I Am Grateful For Having Been Exposed By Dr. Muvingi

Fells (2016, p. 211) wrote “ just as a doctor works to bring a person back to health, so too a mediator works to bring a deadlocked negotiation back to a situation where the parties can reach agreement”. This essay discusses this statement with reference to contemporary research on dispute resolution. In order to comprehend how this is achieved, we must consider the essence of mediation, the different types of mediation and what mediators do. Negotiation and mediation are process used to resolve opposing preferences between parties. Negotiation is defined in Fells (2016, p. 3) as “a process by which two parties with differences that they need to resolve try to reach agreement through

The essence of mediation is controversial, in some cases it makes the situation better and others it could make the situation far worse. There is mediation for rapes and violent assaults, and now mediation between drunk driving accidents has become more popular. Mediation really depends on the circumstance and there must be great precaution taken in regards to whether it can work or not. When it comes to the case of the Serrell’s this study suggests that mediation would not be of great value. The study explains “In fact, there may be little or no conflict to mediate and restitution, especially in cases of a lost life, may be impossible or meaningless” (Marty Price). The interesting part of this information is that the Serrell’s somehow despite the pain, looked beyond the death of their daughter and decided to engage in changing the life of Susanna. The study continues to explain that the primary focus of the meeting is to have an opportunity for the victim and offender to contribute to each other’s healing by sharing their pains and regrets. This is exactly what the Serrell’s did. This study gave greater insight into the conditions of their case because it also explained what the mediator needs and what they need to help the defendant. For example, the mediator needs an understanding of the victim’s experience, experience in dealing with grief, and the ability to collaborate with other professionals. For the offender, they need an understanding of the criminal justice system, the ability to relate with no judgments, and the ability to negotiate. It is compelling to know the products of mediation and interesting to see how the workings of mediation truly did apply to the Serrell

Dr. McKinney illustrates these tensions as a contradiction; the idea of conflict between desires in a relationship. Mediation is a wonderful process in negotiating a solution between two parties thwarted by

Incorporation of advocacy and mediation in human services advances conflict resolution through advocacy and mediation. Professionals in the human service field acknowledge the advantages of alternative conflict resolution applied in mediation promoting shared change. A mediator is a neutral third party who assists to resolve a disagreement or conflict by exploring crucial issues, resolve misunderstandings, look at solutions, and discuss a jointly favorable outcome. Mediators set up guiding principles throughout the mediation process. In addition, mediators help better the communication among disagreeing

“A mediator is a third party who assists interested parties in negotiating a conflict. A mediator controls the mediation process but does not have authority to decide the outcome for the parties” (Barsky, 2007). A mediator, in a given situation, helps to dissolve the conflict and looks to the best interest

Authentic connection with others, first requires looking inward as a mediator. In the essay, Humanistic Mediation: A Transformative Journey of Peacemaking, author Mark Umbreit outlines for key questions we should be asking ourselves to achieve emotional honesty (Umbreit, 1997, 208). These four questions were developed from family therapists Virginia Satir and highlight what it means to “present” as a family therapists, but these questions can be applied on multiple levels, including the art of being an effective mediator. These four questions include:

A problem that may be associated with mediation is power imbalance. Unfortunately, the mediator is only a third party which is present to assist the disputants with their communication to ensure it does not break down and help them reach a decision; however “the parties are in ultimate control, the mediator should not intervene even if one party has more bargaining power than the other” . This can in some cases result in an unfair agreement. Another adverse side of mediation is that; “basically anyone can hang out a sign and practice mediation” - meaning that mediators do not need to undergo a long period of study to ensure their professionalism and knowledge of dispute resolution. This can be harmful to the system and may result in cases being handled by unprofessional personals.

Regarding facilitative mediation, the Mediator Standards Board (MSB) advises mediators to be neutral. Neutrality does not mean a dissuasion from intervening between negotiating parties, but rather to be impartial and supportive of the parties’ ability to reach an agreement. Although facultative mediation has its advantages, to be critical power imbalance Astor suggests power imbalance is a disadvantage of facultative mediation, especially since mediators may not be aware of how to address it. I can personally relate to the element of unknowing, as despite being able to recognize this power imbalance, I did not possess the skills to intervene in order to counter them. Thus, I agree with Cobb et al.’s contention that mediators should know how to act in mediations with power imbalances, in order to combat issues of reinforcing dominant power narrative in mediations, opposed to a platform where diverse voices are heard equally.

