8125

• UCREFRP Catalog Number: 8125
• Author: Moore, C. W.
• Title: Editor
• USFW Year: Series
• USFW - Doc Type: 1986
• Copyright Material: YES

How Mediation Works 43
munity dispute, should the mediator focus on the spokespeople,
specific team members, the team as a whole, or the constituents
of the parties?
The focus of intervention refers to the particular critical
situations at which the mediator directs his or her moves. The
mediator may focus his or her energies on changing the psycho-
logical relationship of parties to each other. This is often re-
ferred to as a conciliation. He or she may aim at creating
the psychological conditions that are necessary for produc-
tive negotiations. The mediator may also focus on changing the
negotiation process or the procedure that is being used by one
or more people to solve the dispute. The focus may be on the
process for moving through the stages of solving a specific prob-
lem, such as how to help a party make a proposal that will be
acceptable to the other side.
The focus may also be on changing the substance or con-
tent of the dispute. The mediator may look for ways to explore
data, to expand the number of acceptable options on the nego-
tiation table, to narrow the choices when the parties are over-
whelmed with possibilities, or to integrate proposals made by
the disputants.
Finally, the intervenor may focus on changing the rela-
tionship structure among the parties. This may mean influenc-
ing their personal or interactive relationship in regard to such
factors as power, communication patterns, face-to-face versus
private negotiations, team structure, or a party's relationship to
its constituents.
I will now turn to a detailed examination of the stages of
mediation and the general moves mediators initiate to assist in
reaching agreement.