NCJ Number
101911
Date Published
1985
Length
112 pages
Annotation
This textbook on conflict resolution for high school students covers the procedures and techniques of negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.
Abstract
Instruction in negotiation examines the characteristics of negotiation, its methods, obstacles and overcoming them, and outcomes. Methods include reasonableness and flexibility, reliance on the other party for guidance, a plan for mutual benefits, presentation of a battery of creative solutions to the dispute, insistence on gaining advantage over the other party, and insistence on compliance with one solution. Obstacles are hostility, no agreement on common ground, personal bias, threats, unequal power, accusations, and unwillingness to help deal with the other party's problems. Techniques for overcoming obstacles include focusing on the interests of both parties, identifying points of agreement, asking questions, listening, and identifying alternatives. The chapter on outcomes guides students in identifying the characteristics and outcomes of illustrative negotiated outcomes. Instruction in mediation and arbitration focuses on the characteristics and steps of each process. Exercises for each chapter apply the knowledge imparted. 31-item bibliography.