NCJ Number
98959
Journal
Mediation Quarterly Issue: 7 Dated: (March 1985) Pages: 5-21
Date Published
1985
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This article identifies typical mediation issues and characteristics of successful mediation outcomes and processes pertaining to various kinds and stages of intimate relationships -- family, neighborhood, and employment -- and discusses the knowledge and techniques of the family mediator.
Abstract
Mediation of conflicts between unmarried cohabitants may pertain to relational problems that threaten the continuation of the relationship or the division of shared property occasioned by the dissolution of the relationship. Mediation with an engaged couple may focus on prenuptial agreements and their legal implications, relational problems, or conflicts in anticipated lifestyles after the marriage. Mediation before and after divorce may address child custody and visitation issues, financial and property settlements, and revisions in existing divorce agreements. Conflicts in remarriages may also lend themselves to mediation. Mediation also can address conflicts in intact families, domestic violence, and neighborhood conflicts. Mediation may also be applied to business and professional conflicts as well as to family issues centered in elderly family members. Mediators involved in various issues emerging from intimate relationships must have legal and psychological knowledge pertaining to families and cohabiting couples; the mediator in an organizational setting must be informed on business, community, and professional issues under dispute. The mediator must also learn the techniques appropriate for each type of dispute. The article provides hypothetical examples of issues and mediation processes for each type of dispute described. Eighteen references are listed.