In Hispanic society, the emphasis is on establishing wider relationships in the group context. This paradigm often implies reconciling the disputants in addition to simply resolving a specific issue in dispute. For an intercultural dispute resolution proceeding to be successful when an Anglo-American and a Hispanic disputant are involved, the mediators should be aware of the particular cultural assumptions prevalent in Hispanic society. To increase the Hispanic participant's comfort level in the mediation process, the mediator should promote a familiar, personalized setting versus an anonymous, impersonal bureaucratic setting. The mediator should emphasize the relational aspects of the process rather than the structural aspects and avoid direct expressions of conflict.
Interdependency is a necessary component of human relationships and is part of the human condition.
It is inherent in the most universal activities, such as raising children, planting crops and bartering goods. Interdependency can, however, lead to conflict. Cooperation is a skill that is common to all ethnic and cultural groups. Once the barriers of cultural assumptions have been removed by the skilled mediator, parties to an intercultural dispute can proceed directly to cooperative resolution, sidestepping possible pitfalls of miscommunication and misunderstanding to reach their common goals of accord and resolution.