NCJ Number
100847
Journal
Missiouri Journal of Dispute Resolution Volume: 1985 Dated: (1985) Pages: 141-149
Date Published
1985
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This paper codifies major mediation biases as personal, situational, and structural and examines their implications.
Abstract
Personal bias involves the mediator's friendship or association with one of the parties or an affinity for a party's position. Provided accepted disclosure rules are applied, the possibility of personal mediator bias should not invalidate mediation as a process. Situational bias derives from a mediator's source of appointment and obligations to parties other than those immediately involved in the dispute. Structural biases, which stem directly from the nature of mediation, are the most obscure and the least avoidable. Among structural biases are tendencies for the process to benefit weaker parties disproportionately, moderate factions over radical ones, and negotiators over principals. Another bias is for the process to favor a quick or easy resolution instead of a more difficult and enduring solution. The most pernicious bias is mediation's effectiveness as a tool for parties determined to negotiate in bad faith. The aforementioned biases need not undermine the validity of mediation. Their effects can be minimized through better training, more open discussion, and a general understanding of bias by both mediators and disputants. 13 footnotes.