NCJ Number
109724
Journal
Mediation Quarterly Issue: 18 Dated: (Winter 1987) Pages: 61-71
Date Published
1987
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This study examines the impact of mediation on landlord-tenant conflicts, hypothesizing that disputants can move from competitive to cooperative conflict styles under mediation.
Abstract
The main variable measured in the study was the conflict style of the disputant during mediation. Conflict style was operationalized by a 10-item dichotomous scale. The scale measured the five Thomas (1976) conflict style orientations (competitive, accommodative, avoidant, collaborative, and compromising), which are categorized on the basis of the degree to which the party measured would like to satisfy the concerns of the other party. The scale measured conflict styles of the parties at both the beginning and end of the mediation. The sample consisted of 82 disputants in 41 mediated sessions from a Colorado landlord-tenant mediation project. The mediator in each dispute gathered the data as a participant-observer. Findings indicate that the conflict approach of a disputant during mediation changed significantly from the beginning of the mediation to the end, with the competitive orientation reduced and the cooperative orientations, especially the compromise approach, increased. The fact that both parties were willing to submit the dispute to mediation suggests, however, that the parties were initially open to moving from a competitive to a cooperative position. 1 table and 28 references.