Mediating Teen Violence in Boulder, Colorado

• NCJ Number: 152397
• Author(s): K Damas
• Date Published: 1994
• Length: 4 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: University of Colorado; William and Flora Hewlett Foundation
• Sale Source: National Institute of Justice/; NCJRS Photocopy Services; Conflict Resolution Consortium
• Publication Type: Report (Technical Assistance)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: Edited transcript of talk given for the Intractable Conflict/Constructive Confrontation Project on November 6, 1993

Annotation

A member of the Boulder, Colorado, Youth Services Division describes the city's mediation service and how it interacts with the schools regarding violence involving school-age children.

Abstract

The mediation service is 10 years old and uses volunteers to help resolve disputes involving landlords and tenants, neighbors, neighborhoods and developers, race relations, and youths. Typical parent-adolescent disputes involve curfews, school performance, sex, drugs, peers, and others. The service uses two mediators rather than one. In teen situations, it uses an adult and a teenager to mediate each dispute. The first step is to generate a dialogue between the parties in conflict. Adolescents often have difficulty generating options to resolve a dispute and need the mediator to say that ways exist to resolve conflict other than hitting someone or giving up on solving the problem. Another step that is needed is to include in the curriculum the names of the people who worked out agreements and treaties, not just the generals in wars. In addition, a recent episode involving a beating has led to awareness of the need for a mediation model that involves the youths' entire circle of influence rather than just the two parties to a dispute.