bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
An interpretative analysis of the mediation rhetoric of fathers' rightists: Privatization versus personalization
Authors: Bertoia Carl Edward 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe fathers' rights movement has been active in advocating family mediation as an alternative to the adversarial legal process for settling separation and divorce disputes. This article, based on a two‐year study consisting of participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and document analysis, attempts to determine if fathers' rightists are seeking to privatize justice in the pursuit of gaining a better deal from their divorce or if there are other reasons behind their actions. Thirty‐two members from four fathers' rights groups were interviewed about their opinions and experiences with lawyers, judges, and the legal system. Fathers' rightists cited gender bias as the central negative experience that was a source of their personal troubles as divorced fathers. Mediation is advocated by fathers' rightists as a superior method of negotiating their postdivorce role and situation because this process is understood as protecting their gendered interests. This research apprises family mediators of the personal, gendered, and political aspects of family mediation.
Mediation: A family therapy technique?
Authors: Favaloro Geoffrey J. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractFamily mediation dovetails with family therapy approaches, in particular the brief, solution‐based family therapies, such that these two intervention approaches may be considered quite similar. Is it OK for mediators to employ therapeutic methods and methodologies? Is this still mediation or something else? This article explores these issues, examining and comparing mediation and therapy approaches and the implications for workers, their organizations, and their clients.
Background characteristics and incentives of mediators in Georgia: Exploring differences in public, private, and government agency mediators
Authors: Goettler Dawn E. , Herrman Margaret S. , Gale Jerry 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIn this initial study from the Mediator Skills Project (MSP), background characteristics and incentives of mediators who practice in public, private, and government agency settings in Georgia are examined. First, mediators in the state are described to provide a profile of the range of practicing mediators in a state population. Second, mediators are compared across practice settings. Differences were found among mediators across the three settings on the following variables: sex, age, family income, education, occupation, and career‐and income‐related incentives.
Predictors of client participation in victim‐offender mediation
Authors: Wyrick Phelan A. , Costanzo Mark A. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIncreasing client participation in victim‐offender mediation is a/undamental challenge facing practitioners. A large database from an established victim‐ offender reconciliation program (VORP) was used to examine the predictors of client participation in victim‐offender mediation. Hypotheses were tested using logistic regression analysis. Results show that client participation varies with the type of offense and the amount of time elapsed between the offense and the case referral. The results suggest that VORPs can maximize client participation by emphasizing rapid processing of cases involving property offenses and delayed processing of those involving personal offenses. Additional predictors of participation are discussed.
The use of performance art and Q methodology for increasing mediator recognition of trauma and domestic violence
Authors: Maxwell Jennifer P 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article presents a Q methodology study of mediation trainees' responses to a performance art piece depicting victims' experiences with domestic violence. The piece employs an image‐based format as a method of increasing mediation trainees' sensitivity to and recognition of domestic violence. Respondents varied significantly in their perceptions. Some individuals interpreted the piece as an immediate and literal portrayal of domestic violence, but others expressed the perspective that it was inappropriate to be viewing a personal and private problem. While the piece elicited strong response, troubling questions were raised regarding whether some mediators are disinclined to consider the possibility of domestic violence, thereby precluding any chance of a fair or just settlement.
Is a stage model of mediation necessary?
Authors: Antes James R. , Hudson Donna Turner , Jorgensen Erling O. , Moen Janet Kelly 
Published: July 2007

AbstractAlthough stage models of mediation have dominated theory and practice in mediation, several aspects of mediation practice are not fully consistent with a stage model. This article makes explicit several stage model anomalies and offers an alternative conceptualization of the mediation process. This emergent‐focus model is compatible with Bush and Folger's (1994) view of mediation as a transformative process.
Conflict transformation training in another culture: A case study from Angola
Authors: Brubaker David , Verdonk Tara 
Published: July 2007

