NCJ Number
106707
Journal
Negotiation Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 3 Dated: (July 1987) Pages: 297-305
Date Published
1987
Length
9 pages
Annotation
This article identifies factors in disputants' resistance to mediation and suggests ways mediators can reduce such resistance.
Abstract
Resistance to mediation may be due to conditioned perceptions of contemporary mediation resulting from an absence of information or misinformation, attorneys' negative view of mediation, and the perception that mediators are advocates for weaker disputants. Disputant resistance to mediation may also be 'unconscious,' as defined by Freud to encompass the repression of painful experiences that affect behavior. Conscious resistance, which involves resistance of which the disputant is aware (although its motivation and causes may not be known), may result from a reluctance to participate in an unfamiliar process or to compromise a firmly held position in the dispute. To deal with resistance, regardless of its cause, mediators must feel secure, competent, and comfortable with the mediation process, including both its limitations and possibilities for parties of varying characteristics. Mediators can help reduce resistance by clearly explaining the mediation process and the control which disputants have over outcomes. Resistance can also be relieved by having the parties examine the resistance itself so they may decide whether mediation is the proper forum for resolving their dispute. 17 references.