Informal Mediation Research Articles

Conflict resolution in online mental health support groups

Abstract The literature on online mental health support groups usually stresses the harmonious side of users’ interactions. However, differences regarding the experience of the illness might escalate into social conflict. The aim of this study is to explore acts of conflict resolution in an online Spanish mental health forum for recovery from an eating disorder (ED). Focusing on a specific long dispute between one regular contributor and several other members, I perform a micro-analysis of the discursive moves deployed in this polylogue by those who act as informal mediators to mitigate negative emotions, to rephrase participants’ perspectives and to promote relational empathy within the group. The goal of mediation in the forum is to reinstate the social order of acceptable recovery practices and discourses.

PENERAPAN MEKANISME MEDIASI DALAM PROSES PENYELESAIAN SENGKETA KEWENANGAN BADAN PERMUSYARAWATAN DESA DAN KEPALA DESA BERDASARKAN UNDANG-UNDANG NOMOR 6 TAHUN 2014 TENTANG DESA (STUDI KASUS DI DESA JENGGALA, KECAMATAN TANJUNG KABUPATEN LOMBOK UTARA)

That the potential for overlap in the authority of the BPD and the Head as a form of normative application of Law Number 6 of 2014 is very large, especially if we look at aspects of implementing the functions of the BPD Institution which will coincide with the function of the village head as executor of government in the village. The formulation of the problem in this research is first, How is the Mediation Mechanism Implemented in the Dispute Resolution Process over the Authority of the Village Consultative Body and the Village Head Based on Law Number 6 of 2014 on Village Neighborhoods? And secondly, what are the alternative forms of mediation that can be implemented in the Dispute Resolution Process over the Authority of the Village Consultative Body and the Village Head Based on Law Number 6 of 2014 on Village Neighbors (Case Study in Jenggala Village, Tanjung District, North Lombok Regency) The results of the research conducted by the author show that firstly, the application of a mediation mechanism in resolving authority disputes between the BPD and the Village Head can be carried out on a normative basis contained in the provisions of Article 112 in Article 115 of Law Number 6 of 2014 concerning Villages. Second, alternative forms of mediation in resolving disputes between the Village Head and BPD in Jenggala Village can be implemented in 2 (two) forms, namely, formal mediation and informal mediation. Formal mediation is mediation carried out by the KLU DP2KBPMD Service who acts as the mediator. Meanwhile, informal mediation can be carried out through, firstly, the Village Inter-Institutional Communication Forum (FKAKD), the formation of which was initiated by the BPD based on the provisions of Article 62 of North Lombok Regency Regional Regulation Number 3 of 2019 concerning BPD, and secondly through the Village Krama Council based on North Lombok Regent Regulation Number 20 2017 concerning MKD Guidelines.

Pray for Improvement: Experiences with Mediation of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in Nigeria

AbstractThis study examines victims’ experiences with informal mediation conducted by Catholic priests and nuns in Nigeria. Interviews were conducted with 20 women who sought help from priests and nuns as they had experienced intimate partner violence. Their expectations before and experiences during and after this mediation were explored. Findings suggest that the level of intimate partner violence experienced by victims remains high, and in most cases their expectations of the mediation are not sufficiently met. Most priests and nuns tend to convince victims to forgive their husband and accept their situation while reinstating the patriarchal mentality without any sustainable improvement. Most victims report revictimization episodes after mediation. Implications for theory and practice of mediation by religious leaders are discussed.

Muslim Women, Nikah Marriages, Domestic Abuse and Religious Arbitration in England

Abstract This article explores the underlying causes and motivations surrounding non-legally binding Islamic marriages or nikah-only marriages, and their impact on dispute resolution and the process of obtaining a religious divorce, with a special focus on women experiencing domestic abuse. It draws on empirical data from a study of Islamic divorce in the UK. Inspired by phenomenological approaches, the research involved in-depth interviews with British-Muslim women to gain a well-grounded understanding of the problems associated with Muslim marriage, domestic abuse, and divorce from their lived experiences. Furthermore, the study involved interviews with experts associated with providing informal mediation and religious arbitration ranging from imams to Sharia council judges, as well as professionals such as solicitors and counsellors. Sharia council hearings were also observed and their procedural documents were analysed. The data collected were analysed using a thematic approach, and the emergent themes from the rich data provide a detailed insight into the research problem, firmly embedded in the lived experience of British Muslims.