AbstractNongovernmental organizations (NGOs), governments, church groups, and individuals are increasingly conducting or funding conflict resolution training and related projects in war‐torn countries. These projects aim to promote peace, reconciliation, and dialogue, and to impart practical skills and methods for resolving conflict nonviolently. The authors argue that for these goals to be met, considerable time and care must be invested in assessing cultural differences, political realities, bureaucratic hurdles, and logistical challenges prior to plunging for ward with a training workshop or other activity. In addition, thoughtful and thorough follow‐up after a training is as important as attentive preparation before the training. Furthermore, modified elicitive models of training seem best designed to identify and incorporate cultural differences during training. This article draws on the experience of Search for Common Ground, a Washington, D.C.‐based NGO, in developing such a project in Angola.
The affirmation and good news caucuses of the United Methodist Church
Authors: Gattis William Tony 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article explores conflicts within United Methodism that may be evidence of a paradigmatic shift within the church, moving from a christocentric perspective (the belief that there is no pathway to God except through Christ) to a theocentric perspective (the belief that multiple pathways to God exist). The article uses the controversy over the acceptance of homosexuality within the church as viewed by two caucuses, Affirmation and Good News, as an example of dealing with such disparate views. The article suggests methods of opening up dialogues between disparate groups such as these that may apply to dealing with seemingly insoluble conflicts in other contexts.
The role of the neutral in intra‐orgamzational mediation: In support of active neutrality
Authors: Solstad Karen E. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article explores the issue of mediator neutrality in the context of a business organization's dispute resolution system. The potential power of discourse in intra‐organization mediation to disempower individuals and maintain the status quo can be offset by a mediator's intimate knowledge of the organization and its dynamics. In the model presented in this article, an active neutrality as proposed by Cobb, Rifkin, and Susskind is suggested as appropriate. A mediator using the concept of active neutrality may foster discourse that assists in surfacing hidden values and assumptions and may empower individuals to have a voice in their organization.
To mediate or not to mediate: Financial outcomes in mediated versus adversarial divorces
Authors: Marcus Mary G. , Marcus Walter , Stilwell Nancy A. , Doherty Neville 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA statewide sample of 199 mediated and 201 adversarial divorce cases in Connecticut was analyzed for differences in financial outcomes between the two formats. No differences were found between mediated and adversarial cases in family income or liability outcomes for women, in likelihood of periodic alimony being received, or in amount of alimony received. However, women in mediated cases obtained a significantly greater percentage of assets than women in adversarial cases, periodic alimony for a significantly longer duration, and significantly more child support. Adversarial cases had significantly more postjudgment modifications and took longer from complaint to judgment.
Evaluation of participant reactions to premediation group orientation
Authors: Mathis Richard D. , Tanner Zoe , Whinery Flo 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA group orientation program was evaluated by having 138 participants who had finished mediation complete a self‐report form rating specific elements of the orientation. Eighty‐four percent thought the orientation helped. The feature rated most helpful by 42 percent of the respondents was a thirty‐minute video about the effects of divorce on children, followed by a supervisor's closing speech on grief and adjustment (27 percent), a judge's comments about mediation and parental responsibilities (21 percent), and printed material about children and visitation after divorce (10 percent). More than one‐third of the clients indicated that the orientation changed how they approached their case.
Community mediation: Reflections on a quarter century of practice
Authors: Bradley Scott , Smith Melinda 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIt is fitting that this issue of Mediation Quarterly, one of the last before it transforms into a joint publication of confederating organizations, is devoted to community mediation. During the past twenty‐five years, community mediation has provided much of the momentum for the growth and diversity of the alternative dispute resolution movement in the United States. At the same time, it has faced many challenges as the larger dispute resolution field grows and evolves. How community mediation responds to these challenges will shape its role and place for the next generation.In this issue, we have asked some key leaders and practitioners in the field to reflect on the development of community mediation and the challenges as we move into another century of practice.
Reflections on past successes and future challenges: Three perspectives
Authors: O'Brien Liz , McManus Betty , Cutrona Cheryl , Boertzel Harry M. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe executive directors of three community mediation centers were asked to reflect on past successes and future challenges and to consider four questions: How has your center achieved diversification in funding, programs, and referrals, and what have been the benefits and challenges of diversification? What do you consider the greatest challenge in community mediation? How has your center gained credibility and visibility in your community, and what community partnerships helped in that regard? In what directions is your center moving, and what is your center's vision for the next ten years?
Community mediation centers: Renewing the civic mission for the twenty‐first century
Authors: Shonholtz Raymond 
Published: July 2007

AbstractCommunity mediation centers enter the twenty‐first century with the opportunity to reaffirm their civic domain and expand their social justice mission. This article summarizes the early political foundation of the movement to establish community mediation centers, argues for continued social and political organizing for the delivery of prevention and early mediation services, and encourages expanding the civic mission to include, along with conflict resolution, social change processes.
Mediation and feminism: Common values and challenges
Authors: Lichtenstein Marsha 
Published: July 2007

