Adult Relations (Senior Status)

• Credit value: 15 credits at Level 7
• Convenor and tutor: Professor Daniel Monk
• Assessment: a 4000-word essay (100%)

Adult relations is a dynamic subject that directly or indirectly impacts on all our lives. In this module we ask 'what is a family?' and 'what personal/private relationships should the State recognise (and why?)'.

In answering these questions we will look at controversial debates about shifting definitions of marriage; how the law should treat divorcing or separating couples; the rationale for treating married couples differently from those that cohabit, domestic violence and familial disputes arising on death.

You will achieve not only a sound knowledge of the legal framework governing the family but also a good grasp of the sociological context in which the legal questions arise. We will focus on what happens in practice as well as what should happen in theory.

Indicative syllabus

• Recognising ‘families’
• Marriage I and II
• Civil partnership/Same-sex marriage
• Divorce
• Property on divorce
• Cohabitation
• Domestic violence
• Inheritance disputes
• Essay guidance

By the end of this module, you will:

• understand the key legal concepts, values, principles underlying adult-related aspects of family law
• be able to critically appraise the key aspects of the law about the institution of marriage
• be able to identify and critically engage with the political, social and cultural factors that inform and underlie this area of law
• be aware of the problems, tensions and contradictions underlying contemporary debates about the family and the role of law in regulating and defining it.