NCJ Number
92473
Date Published
1983
Length
10 pages
Annotation
Mediation centers have developed in the United States both as programs based in the criminal justice system and as community-based programs.
Abstract
The Night Prosecutor Program in Columbus, Ohio, was established by the city prosecutor to handle minor disputes. It now handles more than 10,000 matters a year. The Community Board Program in San Francisco emphasizes referrals directly from the community rather than from the justice system. Community-based projects tend to have lighter caseloads than system-based projects. They also tend to have longer hearings. Some projects, such as the Suffolk County Community Mediation Center of Long Island, N.Y., try to blend elements of both of the other types of programs. Mediation's advantages include its simplicity, the ability of the parties to speak directly to one another, and the ability to include any matters for discussion. Both Federal and State legislatures and other bodies have promoted the development of dispute settlement projects. The dispute resolution movement has also attracted much attention from other nations. Evaluations have indicated that mediation programs process cases much more quickly than the courts and that disputants regard them more favorably than courts. However, questions about mediation that still remain include the types of cases which should be excluded, the types of processes that should be used, and how the programs can be institutionalized while avoiding the problems generally associated with bureaucratization. Mediation hearings have successfully handled a wide variety of disputes. Social service agencies are currently not a main source of referrals, but may wish to consider the possibility of referring more cases to mediation centers.