AbstractMediation, and transformative mediation in particular, share several values, despite feminist criticisms of mediation. This article discusses three of the elements that mediation and feminism share. Both promote self‐determination, both encourage strengthening values such as empathy and caring in the public sphere, and both deal with the issue of power and have attempted to redefine power to include behaviors other than dominance. Because feminism has gone through the growing pains of shifting from a homogeneous and middle‐class movement to a colorful pluralistic social movement, it may serve as a model for the mediation movement as it expands and faces the demands of a demo‐graphically diverse constituency.
Child‐inclusive divorce mediation: Report on a qualitative research study
Authors: McIntosh Jennifer 
Published: July 2007

AbstractResearch into the unique needs and interests of children in the light of parental separation has provided the impetus for many family law mediation practices to include children's voices in divorce mediation. This chapter describes a model of child‐inclusive practice in family law mediation (McIntosh, 1998) and its pilot implementation in two diverse Australian contexts. Encouraging findings from the first group of families to work through the model are presented, indicating both anticipated and unanticipated gains for both children and parents.
Emotion, alienation, and narratives: Resolving intractable conflict
Authors: Retzinger Suzanne , Scheff Thomas 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article explores the role of emotion and alienation in protracted conflict and makes suggestions as to how they might be managed. First we note the scant attention given to these topics in the mediation and negotiation literature. Then we show how emotional and relational issues are related to theories of economic and political interests, on the one hand, and narratives and ideologies of conflict, on the other. We focus on the way alienated relationships impair communication and the way they generate intense emotions, especially shame and anger. In our view, secret (unacknowledged) alienation and shame are the primary causes of intractable conflict. Finally, we propose a role for mediators in the acknowledgment of emotion and alienation as a way of resolving intractable conflicts.
The three m's—mediation, postmodernism, and the new millennium
Authors: Bagshaw Dale 
Published: July 2007

