| Mediation as a process involves a third party | | | | |
| (often a neutral third party) assisting two | | | | Builders/contractors/realtors/homeowners |
| or more persons, ("parties" or | | | | |
| "stakeholders") to find mutually-agreeable | | | | Contracts of any kind |
| solutions to difficult problems. | | | | |
| | | | Medical malpractice |
| People make use of mediation at many | | | | |
| different levels and in multiple contexts: | | | | Personal injury |
| from minor disputes to global peace-talks. | | | | |
| This makes it difficult to provide a general | | | | Partnerships |
| description without referring to practices in | | | | |
| specific jurisdictions - where 'mediation' | | | | Non-profit organizations |
| may in fact have a formal definition and in | | | | |
| some venues may require specific licenses. | | | | Faith communities |
| This article attempts only a broad | | | | |
| introduction, referring to more specific | | | | Other: |
| processes (such as peace process, binding | | | | |
| arbitration, or mindful mediation) directly | | | | Youth (school conflicts; peer mediation); |
| in the text. | | | | |
| | | | Violence prevention |
| While some people loosely use the term | | | | |
| 'mediation' to mean any instance in which a | | | | Victim-Offender mediation |
| third party helps people find agreement, | | | | |
| professional mediators generally believe it | | | | Mediation commonly includes the following |
| essential that mediators have thorough | | | | aspects or stages: |
| training, competency, and continuing | | | | |
| education. The term is also sometimes | | | | a controversy, dispute or difference of |
| incorrectly used to refer to arbitration; a | | | | positions between people, or a need for |
| mediator does not impose a solution on the | | | | decision-making or problem-solving; |
| parties, whereas an arbitrator does. | | | | |
| | | | decision-making remaining with the parties |
| While mediation implies bringing disputing | | | | rather than imposed by a third party; |
| parties face-to-face with each other, the | | | | |
| strategy of "shuttle diplomacy", where the | | | | the willingness of the parties to negotiate a |
| mediator serves as a liaison between | | | | positive solution to their problem, and to |
| disputing parties, is also sometimes used | | | | accept a discussion about respective |
| when face-to-face mediations are not | | | | interests and objectives; |
| possible. | | | | |
| | | | the intent to achieve a positive result |
| Some of the types of disputes or | | | | through the facilitative help of an |
| decision-making that often go to mediation | | | | independent, neutral third person. |
| include the following: | | | | |
| | | | In the United States, mediator |
| Family: | | | | codes-of-conduct emphasize 'client-directed' |
| | | | solutions rather than those imposed by a |
| Prenuptial agreements | | | | mediator in any way. This has become a |
| | | | common, definitive feature of mediation in |
| Financial or budget disagreements | | | | the US and in the UK. |
| | | | |
| Separation | | | | Mediation differs from most other adversarial |
| | | | resolution processes by virtue of its |
| Divorce | | | | simplicity, informality, flexibility, and |
| | | | economy. |
| Financial distribution and spousal support | | | | |
| (alimony) | | | | The typical mediation has no formal |
| | | | compulsory elements, although some common |
| Parenting plans (child custody and | | | | elements usually occur: |
| visitation) | | | | |
| | | | each party allowed to explain and detail his |
| Eldercare issues | | | | her story; |
| | | | |
| Family businesses | | | | the identification of issues, usually |
| | | | facilitated by the mediator; |
| Adult sibling conflicts | | | | |
| | | | the clarification and detailed specification |
| Disputes between parents and adult children | | | | of respective interests and objectives; |
| | | | |
| Estate disputes | | | | the conversion of respective subjective |
| | | | evaluations into more objective values; |
| Medical ethics and end-of-life issues | | | | |
| | | | identification of options; |
| Workplace: | | | | |
| | | | discussion and analysis of the possible |
| Wrongful termination | | | | effects of various solutions; |
| | | | |
| Discrimination | | | | the adjustment and the refining of the |
| | | | proposed solutions; |
| Harassment | | | | |
| | | | the memorialization of agreements into a |
| Grievances | | | | written draft |
| | | | |
| Labor management | | | | Due to the particular character of this |
| | | | activity, each mediator uses a method of his |
| Public disputes: | | | | or her own (a mediator's methods are not |
| | | | ordinarily governed by law), that might |
| Environmental | | | | eventually be very different from the above |
| | | | scheme. Also, many matters do not legally |
| Land use | | | | require a particular form for the final |
| | | | agreement, while others expressly require a |
| Disputes involving the following issues: | | | | precisely determined form. |
| | | | |
| Landlord-tenant | | | | Most countries respect a mediator's |
| | | | confidentiality. |
| Homeowners' associations | | | | |