Developing The Craft Of Mediation

This book draws on the concrete knowledge and practice experience of leading mediators, working in a variety of fields, to inform contemporary debates and challenges. These practitioners reflect on the excitement, complexity and satisfaction of their work as well as on the differences and commonalities across diverse fields of mediation practice.

"While there is no shortage of how-to books for mediators, works focusing on the voice of the mediator are rare. This book aims to fill that void by highlighting the perspectives of 16 mediators on a variety of topics, ranging from what motivates them to their different mediation styles and approaches." -Dispute Resolution Journal `I recommend this book to all mediators in whichever discipline they practise and with it the implicit challenge - to know and develop our craft.' -Resolution Newsletter, and www.resolution.org.uk The modern emergence of mediation represents the new and evolving application of an ancient and universal approach to settling quarrels. Mediation is now an established method of dispute resolution across a wide range of professional, workplace and social situations including the family, community, commercial, organisational, employment, environmental and international arenas. It is increasingly being applied to new legal, care and health sectors such as child abduction, child protection, housing and medical negligence. This book draws uniquely on the concrete knowledge and practice experience of leading mediators, working in a variety of fields, to inform contemporary debates and challenges. These practitioners reflect on the excitement, complexity, difficulty and satisfaction of their work as well as on the differences and commonalities within and across diverse fields of mediation practice. The book explores individual qualities and approaches, styles and models of practice, institutional frameworks and personal ideologies. Developing the Craft of Mediation is an essential aid for any mediator, and for other professionals wanting to enhance their understanding of the theory and practice of mediation.

The Making of a Mediator goes beyond the basics of mediation process. In this essential resource, expert mediator and teacher Michael Lang outlines his innovative model of artistry in professional practice that results from the understanding of and connection between reflective practice and interactive process. Together with Allison Taylor, they have created a landmark book that offers conflict resolution professionals the theories, principles, practices, and ideas for developing true artistry in mediation.

Traditional ideas of mediator neutrality and impartiality have come under increasing attack in recent decades. There is, however, a lack of consensus on what should replace them. Mediation Ethics offers a response to this question, developing a new theory of mediation that emphasises its nature as a relational process.

The modern emergence of mediation in the West in the 1980s represents a profound transformation of civil disputing practice, particularly in the field of family justice. In the field of family disputes mediation has emerged to fill a gap which none of the existing services, lawyers and courts on the one hand, or welfare, advisory or therapeutic interventions on the other, could in their nature have filled. In the UK mediation is now the approved pathway in the current landscape of family dispute resolution processes, officially endorsed and publicly funded by government to provide separating and divorcing families with the opportunity to resolve their disputes co-operatively with less acrimony, delay and cost than the traditional competitive litigation and court process. The consolidation of the professional practice of family mediation reflects its progress and creativity in respect both of the expanding focus on professional quality assurance as well as on developments of policy, practice guidelines and training to address central concerns about the role of children in mediation, screening for domestic abuse, sexual orientation and gender identity as well as cross-cultural issues including the role of interpreters in the process. Other areas of innovation include the application of family mediation to a growing range of family conflict situations involving, for example, international family disputes (including cross border, relocation and child abduction issues). Written by leaders in family mediation, this title provides a contemporary account of current practice developments and research concerning family mediation across a range of issues in the UK and Ireland.

If you are in search of a concise yet authoritative overview of mediation as a process of dispute resolution, then you need look no further. Marian Roberts' A-Z of Mediation succinctly captures the concepts, applications, debates and critiques that are shaping this rapidly expanding field. Expertly organised into just over 80 entries, the book combines theory, research and practitioner experience to provide a wealth of insight and analysis. The book's unique A-Z format makes it an ideal point of reference. Numerous cross-references are in place to guide you through the material and highlight the field's connecting strands. The key classic and contemporary readings are also systematically signposted, topic by topic, drawn from an extensive multidisciplinary literature. Whether you are studying, training or already in practice, this book provides an invaluable source of clarity as well as a comprehensive map of the field.

Do lawyers make matters worse, or do they provide information, advice and support which can help to prevent disputes arising or manage them when they do? Do mediators enable parties to communicate and reach agreements tailor-made to their needs? Or working outside the legal framework, do they find it difficult to protect weaker parties and access expert advice? What happens when lawyers become mediators? This book will describe the structure of service provision and the day-to-day work of lawyers, mediators, and lawyer mediators, drawing on empirical work carried out between 2013 and 2015 immediately after the recent changes to the management of divorce and separation within the family justice system. The reduction in legal aided help in 2013 and the failure of mediation to fill the gap in 2014–15 have given rise to a difficult debate. This book aims to provide an account of some of the practical effects of these policies through a description of the daily work of practitioners in the sector. It raises the question of whether we need to choose between traditional legal services and the new processes of private ordering or whether intermediate positions might be possible.

Stress, Trauma, and Wellbeing in the Legal System presents theory, research, and scholarship from a variety of social scientific disciplines and offers suggestions for those interested in exploring and improving the wellbeing of those who are voluntarily or involuntarily drawn into the legal system.