NCJ Number
160444
Date Published
1991
Length
31 pages
Annotation
A theory of the mediation process was developed based on the experience of students involved in the process.
Abstract
The author worked with a team of 10 students ages 16-18 years, representing 7 cultures, from Mt. Diablo High School in Concord, Calif. Each team member had experienced peer mediation at least twice. The team spent a week generating a description of the essential features of their mediation experience. The team defined five central concepts that were part of every mediation: equality, procedural rules, confidentiality, an initial agreement to agree, and trust and confidence in a peer facilitator. They described their experience as a process that proceeded through a variety of stages and involved four options, four of which they regarded as leading to an escalation of the original conflict and the deterioration of relationships. The stages of a successful process included getting it all out, curiosity, clearing up inconsistencies, getting to the truth of the matter, arriving on the same wavelength (resolution), new understandings of self and other, agreement, and departure. A student leadership group that included peer conflict managers reviewed this model and concluded that it was an accurate description of the peer mediation process. Study findings suggested a theoretical model based on user consensus that may support the successful application of any structural approach to conflict resolution. Findings also indicated that program designers should ask students if they are uncertain about the direction the program should take. Figures and 13 references