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18 The Mediation Process Assistance can refer to very general or to highly specific activi- ties. Iwill examine here some of the more general roles and functions of the mediator, and will discuss specifics later when analyzing intervention moves made during particular phases of negotiation. The mediator may assume a variety of roles and functions to assist parties in resolving disputes (American Arbitration As- sociation, n.d.): • The opener of communications channels who initiates com- munication or facilitates better communication if the parties are already talking. • The legitimizer who helps all parties recognize the right of others to be involved in negotiations. • The process facilitator who provides a procedure and often formally chairs the negotiation session. • The trainer who educates novice,- unskilled, or unprepared negotiators in the bargaining process. • The resource expander who provides procedural assistance to the parties and links them to outside experts and resources, such as lawyers, technical experts, decision makers, or addi- tional goods for exchange, that may enable them to enlarge acceptable settlement options. • The problem explorer who enables people in dispute to examine a problem from a variety of viewpoints, assists in defining basic issues and interests, and looks for mutually satisfactory options. • The agent of reality who helps build a reasonable and imple- mentable settlement and questions and challenges parties who have extreme and unrealistic goals. • The scapegoat who may take some of the responsibility or blame for an unpopular decision that the parties are never- theless willing to accept. This enables them to maintain their integrity and, when appropriate, gain the support of their constituents. • The leader who takes the initiative to move the negotiations forward by procedural, or on occasion, substantive sugges- tions.