Family Law expert Wendy Schrama
Wendy Schrama is Professor of Family Law and Comparative Law at the Faculty of Law, Economics and Governance. She and her research centre team study families from a number of different legal angles. She is able to use her expertise, practical experience as a family court judge and interdisciplinary approach to benefit the group's work on the theme 'Where do I belong?'. 'Gaining a better understanding of what happens after a divorce requires more than just legal expertise. The overall picture is important. What happens in reality can be very far removed from what should be the case in theory.'
Professor Wendy Schrama believes that interdisciplinary collaboration is the best strategy in academia. 'Although everyone is an expert in their own specific field of expertise, it is not always as easy to see what you could learn from other fields.' However, this could have major benefits. 'If you succeed in bringing together a number of disciplines to work on the same theme, it becomes possible to turn a one-dimensional model into a 3D model.' For Schrama and the rest of the team, this is the ideal way to gain a better understanding of divorces and the 'Where do I belong?' question.
The social sciences are relatively close to Schrama's own field, but team members from other disciplines surprise and inspire her as well. 'Aoju Chen focuses on whether the way in which mothers and babies communicate with each other is a predictor of the strength of their bond. It is fascinating to see how language and communication between parents and children reveal the relationship between them. This is something that I had never considered before!'
Seeking a sense of belonging
The objective of the 'Where do I belong?' team is to draw on scientific and academic knowledge to ensure the well-being of children who grow up in different places. Which factors influence where a child feels at home? Schrama: 'Where you feel at home is a factor in determining how well you cope. Once you are armed with an understanding of this situation, it will be easier to establish what works and what does not. For example, is legislation that dictates that parents should share parenting responsibilities equally after a divorce a good idea or actually the very opposite?'
''If there is a lot of conflict between parents, it can be very difficult for children to feel that they belong somewhere.''
This type of knowledge is vital to professionals such as judges and lawyers. What should they look out for in the courtroom? Besides being an academic, Schrama is also a family court judge and occasionally has to deal with difficult divorce cases. 'If there is a lot of conflict between parents, it can be very difficult for children to feel that they belong somewhere. After all, if you are not allowed to be loyal to your father when you are with your mother and vice versa, it will be far more difficult to feel happy and grow up the way you should.'
No ivory tower
The 'Where do I belong?' academics actively work with partners like Villa Pinedo, the Municipality of Utrecht and Youké sterke jeugd. Schrama: 'It is widely believed that the world of academia dwells in an ivory tower. Although I disagree, it is still a very good idea for the university to consider the following question: how will this research benefit real people and society in general? For example, we could gain a better insight into real-life issues by asking the Child Care and Protection Board to share its experiences with us.'
However, just as is true of collaborations involving different fields, working with partners has its challenges too, Schrama says. 'Partners' questions are often application-oriented, but we want to generate academic insights as well: why is something the way it is? For instance, a question from the field could be: how do I handle divorced parents and children who are constantly quarrelling with each other? To be able to answer this question, we need to move up a level, to interdisciplinary science, and then translate the knowledge we draw on into language that non-academics are able to understand.'
'How can children's situations be improved?'
As an academic and judge, Schrama is fascinated by this theme: 'This is because I would really like to know how children's situations can be improved; it is awful to see children caught up in divorce proceedings. Which protective factors are there? For example, is there someone in their network who they could turn to for support? Although you cannot always influence parents' behaviour, it is easier to steer it if you have an idea of what helps the children.'
Schrama points out that contentious divorce cases are just one part of the research being done. 'Even if a divorce is fairly amicable, we still want to know how it affects the children involved. We need to work towards a situation in which children participate in legal proceedings far more often. It is important to ask them how they are feeling and how they see things. We need a legal framework that facilitates this as much as possible, so that we represent the interests of everyone to the best of our ability – children in particular. There is still a lot to be gained in this regard.'
Professor Wendy Schrama is also a family court judge at the North Holland district court