NCJ Number
124484
Journal
Law and Human Behavior Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: (June 1990) Pages: 249-268
Date Published
1990
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Ethnographic methods were used to study alternative dispute resolution as practiced by two mediation projects.
Abstract
Observations of actual mediation sessions, interviews with key informants, and archival data were used. The authors found that the projects could be distinguished according to (a) uses of coercion and consensus in affecting a resolution, (b) the type of posturing that took place between mediator and disputants, and (c) the type of discourse employed. The authors argue that differences between the two projects emanated from whether the project was planned and executed by a state agency or whether it was community-based. 1 note, 2 tables, and 42 references. (Author abstract)