Mandatory Family Mediation Concerning the Youngest Children: Shared Residence and Individualization

ABSTRACT Because of the significant increase in the number of families practicing post‐divorce shared residence, there has been an ongoing debate about whether this arrangement serves the best interests of the children, particularly the youngest ones. This article focuses on the encounters of family mediators working with separating parents who have children aged 0–3 years. We explore what mediators perceive as typical parenting scripts among parents with young children post‐divorce. The data material consists of focus group interviews conducted at family mediation offices in Norway. Through qualitative analysis, we identify shared residence as the dominant script for parenthood after parents' separation. The mediators describe the idea of equal shared parenthood and residence as a central issue in the mediation sessions, regardless of differing family practices or prior parenting arrangements. Discourses surrounding parents' legal rights and their position in relation to the youngest children may conflict with mediators' interpretation of the children's best interests. New parental expectations and practices challenge the mediators' expertise and entail mediators' search for more individually adapted advice, rather than generalized standards for living arrangements for the youngest children.