Beschreibung:
First published in 1984, this book explores the idea that the law is a major source of women's oppression. Based on research of the theory and practice of family law, it examines the way in which private law operates to sustain, reproduce and reinforce the dependence of women in the most private of spheres, namely marriage.
List of tables; List of abbreviations; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I: Theoretical issues 1. Legal regulation or male control Part II: Historical issues 2. Marriage, divorce and the family in the 1950s 3. Family legislation and social change in the 1960s 4. Judge-made law in the 1960s 5. Family law after the decade of reform 6. Progress and regress in the 1970s Part III: Practical issues 7. Doing the research: practices and dilemmas 8. Solicitors and the legal management of marital breakdown 9. Magistrates and marriage 10. Law, policy and feminism; Postscript; Appendices; Notes