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Preface xi cess encompasses a variety of skills and is practiced in so many different ways that researchers have encountered difficulties in focusing on such a comprehensive process. During the past twelve years, I have been actively in- volved as a mediator of organizational, environmental, family, community, criminal, and- public policy disputes. This broad experience leads me to believe that there are some common me- diation principles and procedures that can be applied effectively to a wide range of conflicts. This belief has been confirmed by the literature in the field of mediation. There is a great need for a general work on mediation that details the "how-to" aspects of the process. The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resoly- ing Conflict integrates my personal experience and research, detailing what is known about the mediation process as it has been applied in a variety of areas and types of disputes. This book outlines how mediation fits into the larger field of dispute resolution and negotiation and then presents a comprehensive stage-by-stage sequence of activities that can be used by media- tors to assist participants in disputes to reach agreement. I have written this book for several groups. First are the practicing mediators who work in a variety of arenas and who have repeatedly expressed their need for a comprehensive de- scription of mediation process and theory. The book should be helpful to practitioners in labor, family, organizational, envi- ronmental, public policy, community, and other diverse areas of mediation practice. Second are professionals-lawyers, managers, therapists, social workers, planners, and teachers-who handle conflicts on a daily basis. Although these professionals may choose to be- come full-time mediators, they are more likely to use mediation principles and procedures as additional tools to help them with- in their chosen fields of work. The material presented here will aid any professional who wishes to promote cooperative prob- lem solving between his or her clients. Third are people who have to negotiate solutions to com- plex problems. Since mediation is an extension of the negotia- tion process and, in fact, a collection of techniques to promote