Mediating and advocating for clients is an essential service provided by human service workers, but not everyone is cut out for the job; it takes encouraging, knowledgeable, and non-judgmental individuals to maintain the integrity of both the mediation and advocating processes. While an advocate is most likely found standing up for a specific group or a particular issue, a mediator helps assist two or more parties in resolving a conflict without expressing any favoritism. In order for a mediator to maintain unbiased and preserve the reliability of the mediation process, they must seek out an agency that provides services that correlate with their own belief system; otherwise they will have to check their own set of values and beliefs at the door which can be incredibly difficult, and in some cases – impossible.

Traditional approaches to mediation assume that a conflict’s parties and a mediator share one compelling reason for initiating mediation: a desire to reduce,abate,or resolve a conflict.To this end,both sides may invest personnel,time,and resources in the mediation.This shared humanititarian interest maybe the only genuine reason in a few instances of mediation,but normally even this interest intertwines with other, less altruistic,

Despite having no mediation experience prior to this class, I immediately excelled in a few areas of mediation. Namely, I did well with the introduction, exuding confidence, and helping the disputants move toward a resolution. Each of these skills is extremely important for mediators as they help set the tone, maintain control of the conversation or accomplish the goal of mediation. Of course, I improved with I practice, but I performed admirably in each of these arenas from the outset.

This paper will cover the difference in the negotiation process and the mediation process and explore some of the barriers that hinder the processes. There is a distinct difference between the negotiation process and the mediation process. Negotiation as defined in Essentials of Negotiation is a process by which two or more parties attempt to resolve their opposing interests (Lewicki, Saunders, and Barry, ) The Negotiation process happens when individuals disagree about a situation and there’s no mutual solution that can be attain by the two parties. The disagreement leads to a conflict which involves misinterpretation, miscommunication and hurt feelings. Because the parties cannot reach a mutual agreement on how to resolve their

A special research field in the mediation literature intends to shed light on the question, how influential the impact of mediator’s characteristics and motivations on the mediation process is. Concerning the state of research, the studies of this debate show a divergent picture. There are scientists who have queried the significance of mediator’s impartiality (Bercovitch/Houston 1996; Kydd 2003, Touval 1982; Zartmann/Touval 1996). Scholars like Saadia Touval have underpinned that mediators are often biased and can perform their tasks just as well if not better as impartial mediators. Additionally, Touval and Zartmann stated in their study that mediation is an exercise in power politics: “leverage is the ticket to mediation” (Touval/Zartmann 1989: 129). In 2003, Kydd finds that mediators use their leverage to one of the two conflicting parties and therefore constraint concessions. Thus, the mediator must be biased to be effective. This means that merely a mediator who is biased towards one side can credibility tell them that the opponent will not make peace without the concession. Carnevale and Arad (1996) also remarked the importance of bias. Nevertheless, they suggest that impartiality should not be underestimated and therefore be taken in to consideration.

The art of mediation comes in different styles and form in today’s society. With all the styles and formats, the foundation on helping others try to solve their disputes still hold true. In the early years of mediation, many of today’s well known mediators used their backgrounds as a foundation for their mediations, today’s mediators use their specialty skills to conduct mediations in some of the same ways in the early years of mediation. According to Moore, mediation is an intervention in a conflict accepting a third party to assist in reaching mutually acceptable settlements (2003). Beer, Packard, & Stief (2012) define mediation as a process for resolving disputes where an intermediary helps conflicting parties have a conversation to

Facilitative mediation is one of the sub-types of the problem-solving method, deriving from to " facilitate” or to mediate between two parties, its style largely used from the 1960-70s it is one of the original models which was generally and extensively used in the USA. The intent is to critically gauge this style of mediation, and weigh arguments for and against, to analyse if the model is relevant today. Questioning can this style of mediation stay neutral and remain in a guidance format only or does it cross over into other styles of mediation.