NCJ Number
101260
Journal
Mediation Quarterly Issue: 11 Dated: (March 1986) Pages: 25-41
Date Published
1986
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Contemporary United States research findings do not justify any general opposition to the further development of family mediation, but the optimum nature of the mediation processes and their proper relationship to formal adjudication require further examination, particularly as they relate to the court-focused approach to conciliation common in Great Britain.
Abstract
Reserach suggests that alternative forms of dispute resolution are most appropriate in those cases where there is relative equality between disputants. Further, there is evidence that informal processes may offer fewer protections to disputants, that formal agencies may regulate or co-opt and thus formalize alternatives, and that the power accorded a specialized intervener may transform what should be a mediatory process. Consequently, in family mediation, it is important that attention be given to nourishing existing and established forms of bilateral negotiation leading to joint decisionmaking rather than emphasizing new forms of third-party decision or active forms of mediation. Attention should focus on what the parties are doing rather than on the performance of interveners; intervention should be minimal so that successful bilateral processes determine the content of the outcome. Finally, because of the danger of co-option, informal agencies linked to courts or auxiliary to them should be viewed with great caution. 16 references.