AFFECTION AS A DIFFERENTIAL FACTIOR IN FAMILY RELATIONS: AN INVITATION TO MEDIATION AS A PROPER MEANS OF RESOLVING CONFLICTS

Abstract

The family has undergone a series of transformations over the years. It left behind the merely biological character and began to rest on new foundations. Today it should be understood as a social group that is based around affective bonds. Because of this new framework, the challenge of establishing ways to resolve conflicts arising from these relations emerged. This article had the objective of – through the bibliographical research – pointing out the peculiarities of family relations, contemplating affection as its differential trait. It also had the ambition to understand mediation as the most adequate way of resolving such conflicts. The chosen method was legal-sociological, leading us to confirm that mediation should be stimulated in family law cases, for being able to work in a technical way with such subjective factors. Affection, as the basis of current family relations, deserves adequate treatment within and outside the judiciary.