The Assumptions Underlying the Dominant Approaches Are Myths : A Case Study of Maine ' s Mandatory Divorce Mediation Involving Lawyers (original) (raw)

Bring in the lawyers: Challenging the dominant approaches to ensuring fairness in divorce mediation

Minn. L. Rev., 1994

of the NCSC. All of the summaries of the data are based on our computations, not those of the NCSC. 19. See supra note 2 (citing sources). 20. Patricia Vroom et al., Winning Through Mediation: Divorce Without Losers, in ALTERNATIVE MEANS OF FAMILY DISPUTE RESOLUTION 3, 4 (1982) ("Mediation builds relationships, unlike the adversarial approach, which destroys them."). 21. JOHN M. HAYNEs, DIVORCE MEDIATION 3 (1981).

Considering effective divorce mediation: Three potential factors

Conflict Resolution Quarterly, 2002

The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative stgdy was to examine mediator efect by employing a repeated measures research design in which we videotaped mediators working with actors and a scripted divorce case scenario. What factors distinpish higher-rated mediators fiom lower-rated ones? Our discourse analysis offour divorce mediations suggested three signijcant factors of injuence that finction interactively and afect both mediation outcome and process. Ethical implications regarding how mediators achieve success in these three domains are discussed. This article presents implications for researchers, trainers, and practitioners; it suggests important directions for fiture research with nonsimulated mediation. ediation, like other professional practices, is a complex process. M Indeed, we suspect that many variables contribute to the success or failure of both the process and the outcome of a mediation, possibly (1) mediator characteristics (personality, education, professional training, skill level, cultural background, age, gender, appearance, and so on),

A DECADE OF DIVORCE MEDIATION RESEARCH: Some Answers and Questions

Family Court Review, 2005

A decade of divorce mediation research has focused on outcomes such as settlement rates, cost eflciency, client satisfaction, effect on levels of conflict and cooperation, psychological adjustment, and compliance. Despite methodological problems limiting generalizations, most siudies report mildly favorable to very positive findings. Research on the mediation process and mediator behaviors has received very limited aitention, and should be the focus of the next decade of research to elevate the mediation field to a more sophisticated, effective level of practice.

A Decade of Divorce Mediation Research

Family Court Review, 2005

A decade of divorce mediation research has focused on outcomes such as settlement rates, cost eflciency, client satisfaction, effect on levels of conflict and cooperation, psychological adjustment, and compliance. Despite methodological problems limiting generalizations, most siudies report mildly favorable to very positive findings. Research on the mediation process and mediator behaviors has received very limited aitention, and should be the focus of the next decade of research to elevate the mediation field to a more sophisticated, effective level of practice.

Predicting Outcomes in Divorce Mediation: The Influence of People and Process

Journal of Social Issues, 1985

This paper explores the relative importance of perceived dispute characteristics and mediator skills for predicting the settlement of child custody cases. The cases studied were child custody and visitation disputes mediated in three different legal jurisdictions: The Los Angeles Conciliation Court; the Hennepin County, Minnesota, Superior Court; and the Connecticut Superior Court. Although the ability to predict mediation outcomes was limited, several significant predictors were found: the duration and intensity of the dispute, the quality of the exspouses' relationship, and the perceived ability of mediators to promote interspouse communication and to provide disputants with interpersonal insights. Dispute characteristics and perceptions of the mediators' behavior were about equally useful for predicting mediation outcomes.