The majority of Western models of mediation have been based on a number of premises that suggest a rational, staged, largely emotion-free, present- and future-based approach to conflict resolution, with a focus on principles of mediator neutrality and impartiality, confidentiality and measurable outcomes (Boulle, 1996; Fisher and Brandon, 2002; Folberg and Taylor, 1984; Haynes, 1994).
In Australia, these models have experienced such privilege that they now form part of many mediator training programs and are embedded in the proposed new national standards for the practice of mediation. For example, one arguably powerful training organisation in Australia (LEADR Association of Dispute Resolvers, n.d.) requires trainees to read Fisher and Ury’s (1981) volume on negotiation, and appears to base its five-day training program on the suggestions of these authors. Thus, trainees are introduced to the ideas of separating “the people from the problem” (p. 18), not reacting to “emotional outbursts” (p. 32), focusing on “interests, not positions” (p. 41), focusing on the future rather than the past, and evaluating issues objectively rather than subjectively. These concepts form the basis of a rational and emotion-free approach to the resolution of conflict, as described by authors such as Boulle (1996) and Haynes (1994).
Download
I Love You, I Hate You: Emotions, Relationships And The Mediation Process
