Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Interpreting, Stephanie Jo Kent

Doctoral Dissertations

What do community interpreting for the Deaf in western societies, conference interpreting for the European Parliament, and language brokering in international management have in common? Academic research and professional training have historically emphasized the linguistic and cognitive challenges of interpreting, neglecting or ignoring the social aspects that structure communication. All forms of interpreting are inherently social; they involve relationships among at least three people and two languages. The contexts explored here, American Sign Language/English interpreting and spoken language interpreting within the European Parliament, show that simultaneous interpreting involves attitudes, norms and values about intercultural communication that overemphasize information and discount …

The Child Client: Representing Children In Child Protective Proceedings, Merril Sobie

Touro Law Review

No abstract provided.

No Alternative: Resolving Disputes Japanese Style, Eric Feldman

All Faculty Scholarship

This article critiques the simple black/white categorisation of mainstream versus alternative dispute resolution, and argues that what is needed is a cartography of dispute resolution institutions that maps the full range of approaches and traces their interaction. It sketches the first lines of such a map by describing two examples of conflict resolution in Japan. Neither can justly be called “alternative”, yet neither fits the mould of what might be called mainstream or classical dispute resolution. One, judicial settlement, focuses on process; the other, compensating victims of the Fukushima disaster, engages a specific event. Together, they help to illustrate why …

Mediation – Its Potential And Its Limits: Developing An Effective Discourse On The Research And Practice Of Peacemaking, Dennis C. Jett

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

This article looks at the various contributions to this issue of the Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs. The contributors have analyzed the potential and limits of mediation, but have focused on a number of different aspects of that process. The analytic research relevant to conflict situations will be most useful, however, if the recommendations offered for how to bring conflicts to an end can actually be of use to practitioners in the field. The approach of this article is therefore to consider how policymakers might employ these recommendations as they pursue the goal of peace. It …

Ethnic Conflict: An Organizational Perspective, Victor Asal, Jonathan Wilkenfeld

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

To talk about the behavior of others is to generalize especially if that behavior is perceived to be negative. As researchers who have studied ethnic discrimination and ethnic conflict for close to two decades, we have noticed, anecdotally at least, that this penchant for generalization is rampant in discussions of ethnic politics. Journalists and academics tend to talk about one or another ethnic group’s involvement in violence without specifying a political organizational agent. This kind of generalization is a serious obstacle to understanding conflicts and identifying solutions because it prevents policymakers and academics from getting at the messy reality of …

When States Mediate, Molly M. Melin

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

Militarized conflict is one of the most devastating of all human activities. The international community’s response to conflict occurrence can significantly affect the number of casualties, the extent of resulting devastation and even the outcome of the conflict. State responses range from conflict management, whereby third parties actively engage in resolving the conflict; joining, whereby states become an additional disputant; or remaining uninvolved. One of the most common active third-party responses is to act as a mediator, a role using consensual, nonbinding and nonviolent means of conflict management and resolution. This paper explores the policy of state-led mediation, its strengths …

The Politics Of International Arbitration And Adjudication, Stephen E. Gent

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

Arbitration and adjudication have proven to be effective means of producing long-lasting settlements on contentious issues, but states are generally reluctant to use such legal forms of dispute resolution, especially in resolving issues of national security. To understand when policymakers can and should promote the use of legal mechanisms, they need to understand the political reasons behind the reluctance of states to use these forums. This essay identifies five factors that significantly influence the willingness of states to relinquish decision control and pursue arbitration or adjudication: third-party bias, salience, uncertainty, bargaining power, and armed conflict. To promote the use of …

Using The Right Tool For The Job: Mediator Leverage And Conflict Resolution, Kyle Beardsley

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

In international dispute mediation, a one-size-fits-all view of mediation may actually inhibit effective conflict resolution. Mediators must especially tailor the level of leverage to the needs of the situation. This essay first considers existing studies that have found both potential benefits and risks of heavy-handed third-party involvement as a conflict-management strategy. It then considers a few illustrative cases to demonstrate the importance of making sure that the tools of mediation fit the context. Finally, it concludes with a discussion of how sustained post-conflict peacekeeping and peacebuilding can reduce the risks of leverage in mediation.