Mediating through question-asking: A sociopragmatic analysis of epistemic stance negotiation in everyday conversation

This study examines the role of questions in the negotiation of epistemic stance in diffuse mediation contexts. Diffuse mediation arises in various informal situations, for example, between friends seeking to re-establish relationships that are at risk, or relatives trying to resolve family conflicts. In fact, the stronger the social bonds, the greater the scope for this form of conflict resolution (Greco-Morasso, 2011; Berger, 2018). We hypothesise that third-parties acting as mediators in informal conversations are seldom fully aware of their role, and hence that they often show their point of view in attempting to resolve a conflict. Thus, we argue that a mediator's epistemic stance negotiation not only contributes to establishing common ground, but also reflects their own subjectivity (Jacobs, 2002; Fraser, 2007). Towards confirming this, the study presents an analysis of data from the Val.Es.Co. corpus, which comprises 78 conversations with a total duration of approximately 1465 min. From this material, our quantitative and qualitative analysis will focus on those conversational sequences in which a situation of informal mediation can be observed, a total of 38 sequences amounting to 64 min of dialogue. The results confirm that pragmatic strategies such as question-asking have a crucial role here, due to the negotiation of meanings and the cognitive alignment that is expected to occur during the conflict. The findings show that by asking questions, the mediator can redirect the issue to other topics, foster the negotiation of epistemic stance, and establish common ground between participants. Likewise, it is observed that situational and social knowledge in a specific context become essential in the process of diffuse mediation in everyday conversation.

In the “Crossfire” of the acquisition process: Exploring middle managers’ unfolding mediation dynamics

This study addresses middle managers, a relatively unexplored actor type in the merger and acquisition literature. Building on the mediation metaphor, we explore both acquired and acquiring middle managers throughout the acquisition process. Based on 52 semi-structured interviews, we advance our knowledge of the dynamics of the mediation roles of acquired and acquiring middle managers in the unfolding stages of the acquisition process. Notably, middle managers engage in mediation at three levels—self-mediation, interfirm mediation and stakeholder mediation—which, when combined, create specific mediation dynamics during each acquisition stage. Consequently, the pre-acquisition stage is characterised by cold mediation, the approval stage by informal mediation, the first post-acquisition phase by disrupted mediation and a potential second post-acquisition phase by joint mediation. The main contribution of the paper is in conceptualising middle managers’ mediation roles and the resulting mediation dynamics throughout the acquisition process. Essentially, middle managers are not only intermediaries transferring meanings across organisations but also mediators transforming and adapting the meanings that flow between both organisations, thereby shaping the course of the acquisition process. The paper thus sheds light on the important role of middle managers in facilitating the acquisition process.

Navigating Dahiyeh, negotiating everyday peace: mediation practices across Beirut’s Southern Suburbs

ABSTRACT How do ‘ordinary’ residents in violently contested cities navigate everyday conflict? Who do they turn to and how do they induce more powerful actors to step in and resolve their conflicts? How do socio-spatial structures shape everyday mediation practices? And what do these practices tell us about the constructive potential of cities? To explore the duality of destruction and construction in contested cities, we draw on fieldwork conducted across Beirut’s Southern Suburbs (Dahiyeh), bringing it into dialogue with a Bourdieusian framework to analyse residents’ experiences of informal mediation as everyday urban peace practices. While these practices are shaped by Dahiyeh’s particular context, they speak to practices in other urban contexts, in both the Global North and Global South. We make theoretical contributions by bringing the everyday peace and urban peacebuilding literatures together and contributing to their vernacular, spatial and practice turns, and by developing a spatialised subaltern reading of Bourdieu.

