From Madness to Mutiny
Why Mothers Are Running from the Family Courts - and What Can Be Done about It
2nd Edition
Will be published approx. on 25. October 2025
Book
Hardback
488 pages
978-0-19-766122-2 (ISBN)
Description
This book examines the serious dysfunction of the nation's family courts--a dysfunction that too often results in the courts' failure to protect the people they were designed to help. Specifically, the authors chronicle cases in which mothers who believe their children have been sexually abused by their fathers are disbelieved, ridiculed, or punished for trying to protect them. All too often the mother, in such a case, is deemed the unstable parent, and her children are removed from her care, to be placed in foster care or even with the father credibly accused of abusing them.
Employing ethnomethodology, they show how a closed and claustrophobic family court setting that makes practical sense to the system's practitioners looks like madness to everyone else. They also describe the social interactive work of mothers trapped inside the system who litigate furiously, take their stories to the press, or turn fugitive with their children.
From Madness to Mutiny offers an overview of family court malfunction and the parental mutiny that results from it. The authors outline the legal landscape that makes the madness possible and discuss ways to reform the family courts.
This second edition analyzes the recent "business model" that has taken hold of the family courts. Mothers must pay exorbitant fees to court-contracting visitation centers to see their children after losing custody to violent, credibly sexually abusive ex-spouses/partners, many of whom have cocaine habits, arrest records, unregistered (or unsecured) firearms, and histories of mental illness and suicidal behavior. While children have died under such conditions, courts are protected by judicial immunity.
Employing ethnomethodology, they show how a closed and claustrophobic family court setting that makes practical sense to the system's practitioners looks like madness to everyone else. They also describe the social interactive work of mothers trapped inside the system who litigate furiously, take their stories to the press, or turn fugitive with their children.
From Madness to Mutiny offers an overview of family court malfunction and the parental mutiny that results from it. The authors outline the legal landscape that makes the madness possible and discuss ways to reform the family courts.
This second edition analyzes the recent "business model" that has taken hold of the family courts. Mothers must pay exorbitant fees to court-contracting visitation centers to see their children after losing custody to violent, credibly sexually abusive ex-spouses/partners, many of whom have cocaine habits, arrest records, unregistered (or unsecured) firearms, and histories of mental illness and suicidal behavior. While children have died under such conditions, courts are protected by judicial immunity.
Reviews / Votes
I am pleased to write the foreword to the second edition of From Madness to Mutiny. I practiced family law for twenty-five years before transitioning to academia, where I continue my representation of abuse survivors. This second edition provides comprehensive case studies of what happens in court to protective mothers. These narrative case histories need to be taught in law school... This second edition of From Madness to Mutiny offers valuable information that attorneys for protective mothers need to know, and that law students need to learn. * Margaret B. Drew, JD, LLM, Associate Professor of Law, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth School of Law * In this second edition of From Madness to Mutiny, Amy Neustein and Michael Lesher follow up on their first book, highlighting many of these issues and research findings that have come to the fore in the past twenty years since their first edition was published.... This excellent book ties together the controversies, issues, and the use of pseudoscience, and shows what has happened to far too many women and children in family court cases when there are verifiable allegations of abusive behaviors. * Robert Geffner, PhD, ABPP, ABN, Founding President, Family Violence & Sexual Assault Institute (FVSAI); dba Institute on Violence, Abuse & Trauma (IVAT); Distinguished Research Professor of Psychology (Retired), Alliant International University, San Diego, CA * I commend Neustein and Lesher for their meticulous research of a large volume of cases: they show how unsuspecting mothers and children are exploited by bad actors who appear to have penetrated the family courts in the United States. These matters pose a serious hazard to children caught in the crosshairs of biased judges, tendentious and tainted expert witnesses, unscrupulous law guardians, and self-serving visitation centers... and cry out for a Justice Department investigation forthwith. * Mark J. Mills, JD, MD, Forensic Psychiatrist * This book with its revelations and insights remains very much needed. The 'cottage industry' of parental alienation proponents has continued to grow despite a lack of foundational research to establish its validity, reliability, and safe use. Parental alienation is a legal weapon and is now becoming an international enterprise. It is big business and does much harm! Read this second edition of From Madness to Mutiny and join the struggle for justice in the family courts!" * David L. Corwin, MD, FAPSAC, DFAACAP, Professor and Director of Forensic Services, University of Utah Department of Pediatrics * In From Madness to Mutiny, Neustein and Lesher provide a clear case for the need for comprehensive reform of today's family court system, how it is furthering the abuse of mothers who have already been victimized, and what has to change to ensure the safety and protection of the children who are too often caught in the crosshairs. * Lori Sokol, PhD, Executive Director/Editor-in-Chief, Women's eNews * While attending Fordham Law School I did an internship under Dr. Amy Neustein where I learned of the harrowing struggles of protective mothers in battling an inherently biased family court and child welfare system. I can never 'unsee' the things that I witnessed firsthand: too many abused children are forced to suffer in the shadows, while their mothers are stripped of their legal rights and their dignity. I am entering the practice of law determined to shed light on a deeply flawed system and to make the changes necessary so that these horrors never happen again. * Lauren Lieberman, JD, Esq, Shalom Task Force, Family Advocacy and Policy Research in Domestic Violence * Amy Neustein's tireless efforts on behalf of all children who have fallen victim to the perils of abuse serve as a galvanizing force in the war against child exploitation. * Virginia Giuffre, Jeffrey Epstein