Who Should Be At The Table?: Veto Players And Peace Processes In Civil War, David E. Cunningham

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

Civil wars contain a set of actors that have the ability to block settlement and continue the war on their own. When they contain more “veto players,” conflicts are much longer and negotiations are more likely to break down. The rate of success of international efforts to resolve multi-party civil wars is much lower than when there is only one rebel group fighting the government. This article discusses implications for peacemakers designing responses to conflicts with multiple veto players. Negotiations in these conflicts are most likely to lead to a peace agreement that successfully ends the war if they include …

Deceptive Results: Why Mediation Appears To Fail But Actually Succeeds, Scott Sigmund Gartner

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

International disputes receiving third-party mediation are less likely to result in peace treaties than those negotiated bilaterally between the disputants. When belligerents do settle, mediated agreements are more likely to fail. Is mediation detrimental to conflict resolution? No. Third-party mediation represents a highly effective, but costly, means of peacemaking. Disputants recognize its costs and only employ mediation when they are unable to resolve a conflict between themselves, creating a “selection effect.” As a result, mediators are selected for the toughest cases – those least likely to end peacefully and mostly likely to result in fragile agreements. When the difficulty of …

Research On Bias In Mediation: Policy Implications, Isak Svensson

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

One of the most important and disputed questions within the field of international mediation concerns the issue of bias. The question of bias cuts to the core of what mediation is and the ways in which mediators can help the parties reach peace. Focusing on research on the role of neutrality and bias in international peace diplomacy in civil wars, this article draws out the policy implications of my own empirically-based work on the role of bias in the mediation of internal armed conflicts. This article suggests that neutrality should not be part of the definition of mediators, …

The Lack Of Coordination In Diplomatic Peacemaking, Birger Heldt

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

The increased number of peacemaking actors during the past twenty years is accompanied by an increased amount of peacemaking, but also a low success rate. This article focuses on recent emerging conflicts. It finds that peacemaking is prevalent, but is often not coordinated with regard to choice of tools (mediation, arbitration, etc.), or the agenda or the issues of the talks. This lack of coordination has for many years been recognized as detrimental and may partly explain the low success rate. The article suggests that policymakers need to have a long-term strategy to address the coordination problem, part of which …

Translating Scholarship Into Policy, Scott Sigmund Gartner, Amy C. Gaudion

Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs

There is an ever widening gap between conflict resolution policy makers and scholars—a tragedy given practitioners’ dire need for new ideas to help resolve deadly conflicts and the growing knowledge researchers have to share. Research tends to swing like a pendulum between analytic and rigorous methods and accessible and relevant approaches. We reject this tradeoff. We believe that research can be simultaneously rigorous and relevant, and analytic and accessible. Given the devastating loss of life associated with armed conflict, the need for translating research results into policy prescriptions is especially strong in peacemaking. The goal of this issue of the …

Interdisciplinary Psychology And Law Training In Family And Child Mediation: An Empirical Study Of The Effects On Law Student Mediators, Amy Applegate, Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, Brittany N. Rudd, Ann Freeman, Brian D'Onofrio

Articles by Maurer Faculty

There is growing interest in interdisciplinary training programs for law students. The goal of these programs is to prepare law students for the real world interdisciplinary settings they will face in their careers. However, there exists little research to provide evidence of the utility of such training. This study examined the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary psychology and law training program on law students using a multi-method approach (i.e., knowledge tests and focus group discussion). Findings suggest that interdisciplinary training of law students increased law students’ knowledge of law and psychology, was enjoyed by law students, and had a beneficial impact …

Changing Minds: The Work Of Mediators And Empirical Studies Of Persuasion, James H. Stark, Douglas N. Frenkel

All Faculty Scholarship

The use of mediation has grown exponentially in recent years in courts, agencies, and community settings. Yet the field of mediation still operates to a considerable extent on folklore and opinion, rather than reliable knowledge. Mediator attempts at persuasion are pervasive in a wide variety of mediation contexts, yet “persuasion” is, for some, a pejorative word and a contested norm in the field. Perhaps as a result, there has been little, if any, evidence-based writing about what kinds of persuasive appeals might be effective in mediation, how they might operate, and how they might be experienced by disputants. In an …

Introducing A ‘Presumption Of Adr’ For Civil Matters In The Subordinate Courts, Joyce Low, Dorcas Quek Anderson

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This article traces the development of court ADR programmes in the SubordinateCourts for civil disputes. It also discusses the implications of a recent PracticeDirection introducing a “Presumption of ADR”.

The Alternative Forms Of Dispute Settlement And The Essential Difference Between These And Arbitration, Michael Diathesopoulos

Michael Diathesopoulos

The paper examines the characteristics of some common alternative forms of dispute settlement and their key differences from arbitration regarding their nature and scope. Its purpose is to explore each mechanism's suitability for specific types of disputes.

Finding The Appropriate Mode Of Dispute Resolution: Introducing Neutral Evaluation In The Subordinate Courts, Dorcas Quek Anderson, Chi-Ling Seah

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

The Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) movement has gained significant traction over the last three decades and has been expanding at a rapid pace in many common law jurisdictions. The allure of ADR lies, in large part, in its recognition of litigants’ desire for self-determination and autonomy in resolving their disputes. ADR became even more attractive as dissatisfaction with the traditional court system grew. In the seminal Roscoe Pound Conference on Popular Causes of Dissatisfaction with the Administration of Justice in USA, the changing role of the courts was highlighted, casting ADR further into the spotlight.i Instead of offering only adjudication …

Five Things I Learnt This Year (And Should Have Known Already), Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp reflects on 2008 and the lessons learnt as a jobbing mediator

Gates & Crowley, Patrol Officer’S Tool Box: Mandatory Conflict Resolution Skills For Police Officers, Christopher C. Cooper

Christopher C. Cooper Dr.

