic violence: ► 1.Physical violence ► Physical violence is the intentional use of physical force with the potential for causing injury, harm, disability, or death.

► 2.Mental violence ► Using verbal threats of physical violence to the victim, the self, or others including children, ranging from explicit, detailed and impending to implicit and vague as to both content and time frame; ► 3.Economic/social abuse ► Controlling victim ’ s money and other economic resources, preventing victim from seeing friends and relatives, actively sabotaging victim's social relationships and isolating victim from social contacts.

► 4.Sexual violence ► Sexual violence is use of physical force to compel a family member to engage in a sexual act against his or her will, whether or not the act is completed; ► In the United States, approximately 800,000 men per year are raped or physically assaulted by their partner.

三、 Adoption ► （一） Definition ► Adoption is the practice in which an adult assumes the role of parent for a child who is not the adult's biological offspring. The process usually involves some legal paperwork. ► （二） Types of Adoptions ► 1.Public adoptions ► Adoption is finished by a public agency. Adoptions through publicly funded child welfare agencies accounts for about 40 percent of all adoptions.

► 2.Private adoptions ► In a private adoption, children are placed in non- relative homes through a non-profit agency licensed by the state in which it operates. ► 3.Informal adoptions ► Informal adoptions occur when a relative or stepparent assumes permanent parental responsibilities without court involvement. However, legally recognized adoptions need a court or other government agency to award permanent custody of a child to adoptive parents.

（三） Methods of adoption ► 1.Agency placement ► （ 1 ） In agency placement of a child, the arrangements are made by a licensed public or private agency. ► Such agencies exist solely for the placement of children, and part of their responsibility involves a thorough investigation of the suitability of the potential adoptive parents. Such an investigation is ordinarily quite detailed and takes into consideration the background of both child and prospective parents.

► （ 2 ） Agency placement has three basic advantages: ► A. It minimizes such risks as the adoption of nonhealthy children, the discovery of the adoptive parents' identity by the natural mother, and the natural mother's changing her mind about the adoption. ► B. The suitability of adoptive parents is determined by a stringent investigation, which minimizes the risk that a child will be adopted by unfit parents. ► C. Adoption through an agency minimizes fees incidental to the adoption.

► （ 3 ） Agency placement also has two disadvantages: ► One essential disadvantage of agency placement is that it involves a long, detailed process. The adoptive parents might be forced to wait for many months while they are being investigated as to their suitability. ► A second disadvantage of agency placement is that only a limited number of children are available for adoption through agencies.

► 2. Independent or non-agency adoptions ► In an independent or non-agency adoption, children are placed in non-relative homes directly by the birthparents or through the services of a licensed or unlicensed facilitator, certified medical doctor, etc.

（四） Consequences of adoption ► 1. Adoption ordinarily terminates the rights and responsibilities of the natural parents to the child. The death of an adoptive parent does not restore the rights of the natural parents. ► 2.Adoption creates the same rights and responsibilities between a child and adoptive parents as existed between natural parent and child.

Questions ► 1. What are the forms of domestic violence? ► 2. What are the consequences of adoption?