title: The power of mediation.
abstract: There is a range of intervention strategies and procedures designed to assist parties in reaching agreement, from negotiation, over which parties have complete control, to arbitration, the process over which they have the least control. In the middle of this spectrum is mediation. Simply put, mediation is assisted negotiation. A mediator is an impartial person (or team) that works with the parties, mostly together and sometimes separately, to help them reach an agreement to resolve a dispute. The cornerstones of mediation are impartiality and confidentiality. The logic of mediation is that disputants can easily fall into many pitfalls trying to resolve a dispute without help. This article explores these common barriers to effective direct negotiations--such as overestimating the likelihood of prevailing through power, litigation, or arbitration--and presents a case study describing how a complex set of problems was resolved through mediation.
authors.affiliation: Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, New York University, USA. allen.zerkin@nyu.edu
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Zerkin
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome; D003144:Communication Barriers; D003220:Conflict, Psychological; D006703:Ill-Housed Persons; D006801:Humans; D017008:Negotiating / Q000379:methods*; D009519:New York City; D019982:Organizational Case Studies; D010565:Persuasive Communication; D011638:Public Housing; D011640:Public Policy; D014481:United States