What happened between a Harvard professor and a street cop from Cambridge was a Testosterone laden confrontation fueled by ego of, and misconceptions held by, both men. In the police academy, we spend hours and hours learning how to fire a gun and then have to go back to the gun range on a regular basis, but not one class or even one hour is spent crafting the best way to talk with citizens. A famous criminologist (Muir) in his studies of American police used the phrase “Streetcorner” Politician to describe the uniformed police officer. What comes to mind of …

Rehearsing In Poetry, But Practising In Prose - The Anatomy Of A Manly Mediation, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

As arranged, the cast gathered at 9.30am for yesterday's production in the sort of law offices where, if you want a coffee, you need to say whether it's a latte, macchiato, cappuccino or espresso with soy/trim/creamer...

40 Sites In 40 Minutes, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

The best of free mediation resources on the world wide web

I Know It's Not My Problem... But It Happened On My Watch, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

It is at some risk that I set out to promote my expertise in the area of what to do when mediation ends in disagreement.

Nevertheless, I dread those times when the smell of napalm hangs in the air as the parties depart the room with their final exchanges of the ‘see you in court’ variety ringing in my ears.

To assist my investigation of what we do as mediators when destination Yes eludes us, I polled a number of experienced commercial mediators. I am indebted to my friends from Bond University in Queensland, Australia and colleagues from the International …

Desert Island Questions For Mediators, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

When I was a wee lad, I drove others nuts by asking questions. They were, I am told, good open ones usually starting ".... but, why?"

As time passed, I grew into a know-it-all teen and forgot about asking questions, more intent on doing the telling. Now at age 40 and in my role as a commercial mediator, I seem to have come full circle and once again appreciate the value of the well-timed, well-constructed question aimed at the essence of a discussion.

So what are my all-time favourites? What questions do I ask that make people sit back in …

The Legal Scholarship Of Blogs, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

If you’ve ever felt the need to share your opinions with the world, then blogs just may provide you with the global audience you’ve been longing for. Geoff Sharp surfs the wave of the future and finds out the skinny on blawging.

Where Angels Fear To Tread, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

The Tricky Matter of How a Commercial Mediator Shows Respect for the Attorney/Client Relationship...

Those of us who were lawyers in a previous life and are now mediators, or those of us who dabble in both worlds, will know that there is a sensitivity surrounding the whole question of the mediator and the attorney / client relationship. This tension is largely unspoken but it is nevertheless an anxiety for most attorneys as they head into a mediation session.

In Praise Of Joint Sessions, Geoff Sharp

Geoff Sharp

This paper deals with the increasing trend amongst mediators to do away with a joint session (where the parties meet face-to-face) at mediation in favour of meeting with the parties privately and adopting a shuttle mediation model.

This is an especially topical debate amongst mediators with some advocating that a purely private session or caucus model of mediation where the parties never meet saves time and is what the market now requires. This compares with other mediators resisting the demise of the joint session, saying it is at the heart of what mediators do and of what mediation is.

For …

Book Review - The Science Of Settlement: Ideas For Negotiators, Rebekah K. Maxwell

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Beyond Rights: Legal Process And Ethnic Conflicts, Elena Baylis

Articles

Unresolved ethnic conflicts threaten the stability and the very existence of multi-ethnic states. Ethnically divided states have struggled to build safeguards against such disputes into their political and legal systems by establishing federal political structures, designing elections to encourage participation, and entering complex power-sharing arrangements, but such measures cannot be expected to prevent all conflict. Human rights and minority rights guarantees likewise have proven unable to accommodate all relevant groups and interests. Accordingly, multi-ethnic states facing persistent ethnic conflicts need to develop effective dispute resolution systems for resolving those conflicts as they arise. This presents an important question: what kinds …

Agenda: Water Negotiation Workshop, University Of Colorado Boulder. Natural Resources Law Center, William & Flora Hewlett Foundation

Water Negotiation Workshop (June 4-5)

"Sponsored by: The Natural Resources law Center of the University of Colorado Law School; Funding provided by: The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation."

"Facilitators: Lucy Moore and Steve Snyder."

"June 4 and 5, 2003, Community House, Chautauqua Park, Boulder, Colorado."

Contents:

Agenda -- Roster of workshop participants -- Biographies of workshop participants -- Maps of Klamath basin -- Key water-related events in the upper Klamath basin -- Federal-state decisionmaking on water : applying lessons learned / David J. Hayes -- Turbulence in the Klamath River basin / Sharon Levy