8125

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

Initial Contacts with the Disputing Parties 55
In some disputes an attempt to gain overt commitment to
mediation, either oral or written, may lead to a failure to begin
negotiations at all. Mediators occasionally defer explicit initial
formal commitment to the process in favor of tentative or pre-
liminary negotiations. They delay asking the parties to commit
to mediation until a series of successful procedural and substan-
tive decisions have been made. Commitment will be formalized
later. In this approach to achieving commitment, mediators gain
an initial agreement to talk with one or more parties alone or in
informal joint meetings. In conversations, the mediator and dis-
putants may discover common interests that can be built on to
develop rapport between the parties and later, perhaps, to form
substantive agreements. Common interests are later used to ini-
tiate formal discussions.
Between these two extremes of explicit written or verbal
informal commitment is a strategic third option. Through ques-
tioning of and discussion with the disputants, a mediator may
discover specific conditions under which conflicting parties will
be willing to negotiate. These might include guidelines for how
the parties will interact in negotiation, times and locations of
sessions, or specific symbolic gestures required to initiate discus-
sions. The mediator may work with the parties to meet these
behavioral preconditions for negotiation. By setting the stage
and building a commitment contract, the mediator can encour-
age involvement without seeking a formal statement to that
end. This approach has the advantage that parties do not have
to overtly commit to the process to begin dialogue but has the
drawbacks that a precedent may be established that requires the
mediator to constantly overcome limits or hurdles thrown up
by participants who may not be committed to the process, or
that the parties may not be willing to formalize their commit-
ment to any agreements.
Implementing Entry
So far I have explained the foux general means of entry
and the tasks to be accomplished by the mediator during this
stage of intervention. I now turn to specific ways that mediators