NCJ Number
92767
Date Published
1981
Length
61 pages
Annotation
In seven cases referred by Federal district court judges for mediation, the Community Relations Service (CRS) successfully negotiated formal agreements. Extending the program to other regions will provide those regions with a successful alternative to litigation.
Abstract
This pilot program sought to discover potential benefits of extending CRS beyond the seven States in which it operated at the time of the study. The methodology consisted of selecting representative cases, referring them to CRS, and evaluating their results through use of a questionnaire guideline. The seven cases involved racial disputes, specifically over representation on a city council, prison conditions, and the personnel practices of police departments. Mediation by CRS was a successful alternative to litigation, accelerating the resolution of these disputes. The social benefits of improved relations between parties cannot be quantified, but even without this critical benefit added in, the CRS mediations were cost-effective to all parties. Appendixes present summaries of the cases, a sampling of press reactions to CRS involvement, mediators' reports, and a discussion of the methodology.