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x Preface <br />Mediation, the assistance of a neutral and impartial third <br />party in helping people resolve their own differences, has a long <br />history of application. However, until now there has not been a <br />comprehensive work that details what mediators actually do to <br />aid people in conflict. There are several reasons why so little has <br />been written on the actual practice of mediation, as opposed to <br />defining the procedure's merits ox applications. First, mediators <br />themselves disagree about whether mediation is an art or a sci- <br />ence. Many mediators believe that their practice is closer to an <br />art form and have been reluctant to encourage, or have actively <br />resisted, systematic study of what they do. <br />Second, many mediators subscribe to what might be de- <br />scribed as the "magic theory" of ,mediation. A mediator's skills <br />or moves are considered secrets that, if revealed to the public, <br />would render them less effective. Thus some mediators have in- <br />hibited research by protecting their "secrets." <br />A third argument against careful analysis of the media- <br />tion process is the confidential nature of the subject matter that <br />the people in conflict discuss and the confidentiality of the me- <br />diation process itself. This confidentiality has often been a bar- <br />rier to research. (Yet for years researchers have studied psychi- <br />atric cases, which presumably fall under the same privacy or <br />confidentiality restriction as mediated disputes.) <br />A fourth inhibiting factor is the problem of inserting re- <br />searchers into highly polarized, multiple-party disputes where <br />the acceptability and presence of "neutral" third parties is in it- <br />self controversial. The mediator's presence is often tenuous. <br />Parties are often even less likely to accept the presence of re- <br />searchers who wish to study the process of mediation. <br />Fifth, researchers in conflict resolution have generally <br />focused more on negotiation as a means of dispute resolution <br />than on mediation. Negotiation has been studied by game the- <br />orists, economists, social psychologists, anthropologists, legal <br />scholars, industrial relations researchers, and international rela- <br />tions scholars. Clearly more emphasis has been placed on reso- <br />lution of disputes by the principal parties than on resolution <br />through third-party intervention. <br />Finally, mediation has not been studied because the pro- <br />