Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Creating An Infrastructure Of Good Conflict, Eliane S. Markoff

Office of the Ombuds

For some of us, the title of this paper may appear confusing. How can the words “good” and “conflict” appear together in the same title?

My experience as a mediator and an ombudsperson convinces me that the juxtaposition can indeed be justified. Not only do these two words have the potential to be used in the same sentence, I will go so far as to state that they should be in the same sentence.

Conflict in the workplace or almost anywhere is inevitable. We are human. We make mistakes. We annoy others. We offend others. We may be oblivious to …

Understanding The Interaction In Mediation Caucuses: Negotiation Positions, Disputant Assessments, Bias And Neutrality, Angela Cora Garcia

Natural & Applied Sciences Faculty Publications

Previous research on how mediation helps disputing parties to reach resolution has not addressed the interaction in caucuses (i.e. separate meetings) between mediators and individual disputants which may be held in addition to the joint mediation sessions. This discourse-analytic study of videotaped mediation caucuses reveals both constructive and potentially problematic aspects of participants’ interaction during the caucuses. While some disputants engaged in constructive actions, such as articulating their bottom line negotiating position or sharing information with the mediator which had not been revealed in the joint session, others produced negative assessments of the opposing disputants. Also, mediators’ openness in expressing …