AbstractPostmodernism can be seen as a reaction to modernism. A modernist culture, built over the last few centuries around forms of rationality, self‐discipline, and scientific values, is succumbing to the effects of rapid and unprecedented technological and economic change. The weakness of modernist thinking was the search for unitary definitions and the reduction under one label of complex clusters of thought. This article investigates the strengths and weaknesses of postmodernist and poststructuralist ideas for mediation at the beginning of the new millennium and argues that some aspects of postmodernist thinking are important to mediation—in particular the recognition of the power of language, or discourse, to reflect and shape the world. Postmodernism rejects dualistic thinking, notions of “neutrality” and “objectivity,” and mega theories or overarching “truths,” and celebrates diversity and conflict. Postmodernism offers mediators a new way of thinking about thinking but has its drawbacks when considering issues of human rights.
A preliminary evaluation of problem solving for one
Authors: Tidwell Alan 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article provides a preliminary evaluation of problem solving for one (PS1), which is a process intended to help those who are in conflict but who cannot mediate with the opposing party. This preliminary evaluation presents data that have been collected from a number of practitioners of PSI working in the New South Wales department of education and training, and includes several case studies. The conclusions drawn from this research are that PS1 is a process worthy of further development. PS1 facilitators regard it was useful in reducing the negative consequences of conflict, and to be most effective it must have institutional support within the context within which it is used.
Don't waste my time on negotiation and mediation: This dispute needs a judge
Authors: Wade John 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article contains two parts. First, there is a framework aimed at encouraging lawyers and other conflict managers to be overtly analytical when deciding which interventions may or may not be helpful in a particular conflict. Second, to illustrate this analytical framework, there are two lists of factors or diagnostic indicators that suggest that certain conflicts probably need the decision of an umpire or judge and that certain other conflicts probably need written claims to be filed in a court or tribunal. This article does not attempt to create lists of factors that indicate the suitability of many other processes, such as early neutral evaluation, problem‐solving mediation, and arbitration.
Mediation in black and white: Mediation center‐police partnerships—a dignified police response
Authors: Cooper Christopher 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article addresses how mediation center‐police partnerships, in which police are mere referral agents for mediation centers, perpetuate superficial responses to police calls‐for‐service, social inequality, social subordination, and the already had police‐people of color relationship. I take an alternative position, which calls for mediation centers not to discourage police officers from doing what they have been doing all along (although selectively): mediating. In this regard, I show how partnerships that discourage police officers from transferring power in interpersonal disputes perpetuate the fundamental social problem of racially discriminatory policing. Specifically, the problem is that of mediation being performed less frequently in communities of color than in other communities. A mediation center‐police partnership that looks to many mediation professionals like a healthy, traditional institutional arrangement could justifiably be perceived by people of color as contributing to social injustice.
Transforming destructive conflict: Healing the oppression of patriarchy
Authors: Ronis Deri Joy 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis article was written with the intention of providing a different framework to help shift the current mindset of apathy and despair that exists today into one of hope and action, which is much needed to transform the violence that affects us all. Oppression is a contributing factor in violence, which we see affecting all aspects of our society. Accepting that conflict is a part of life and viewing it as an opportunity rather than a crisis allows people to seek and find alternatives to the multigenerational historical legacy of the toleration of abuse in our society. This article weaves together both microcosmic and macrocosmic perspectives, which outline alternative avenues that may help us overcome and transform the violence under which we live.
Evaluating mediation practice from a transformative perspective
Authors: Antes James R. , Saul Judith A. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA process for the formative evaluation of mediation practice from a transformative orientation is presented in this article. Fundamental to the process is the understanding that mediator activities reflect and derive from basic premises the mediator holds about people and conflict. During a live role‐play mediation or while viewing a videotape of themselves mediating, mediators are asked to reflect on the intent of their interventions. A coach‐trainer helps the mediator assess the appropriateness of the interventions by inviting consideration of the context of the moment, the intended purpose of the intervention, and the probable empowerment and recognition effect on the parties.
Beyond the dominant narrative: Intimacy and conflict in lesbian relationships
Authors: Felicia Diane M. , Sutherland Michelle 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThere has been limited attention in the mediation literature to intimacy and conflict in lesbian relationships. A review of the literature revealed three trends: (1) little reference to historical and contemporary research and theory about lesbians and lesbian relationships; (2) a tendency to package comments and conclusions about lesbians and gay men as if these groups are the same; and (3) a bias toward heterosexual models of commitment, marriage, and conflict resolution within relationships. In this article, we review current research about the development and dissolution of lesbian relationships, with particular attention to gender, relational competencies, and sociopolitical influences that may have implications for how lesbian couples cope with conflict. When relevant, comparisons are made to research on heterosexual relationships. Recommendations for divorce mediators and family mediators are offered.
Ethics and field building: The chicken and the egg
Authors: Blechman Hrank 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIn this article, the author explores the connection between developments in the field of conflict resolution and the evolution of effective comprehensive ethics to guide and measure practitioners. He argues that development of field requires clarification of both broad social values and specific professional rules. Further, he suggests that the field must soon address questions of definition and quality if it wishes to remain vital and growing.
Considering effective divorce mediation: Three potential factors
Authors: Gale Jerry , Mowery Robyn L. , Hermann Margaret S. , Hollett Nancy L. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe purpose of this exploratory, qualitative stgdy was to examine mediator efect by employing a repeated measures research design in which we videotaped mediators working with actors and a scripted divorce case scenario. What factors distinpish higher‐rated mediators from lower‐rated ones? Our discourse analysys of four divorce mediations suggested three signijcant factors of injuence that finction interactively and afect both mediation outcome and process. Ethical implications regarding how mediators achieve success in these three domains are discussed. This article presents implications for researchers, trainers, and practitioners; it suggests important directions for fiture research with nonsimulated mediation.
Discovering the promise of curriculum integration: The national curriculum integration project
Authors: Compton Randy 
Published: July 2007

AbstractOne of the most signzficant challenges in institutionalizing conflict resolution education is jnding a way for teachers and schooh to teach this material without sacrificing time spent on other content. Many CRE expertsfiel the best means to achieve institutionalization is to integrate conflict education components in all ongoing curricula, including social studies, language arts, history, mathematics, and science. This article reports on the National Curriculum Integration Project and its development, implementation, and evaluation outcomes.
Reframing conflict: Implications for fairness in parent‐adolescent mediation
Authors: Lam Julie A. , Rifkin Janet , Townley Annette 
Published: July 2007

AbstractConflict between parents and adolescents gets redefined during the mediation process by the use of reframing—a primary tactical tool used by mediators. Reframing has the potential to subtly influence the kinds of agreements the parties reach. This paper investigates the implications of reframing conflict and examines whether the mediation process is equally fair to parents and adolescent parties.