Grains of Allowance: Liberty, Toleration, and Justice in George Farquhar’s The Recruiting Officer

This article examines the representation of the justices of the peace in George Farquhar’s 1706 play The Recruiting Officer. I place this play in the context of Farquhar’s work of literary criticism, “A Discourse Upon Comedy” (1701), in which he claims “Liberty and Toleration” as guiding principles for his home-grown, anti-Aristotelian aesthetic. The political, legal, and theatrical history surrounding the 1688 English revolution and its aftermath frames my examination of the justices’ position at the intersection of local and national legal procedures. The Recruiting Officer interrogates the justice of the peace’s role in recruiting and conscription during the War of Spanish Succession. Justices of the peace in The Recruiting Officer, I argue, enable inquiry into liberty and toleration’s limits and costs in their use of discretionary power and informal mediation. The situational and empirical legal judgments of Farquhar’s justices render a pattern for moral judgments allowing for a temporary and tame personal license—“grains of allowance”—relative to cynical Restoration rakishness. Legal and quasi-legal relationships drive the plotlines of The Recruiting Officer—whether in representing recruiters empowered to enlist men, local justices’ roles in military conscription, contractual aspects of the marriage bond, or extramarital encounters, real and imagined. Farquhar uses the justices’ characters to suggest that the balances of power at home, in the community, in the government, and in the global theaters of war are all interlinked, mutually sustaining, and prone to destabilization. I maintain that the play invites critique of the law, the military, and marriage, but avoids, in its fundamental optimism and good humor, a trenchant satire on any of these institutions.

Land-Use Change Conflicts and Anti-Corporate Activism in Indonesia: A Review Essay

AbstractWhile processes of land-use change have triggered conflicts across Asia, our knowledge of the responses of affected communities is largely based on case-studies. This review essay addresses this challenge by reviewing and synthesizing 49 studies of conflicts between rural communities and companies in order to identify salient characteristics of anti-corporate activism in Indonesia. We find that, in contrast to the ‘rightful resistance’ observed elsewhere, the strategies employed by rural communities in Indonesia are remarkably “rightless” as both their discourse and their conflict resolution efforts are marked by a remarkable irrelevance of laws, regulations and courts. Communities frame their claims mostly in terms of customary laws while largely relying on informal mediation by local authorities. We attribute this “rightless” character of land-use change conflicts to the weak legal protection of land rights in Indonesia and the relative powerlessness of communities in the face of collusion between authorities and companies.

Digital intermediaries, market competition, and citizen‐state interactions

AbstractCan market competition between intermediaries improve the quality of citizen‐state interactions? I test this question in the context of a public‐private partnership (PPP) policy that created a network of digital intermediaries ‐ individuals authorized by the state to submit online applications on behalf of citizens. I use the overtime and staggered expansion of the intermediary network to identify the relationship between greater competition among digital intermediaries for the share of citizen applications and the quality of citizen‐state interactions. I find that having an increased presence of intermediaries in a jurisdiction does not improve the citizen experience in engaging with the state. Why doesn't an increase in the presence of intermediaries positively impact the quality of citizen‐state interactions? I argue that digital intermediaries selected by the state have limited incentives to compete in the market for citizen applications. To establish the incentives of digital intermediaries, I juxtapose their functioning against informal intermediaries, who submitted paper‐based applications before the state moved citizen applications online. Based on qualitative interviews and data on the transition from paper‐based to online applications, I show that the PPP policy by formalizing the citizen‐state interface disrupts informal mediation arrangement and limits market competition. The lack of relationship between the expansion of the intermediary network and the quality of citizen‐state interactions has important implications for how low and middle‐income countries deploy information technology for digitizing citizen interfacing governance processes. I conclude by outlining how formalization of citizen‐state interface can be implemented in a manner that can improve citizen experience engaging with the state.

Settlement of Waqf Disputes and its Asset Protection in East Java, Indonesia

Waqf is commonly defined as an endowment made by Muslims to a religious cause. By this definition, waqf is a spiritual practice with a divine aspect for Muslim people. In Indonesia, the implementation of Waqf is regulated in national law and adjacent to a kind of private law. Because waqf is similar to a sort of private law in Indonesia, it is possible for waqf in the future to have a dispute around property rights dissatisfaction. This article determines a determinant factor of waqf disputes in Indonesia, especially East Java. This article is an empirical legal study by looking at phenomena background of the waqf dispute and mapping out a model of waqf dispute resolution overcame by several parties. This article finds that waqf disputes in Indonesia are caused by several determinant factors, such as recognition of ownership of the founder’s family (wāqif), changes in the aims and objectives of waqf assets, and abandonment waqf assets. The result of this study reveals that maṣlalah – as a principle of Islamic law objectives – becomes a consideration in formulating a model of waqf dispute resolution. Efforts to resolve waqf disputes are often taken in two ways: first, legalizing waqf assets through religious courts. Second, the conflicts are usually resolved through either formal or informal mediation processes. Thus, litigation and non-litigation of legal process play an active role in resolving waqf disputes in Indonesia.
 Keywords: Waqf, settlement of waqf dispute, maṣlahah, waqf assets in Indonesia.

