As I look through some interesting blogs regarding conflict, conflict resolution, and mediation..I am stunned by the simplicity of the advice and answers given to alleviate issues between people. Many of the "experts" invite you to use their services and/or buy books to figure things out. Now, I myself feel conflicted as to the sincerity of people claiming to want to help people AND I am feeling competitive, because I like to think that I have taken angles that others have not measured out in their little triangles and graphs......
But, first off I will just deal with my issues with mediation and its use in the courts. As a community activist, I have seen that programs that sound good and have a positive goal sometimes have negative effects that are not reported and discussed (after all--then WHERE would the funding come from?) This goes into mediation in civil court and I can tell you (from experience) unless you live in a municipality that requires mediation in a family issue (i.e. divorce/custody) the big bucks rack up without mediation and instead its countless motions and money for motions and the cycle goes on and on and on. So, it would seem that mediation would be the answer to this money trap many people find themselves in, but when looking at the impact of mediation in some criminal cases (and making a beeline back to civil cases).....maybe it isn't the best answer.....here is why.
#1. You are expected to come to a "resolution" in a specific time period, not in your own time, most people if left out of the "system" can and will figure out how to resolve their own issues...if they can't- maybe they are "constitutionally incapable" of doing so with or without mediation.
#2. Sometimes there is only one victim and sometimes both parties are victims. If a teenager is beaten up by his dad everyday (or close to it) and decides to take his anger out by vandalizing his neighbors car, the teen may be forced to apologize to his victim and never receive a resolution to his own issues....*this is a good example of the types of cases that go into mediation, minor property crimes, petty theft, public intoxication, etc...*, from what I have seen more major cases don't go into mediation where these programs are available. This does not mean that the "offender" doesn't need more understanding than the victim, because his or her problems may be more major than the crime.
#3. Having said that only minor crimes usually go into mediation, it must be noted that some people may react more severly to seemingly minor incidents for different reasons. Some people can get smacked in the face and simply say "what a jerk!" and get over it. Lets use an example of an older, recently widowed woman, who has her purse and other items stolen from her car. The offender may be an addict that only wants money for drugs. This woman has been living in a "fairy tale" kind of life without any worries about drugs, crime, or personal safety. This incident rocks her whole foundation and she is, for the first time, afraid of the world she lives in. She is supposed to resolve her conflict with the addict, but how can you resolve her new mindset that severely diminishes her quality of life? Not everyone reacts to and can be expected to react the same way to circumstances, and some issues can be worsened by mediation for some.
#4. If you pay enough money and go to various licensed 3-day mediator programs/classes ---BAM---you are qualified to mediate. Again, this goes back to how simple people make things out to be. Conflict resolution is serious business and people should not be able to mediate with such meager training.
This is what I have against mediation in criminal proceedings....I had some classmates, who worked with local mediators in the court system and heard from them how it was. We, also, as an entire class in Applied Sociology had mediators come in and tell us how they were saving the world one mediation at a time. I was not impressed. I have, also, heard the nightmarish stories of people, who were forced to deal with their unstable exes (or soon-to-be exes) in civil cases, in a closed room, where they were forced to resolve their "differences". Sounds like torture to me!
But, the next obvious question would be "so what is there to do instead?"
Cut me some slack, this is only post #2, we'll get to that!
M
fyi image can be found @ http://watdawat.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/07/simplicity.gif
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