SURODITELJSTVO: ODREĐENJE, OBILJEŽJA I IMPLIKACIJE ZA OBITELJSKU MEDIJACIJU

COPARENTING: DETERMINATION, CHARACTERISTICS AND IMPLICATIONS FOR FAMILY MEDIATION ABSTRACT The definition, conceptualization and the first research studies of coparenting appeared in the beginning of this century, and ever since this process of mutual enterprise of two or more persons who co-operate in the upbringing of a child for whom they share responsibility has aroused a considerable research interest. The primary aim of this review is to present the existing understandings of coparenting as an important family process which influences the entire family, and which is of particular developmental importance for the children. An additional aim is to point to the implications of the united knowledge about coparenting on the family mediation practice in the Republic of Croatia in order to contribute to its development and scientific foundation. The first part of the review represents the theoretical origins for understanding the coparenting, as well as the results of the domestic and foreign research on the connection between coparenting and the characteristics of parental behaviour and the child’s psychosocial adjustment and the specific features of the coparenting after divorce are examined. The second part of the review discusses the implications of the presented knowledge on coparenting for family mediation, which is recognised as a method which is appropriate for helping families in which there are conflicts and problems in various domains of coparenting. The empirical foundation of the need to expand the area of mediation beyond divorce is emphasised, as well as for the development of different models of family mediation practice and for the usage of preventive mediation in the construction of quality family relationships in two-parent families. The importance of the possibility to integrate scientific knowledge on coparenting into the system of knowledge and skills of family mediators is pointed out. Key words: coparenting,parenting, divorce, family mediation.