The dark side of journalism: Understanding the phenomenology of conflicts in the newsroom and the mechanisms intended to solve them

The practice and structural conditions of the journalism craft provide fertile grounds for facilitating the emergence of conflicts in the newsroom. However, extant research on journalism studies have largely neglected the boundary conditions for their emergence and the individual and organizational mechanisms displayed to unravel them. Based on in-depth interviews with 40 Spanish journalists, we conceptualize newsrooms’ conflicts as the dark side of journalism and examine the structural and individual factors that nurtures their appearance. We also clarify the main strategies for conflict management, arguing that conflict resolution is typically based on informal mediation strategies, rather than institutionalized plans directly implemented by news organizations.

The Caesar Law for The Protection of Civilians in Syria: Objectives and Ramifications

This research aims to demonstrate Caesar's law to protect civilians in Syria and its effect on the social and economic circumstances of millions of Syrians stuck in their country because of the state of the siege imposed by the law's sanctions. The question tries to focus on how the law can achieve its human aims under the negative economic consequences it has on civilians, relying on the new political economy approach. It tried to interpret the non-economic activity of politicians under the Economy cover. Accordingly, The United States continues to tighten its hold on the Syrian system to exercise pressure on Syria, and to make political compromises and start significant political reforms immediately. Still, the direct targeting of Syrian economic structures through the law-imposed blockade has isolated the Syrian regime and cut off all official economic ties externally. It is encouraging the escalation of dealings with informal mediators, which has led to a sharp collapse in the Syrian Lira and a significant increase in consumer prices, which has been reflected negatively on the social reality in the light of the marked increase in poverty rates.

Disciplinary law and neurosurgery: a 10-year analysis of cases in the Netherlands.

Neurosurgery is historically seen as a high-risk medical specialty, with a large percentage of neurosurgeons facing complaints during their careers. The Dutch medicolegal system is characterized by a strong emphasis on informal mediation, which can be accompanied or followed by disciplinary actions. To determine if this system is associated with a low overall risk for medical litigation through disciplinary law, the authors conducted a review of disciplinary cases involving neurosurgeons in the Netherlands. The authors reviewed legal cases that had been filed against consultant neurosurgeons and neurosurgical residents under the Dutch disciplinary law for medical professions between 2009 and 2019. A total of 1322 neurosurgical care-related cases from 2009 to 2019 were reviewed. Fifty-seven (4.3%) cases were filed against neurosurgeons (40 first-instance cases, 17 appeal cases). In total, 123 complaints were filed in the 40 first-instance cases. Most of these cases were related to spine surgery (62.5%), followed by cranial surgery (27.5%), peripheral nerve surgery (7.5%), and pediatric neurosurgery (2.5%). Complaints were filed in all stages of care but were mostly related to preoperative and intraoperative care. The risk for medically related litigation in neurosurgery in the Netherlands through disciplinary law is low but not negligible. Although the absolute number of cases is low, spinal neurosurgery was found to be a risk factor for complaints. The relatively high number of cases that involved the sharing of information suggests that specific improvements-focusing on communication-can be made in order to lower the risk for future litigation.

What drives competition on the farmland market? A case study in Brittany (France)

AbstractWe investigate factors which may drive the number of agents who compete for a specific piece of farmland in the French region of Brittany by fitting count models to data originating from a local committee, the CDOA, which is responsible for guidance in delivering the necessary “authorisations to farm”. Results are analysed in the light of a conceptual framework which provides an explanation why the subset of farmers who actually apply for an authorisation to farm may differ from the whole set of potential applicants. Several results reflect the impact of an informal mediation by local farmer unions, which aims to lower potential conflicts and hence competition.