accuser and renowned child advocate * Praise for the First Edition Groundbreaking Book: From Madness to Mutiny . . . offers a comprehensive set of legislative and policy changes that, if adopted, could help to transform our family courts from instruments of punishment to true institutions of justice. * Bergen County, The Magazine * Sociologist Amy Neustein and Attorney Michael Lesher paint a frightening portrait of how the American legal system oftentimes victimizes children who have been allegedly sexually abused by their fathers.... The analysis of specific court cases, family court proceedings... and judicial reform (or lack thereof) make From Madness to Mutiny a compelling, if emotionally difficult, read. * Paula Whitt, PhD, Women's Studies * From Madness to Mutiny... is one of the most disturbing books that I have reviewed. After getting past the horrendous accounts of injustice, the importance of the book is quite evident. It contributes not only to the sociology of the family, but also to our understanding of the inequities within the criminal justice system for women and children. * Michelle Bemiller, PhD, Contemporary Sociology * Neustein and Lesher elegantly describe the upside-down, inside-out, Alice-in-Wonderland framework that permeates the family courts.... Absent the total 'rebirthing' of the system called for by Neustein and Lesher, the family courts are like a ship whose captain and crew have gone utterly mad, whose only chance of redemption is mutiny by the passengers. * Mo Therese Hannah, PhD, Criminal Justice Review * From Madness to Mutiny... is the first scholarly volume to analyze the process and the consequences of systems failure in the family court, the place where such a failure has the most devastating effect on the most vulnerable members of society: children.... [I]t is a volume that belongs on the bookshelf of every professional who deals with child custody and child abuse, from lawyers and judges to psychologists and social workers. * Geraldine B. Stahly, PhD, Journal of Child Custody * Dr. [Judith] Herman was correct when she stated 'Atrocities... refuse to be buried. Remembering and telling the truth about terrible events are prerequisites both for the restoration of the social order and for the healing of individual victims.' Neustein and Lesher's book takes important steps toward these crucial goals. * Nancy S. Erickson, New York Law Journal * This book is a must read for every feminist, especially mothers. * Helen Grieco, Executive Director, California NOW, in the California NOW Activist *More details
Series
Edition
2nd Revised edition
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Target group
Professional and scholarly
Edition type
Revised edition
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 237 mm
Width: 168 mm
Thickness: 43 mm
Weight
780 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-19-766122-2 (9780197661222)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Persons
Amy Neustein, PhD, is an independent scholar and an award-winning author/editor of 16 academic books, which have been reviewed in leading journals and cited in the New York Times and Newsweek. She serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Speech Technology (SpringerNature), and was featured in 2018 in Women in STEM as part of the UN campaign to recognize women who edit scientific publications. She edits three academic book series in speech technology and text mining and has contributed more than 200 opinion editorials to major papers such as The Hill, Newsweek, Jerusalem Post, City Journal (Manhattan Institute), Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Baltimore Sun, and Women's eNews. Her letters to the editor have been published in the New York Times, Washington Post, and the Washington Times. Her academic work has earned 1,532 citations as reported by Academia.edu.
Michael Lesher, JD, Esq, is a private attorney specializing in
protective parent cases and in appellate law. He has argued successfully before the New York State Court of Appeals in a landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case. He also argued before the federal appeals court in a child sex abuse survivor case. He has been quoted a number of times in the New York Law Journal for his efforts to help incest survivors seek justice, and for his penetrating analyses of closed systems that perpetuate cover-ups of child sexual abuse in religious communities. He has been invited to write opinion pieces for publications such as the Forward and the New York Post. His investigative reporting on criminally dysfunctional systems has appeared in muckraking papers such as the Village Voice and other news outlets.
Michael Lesher, JD, Esq, is a private attorney specializing in
protective parent cases and in appellate law. He has argued successfully before the New York State Court of Appeals in a landmark Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) case. He also argued before the federal appeals court in a child sex abuse survivor case. He has been quoted a number of times in the New York Law Journal for his efforts to help incest survivors seek justice, and for his penetrating analyses of closed systems that perpetuate cover-ups of child sexual abuse in religious communities. He has been invited to write opinion pieces for publications such as the Forward and the New York Post. His investigative reporting on criminally dysfunctional systems has appeared in muckraking papers such as the Village Voice and other news outlets.
Content
Foreword by Margaret B. Drew
Preface by Robert Geffner
Acknowledgments
Prologue: What Has Changed in Two Decades, and What Remains the Same?
Introduction
Part I. Family Courts: The Problem
Chapter 1: An Overview of Family Court Madness--and Mothers' Mutiny
Chapter 2: The New Legal Landscape
Part II. Observations in Depth
Chapter 3: Research Methods
Chapter 4: Robed Rage
Chapter 5: Lawless Law Guardians
Chapter 6: Anti-Social Services
Chapter 7: Mental Health Quackery
Chapter 8: Mothers and Madness: The "Aftershocks" of the System
Part III. Changes
Chapter 9: "Rebirthing" the Family Court System
Chapter 10: Reforming the Courts
Chapter 11: Reforming the Court Auxiliaries
Notes
References
Preface by Robert Geffner
Acknowledgments
Prologue: What Has Changed in Two Decades, and What Remains the Same?
Introduction
Part I. Family Courts: The Problem
Chapter 1: An Overview of Family Court Madness--and Mothers' Mutiny
Chapter 2: The New Legal Landscape
Part II. Observations in Depth
Chapter 3: Research Methods
Chapter 4: Robed Rage
Chapter 5: Lawless Law Guardians
Chapter 6: Anti-Social Services
Chapter 7: Mental Health Quackery
Chapter 8: Mothers and Madness: The "Aftershocks" of the System
Part III. Changes
Chapter 9: "Rebirthing" the Family Court System
Chapter 10: Reforming the Courts
Chapter 11: Reforming the Court Auxiliaries
Notes
References