Family Mediation: An Idea Whose Time Has Come (From Counseling the Adolescent: Individual, Family, and School Interventions, P 135-158, 1988, Jon Carlson and Judith Lewis: eds. -- See NCJ-118364)

• NCJ Number: 118367
• Author(s): C H Huber; J B Mascari; A Sanders-Mascari
• Date Published: 1988
• Length: 24 pages
• Sale Source: Love Publishing Co
• Publication Type: Issue Overview
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Using the mediation process for settling family disputes fosters a cooperative sharing of power that results in positively transformed rather than negatively severed relationships.

Abstract

Mediation is a form of negotiation and conflict resolution in which the disputing parties are aided by a third party in making mutual decisions. Mediation provides for an examination of and resolution of the factors underlying a conflict. The procedural structure orders the mediation process, and the value structure establishes basic ethical standards of fairness to be followed during mediation. The psychological structure creates a setting wherein the physical and emotional needs of family members are sufficiently met so they can make optimal use of their decisionmaking capabilities. The mediator's role is to clarify communication, identify overlapping interest, and reinforce cooperative interactions. The mediator neither imposes nor constructs a resolution to the family conflict, but rather facilitates the interaction of the disputants so they can determine their own method of resolving the conflict. The mediation process followed by the authors has the 10 steps of referral, orientation and clarification, identification of principles and prioritization of demands, initial demands, early bargaining, investigating options, narrowing differences and trading, tentative agreement and revisions, memorandum of understanding, and termination and followup. 4 tables, 2 figures, 16 references, appended ethical principles of family mediation.