Putting mediation skills to the test

The Settlement‐Orientation vs. the Problem‐Solving Style in Custody Mediation

“…Two recent investigations suggest that a PSS style might also be more suitable to the kinds of disputes that are typically brought to community mediation centers. Thus, Honoroff, Matz, and O'Connor (1990) report that mediation applicants who were rated as possessing many of the skills central to our PSS model (e.g., intensive question asking, a sense of strategic direction, and mediator responsibility for shaping the process around an informed search for underlying needs) performed more effectively as community mediators than applicants rated as initially less adequate on such skills. The recent field study by Pruitt and his colleagues of a one-session model of community mediation also supports the value of a problem-solving stance during mediation: favorable long-term outcomes were predicted by evidence of joint problem solving during mediation and by the parties' perception that "all the problems had come out"; the mere reaching of a mediated settlement was not related to long-term outcomes (Pruitt, Peirce, McGillicuddy, Welton, & Castrianno, 1993).…”

State Cooperation on Regulatory Policies for Transboundary Environmental Issues

“…The growth in divorce mediation and the lack of standards, suggests that specialized training, practice, and professional guidelines are needed. Bartoletti Honoroff, Matz and O'Connor (1990) conclude that vague measures of a mediator's ability when selecting mediators, such as success rates, educational degrees, hours training, and an "I-know-it-when-I see-it" attitude (p. 37) were insufficient. Utilizing and updating Honeyman's (1988Honeyman's ( , 1990 The creation of the Guidelines was in response to the old saw that mediation is an art, not a science.…”

A consensus on mediators' qualifications

“…Sander, and Michael Lewis), plus Howard Bellman (then a member of SPIDR's Board) and myself as project director. The project originated as a modest attempt to try out some economical variations on the roleplay examination design referred to in the Honeyman (1988) and Honoroff, Matz, and O'Connor (1990) articles. We were determined not to engage in any actions contrary to the Commission's finding that "no single entity (rather, a variety of organizations) should establish qualifications for neutrals."…”

“…Impliedly, the mediator's style also reflects conscious and unconscious decisions as to w h i c h of the laundry list of mediators' functions will in practice be emphasized in the attempt to help the parties reach an agreement. Thus a mediator w i t h particular strengths in reasoning and organizing, for example, is likely to structure her involvement with the parties in ways quite different from an equally "good" mediator w h o s e real forte is in sensitivity and non- It may well be that one program needs a mediator who can get to the bottom of a moderately complex business dispute in three hours, because that's what the parties and supervising court have allowed as a working assumption as to time commitment and expense (see Honoroff, Matz and O'Connor, 1990). Another, working from a different base and with different assumptions, might expect a mediator to structure a no-more-complex case around redevelopment of relationships, and might be prepared to have a mediator spend days in that effort.…”