Reciprocal‐influence mediation model: A guide for practice and research
In: Conflict resolution quarterly, Band 25, Heft 2, S. 185-220
ISSN: 1541-1508
AbstractBecause of the length of most mediation sessions, it is challenging to assess a session's turn‐by‐turn nature. Here, a reciprocal‐influence model is presented that views mediation as a dynamic, interdependent system that recognizes individual utterances of disputants and media‐tors that change or reinforce destructive conflict. This perspective gives rise to a research method that maps the mediation discourse at a micro‐level in order to track each member's constructive and destructive state‐ments and view their mutual influence on the system as well as changes within the system over time. This process then facilitates a closer exam‐ination of critical shifts that lead to integrative conflict or resolution among the disputants. These closer examinations also indicate more‐and less‐effective client‐responsive interventions posed by the mediator.