8125 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

xii Preface more efficient negotiations, an understanding of the mediation process can be tremendously helpful for people directly in- volved in bargaining. Mediation can teach negotiators how to be cooperative rather than competitive problem solvers and how to achieve win-win rather than win-lose outcomes. An understand- ing of mediation can also aid negotiators in deciding when to call in a third party and what the intervenor should do for them. Fourth are trainees and students in both mediation train- ing programs and academic seminars in alternative dispute reso- lution. This book is suitable for use in law, business, social work, counseling, management, education, sociology, and -psy- chology seminars. Undergraduates as well as graduates will find it useful in learning mediation skills. Overview of the Contents Part One provides an overview of the entire process of mediation and dispute resolution. Chapter One describes the broad field of dispute resolution and details how mediation fits in as an important means of handling conflicts. In this chapter I present a spectrum of conflict management approaches and identify .when mediation is appropriate and when it has a high probability of success. Chapter Two examines the mediation process in more depth. After defining mediation, I explore some of the types of disputes to which the procedure has been ap- plied, introduce the twelve stages of the mediation process, and survey several variables that determine how directive the media- tor should be in his or her interventions. Part Two discusses mediator activities that occur prior to joint negotiations between the disputing parties. Chapter Three covers procedures for mediator entry and explores both how an intervenor becomes involved in a dispute and what impact being invited by a sole party, all parties, or an uninvolved secondary party has on the final settlement. Chapter Four describes the process of searching for a dispute resolution approach and arena with the parties. Procedures that can assist disputants in evaluat- ing the various methods of resolving their conflicts are covered, and the means of deciding which approach to use are explored.