Solving problems and transforming relationships : the bifocal approach to mediation
By: MARESCHAL, Patrice M
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ArticlePublisher: Thousand Oaks : Sage Publications, December 2003Subject(s): Mediation; Conflict Resolution: Labor Relations: Qualitative Research MethodsThe American Review of Public Administration 33, 4, p. 423-448Abstract: Mediation is rapidly becoming the dispute resolution technique of choice in public administration. This research examines the ways in wich federal mediators approach dispute resolution in labor management relations. The analyses are based on semistructured interviews that were conducted with 15 mediators at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Mediator´s discriptions of the mediation process are evaluated with respect to three models: problem solving, transformative, and bifocal. Given the success of the FMCS ate mediating a widening variety of disputes, the results of this study should generalize to other dispute resolution contexts. Practical implications of this research are as follows: (a) Mediators should adopt a bifocal approach, simultaneously attending to overarching relationship issues as well as the concrete, immediate issues in dispute; (b) the parties to a dispute must be actively engaged in the mediation process; (c) conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving is a long-term affair; and (d) public administrators involved in dispute resolution and collaborative problem solving should be prepared to take small steps.
Mediation is rapidly becoming the dispute resolution technique of choice in public administration. This research examines the ways in wich federal mediators approach dispute resolution in labor management relations. The analyses are based on semistructured interviews that were conducted with 15 mediators at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Mediator´s discriptions of the mediation process are evaluated with respect to three models: problem solving, transformative, and bifocal. Given the success of the FMCS ate mediating a widening variety of disputes, the results of this study should generalize to other dispute resolution contexts. Practical implications of this research are as follows: (a) Mediators should adopt a bifocal approach, simultaneously attending to overarching relationship issues as well as the concrete, immediate issues in dispute; (b) the parties to a dispute must be actively engaged in the mediation process; (c) conflict resolution and collaborative problem solving is a long-term affair; and (d) public administrators involved in dispute resolution and collaborative problem solving should be prepared to take small steps.
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