Journal article
Neutrality in Mediation: A Study of Mediator Perceptions
Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal, Vol.8(1), pp.139-157
2008
Abstract
Neutrality is arguably no longer an uncontested founding principle for the practice of mediation since both academic studies and practice reflections have found it to be absent in practice. The aim of the research reported here was to explore meaningful constructions of the concept of neutrality through an examination of the actual experience of mediators. The central question was: how do mediators make sense of neutrality in practice? The most important finding is the emphasis placed by participants on the principle of party self-determination in their attempts to deal with the dilemmas of neutrality. This finding is important because it points to the development of an alternative conception of neutrality, one that abandons neutrality in an absolute sense, but reframes its meaning in relation to that of party selfdetermination. An alternative discourse for understanding mediator neutrality based on this finding and incorporating a postmodern construction of power is advanced in this paper.
Details
- Title
- Neutrality in Mediation: A Study of Mediator Perceptions
- Authors
- Susan Douglas (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast - Faculty of Business
- Publication details
- Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal, Vol.8(1), pp.139-157
- Publisher
- Queensland University of Technology, Faculty of Law
- Date published
- 2008
- DOI
- 10.5204/qutlr.v8i1.88
- ISSN
- 1445-6230
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2008 The Author. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
- Organisation Unit
- School of Business and Creative Industries; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Criminology - Legacy
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449464502621
- Output Type
- Journal article
Metrics
167 File views/ downloads
610 Record Views