‘Lean on me': Sifarish, mediation & the digitisation of state bureaucracies in India

Through an ethnographic focus on Muslim neighbourhoods in a North Indian city, this article traces the effects of increasing digitisation of Public Distribution Systems (PDS) and ID provision in India by examining the implications for relations between the state, low-level political actors and local populaces. The article explores the practice of sifarish (leaning on someone to get something done) which, it is argued, cannot be seen within simplistic rubrics of ‘corruption’ but instead comprises a socially embedded ethical continuum. With one of the stated aims of digitisation being the displacing of informal mediation, the ethnographic material illuminates the efforts of low-level political actors to navigate emerging digital infrastructures. Digitisation, however, does not end mediation and carries with it ideological, political and economic interests. This, the article argues, enables state/people spaces of mediation to be commodified and marketized and further cements processes of marginalisation experienced by India’s Muslim minority.

Labor Dispute Resolution and Migrant Workers’ Legal Rights Protection in China

The formal labor dispute resolution system of administrative organs, arbitration tribunal and courts which have been established to handle labor disputes remains an ineffective tool for migrant workers to resolve their disputes with their employers in China. Moreover, experience has exemplified that among the mediation style, non-official mediators have proven to be more effective in settling cases and helping migrant workers than mediators within the formal system. Taking “Little Bird,” a famous NGO for migrant workers rights protection in China, as an example, this article focuses on the problem of arrears in wages of migrant workers from a sociological-legal perspective. This article argues that the current legal system in China fails to adequately protect the legitimate rights and interests of migrant workers and that informal mediation may help resolve disputes between migrant workers and employers more efficiently. The effectiveness of NGO’s role in handling labor disputes as well as its limitations, would also be analyzed and discussed.

Équilibres et médiations dans la commandite de productions artistiques : intermédiation formelle ou informelle

Background This research aims to study partnerships between commercial brands and the cultural field. More specifically, it focuses on the process of agreement between marketing representatives and artists in the implementation of partnerships through sponsorship and branded content. Inspired mainly by the work done on cities by Luc Boltanski and Laurent Thévenot in On Justification: Economies of Worth, certain research questions can be identified: how do artists and communication or marketing professionals agree to create partnerships? How do these two worlds communicate and what arguments do they have to justify their association? Analysis The selected methodology proposes a survey based on comprehensive interviews in the context of two Quebec case studies: the sponsorship of an interactive work produced as part of a Montreal cultural festival and the production of a television program with branded content. Conclusions and implications The analysis reveals tensions existing between each partner that nevertheless are subject to different types of mediation between companies and artists which we propose to qualify as formal and informal mediation.

Khul‘ in Action: How Do Local Muslim Communities in Germany Dissolve an Islamic Religious-Only Marriage?

Relying upon extensive ethnographic field-collected data as well as 51 privately performed documents of khul‘ (divorce initiated by a woman), this article addresses two questions. Firstly, how have practices of khul‘ among local Muslim communities been influenced by Germany's secular state framework? Secondly, how do local religious actors develop extrajudicial religious forms of mediation and arbitration, often taking place in a mosque or a private place, in order to fulfil certain aspects of sharīʿah? The paper argues that the absence of a recognised Islamic judicial authority or formally recognised Islamic mediation and arbitration service in Germany has led Muslim communities to come up with “local experts”, who purport to implement elements of sharīʿah through informal mediation and arbitration. This leads to new religious actions and norms which might, in the future, lead to normalised new practices in countries such as Germany where Muslims are a minority.

Non-criminal dispute resolution in South Africa’s criminal justice system: Proposals for reform

The National Prosecuting Authority has issued a comprehensive document containing policy directives that are available only to prosecutors. This document makes provision for non-criminal dispute resolution mechanisms in the form of diversions and informal mediations where the offender is an adult. It seems as if a large number of less severe cases are disposed of in this way every year. The directives are not in the public domain, and their scope and application are shrouded in a cloud of secrecy. This contribution analyses the alternative dispute mechanisms of diversion and informal mediation available to prosecutors, which are referred to as non-criminal dispute resolution mechanisms, with the aim to propose ways to effect reform in this area.