Mediation Practice Research Articles

CONFLITOS DE INTERESSES: UMA ANÁLISE HISTÓRICA DAS PRÁTICAS DE PUNIÇÃO E MEDIAÇÃO

This article investigates the historical evolution of punishment and mediation practices, focusing on the Brazilian context. Starting from the premise that conflict resolution should go beyond punishment, it seeks to explore alternatives that promote reparation and the reintegration of offenders into society. Human dignity, as discussed by Guedes (2018), is considered a central principle in justice practices, highlighting criticism of the traditional punitive system, as analyzed by Foucault (2013). Contemporary examples of mediation, such as peace circles and restorative justice programs implemented in Brazil, are examined in light of Lima's (2017) contributions and relevant legislation. The study concludes that implementing restorative practices represents a viable path toward building a more inclusive and humane justice system, capable of promoting social peace and respect for the dignity of all involved.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF MEDIATION IN EDUCATION

This article explores the psychological aspects of mediation within educational settings, focusing on how psychological factors influence the effectiveness of conflict resolution. The study highlights the significance of emotions, cognitive biases, and interpersonal dynamics in the mediation process. It examines key psychological theories relevant to mediation, the role of emotional intelligence, and the impact of cognitive processes on conflict outcomes. The article also discusses practical strategies for enhancing mediation practices through psychological training and interventions, supported by case studies and real-life examples. The findings emphasize the importance of integrating psychological insights into mediation to improve outcomes in educational environments. Future research directions are proposed to further understand and optimize the psychological dimensions of educational mediation.

Intercultural mediation and the state’s surveillance of motherhood: contradictions disclosing coloniality of relationships, racialisation, and emotional control

ABSTRACT In recent decades, there has been an increase in the practice of intercultural mediation in Spain. In different fields such as social work, education, and health, institutions involved the figure of the mediator in both public and private organisations as reflecting inclusion programmes. This paper is based on interviews with intercultural mediators interacting with young mothers without a residence permit in Spain. It examines the contradictory and tense position of the mediator and pays attention to a hierarchical and colonial listening displayed during the intercultural mediation, exposing the coloniality of relationships, racialisation and emotional control. Mediators find themselves between mothers and social workers. They can be seen as occupying two ends of the power spectrum. However, the mediator has less recognition amongst professionals in the field of social work. During interventions, the mediators are closer to the mothers since they also intervene as interpreters with a common linguistic background; they have a migrant experience themselves, and they try to build trust with the mothers, despite being seen as institutional figures. Simultaneously, from their less recognised position within the organisations, they negotiate the social workers’ understanding of mothers’ vulnerability, which could bring them into conflict with the institutions.

"MAMA PAPA PLEASE HEAR ME": THE PARTICIPATION OF CHILDREN IN CHILD CUSTODY MEDIATION IN THE SYARIAH COURTS OF MALAYSIA

The laws in Malaysia uphold the rights of children to participate in family law proceedings, particularly in custody disputes. However, with regard to the practice of mediation (sulh) in child custody disputes, the specific legislation that highlights measures to obtain the views of children is still vague. This paper will discuss the practice of children’s participation during mediation (sulh) in child custody disputes. The study reported in this paper has also highlighted the challenges and the adequacy of legal provisions on the practice of children’s participation during mediation (sulh). The present qualitative study has adopted a library-based research method to collect information, data, and theories from selected materials, including journal articles, textbooks, statutes, and interview methods. It also discussed how children were engaged in court-directed mediation proceedings in the Syariah Court of Malaysia. It has also examined the practice of the Syariah court in accepting the voice of children in mediation regarding decision-making in child custody dispute cases. The examination focused on the relevant legislations and policies relating to children participating in mediation in the context of international legal provisions and Syariah laws. The paper further discussed the analysis of whether the rules and procedures in Malaysia are adequate to sustain children’s participation during mediation. The data were also gathered from interviews conducted with mediators or sulh officers. Finally, the study revealed that interviewing children during sulh sessions at the Syariah Court is common even though there are no clear regulations on the practice. It is suggested that a broader interpretation of the current legislation on the voice of children enables the legality of the practice of accepting children’s voices during the Majlis Sulh. Furthermore, it is recommended that a proper standard operating procedure (SOP) for obtaining children’s views during the mediation (sulh) process is also needed.

Beyond Collapse: Negotiating a New World Order When the Old Breaks Down

Abstract The collapse of the existing world order and the rise of a counter order pose problems for the practice of negotiation and mediation as generally conceived. The transition will likely have problems overcoming issues faced in past transitions in 1812, 1919, and 1948 without a full-scale war, yet learn from these experiences. It is not too early to think about the processes and strategies needed to arrive productively at a better new system where negotiation processes can provide useful means to resolve conflicts. This article examines three levels of conflict and how conflict resolution and management approaches might be able to reestablish their capacities in a future system of international relations norms and institutions.

Cruising Corpoliterate Art Mediation. Reflections on the Mediation Program of Adina Pintilie’s ”You are Another me. A Cathedral of the Body”

The study1 contextualises Adina Pintilie ́s recent work within the framework of corpoliteracy. To accomplish this, I introduced the concept of corpoliteracy as proposed by Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, followed by my own expansion of the term as it applies to educational practices in art institutions. Body-semiotics and body- epistemologies will serve as entry points into a corpoliterate analysis of Pintilie’s work. This is a partial analysis that focuses on the body as a site for learning and unlearning but cannot cover all aspects of the multi-year, multi-media research conducted by Pintilie and her team. First, I chose an educational perspective, informed by recent methodologies and practices of museum education and artistic research, which are founded on practices of inclusion. Nevertheless, this perspective intersects with political, aesthetic, social, and institutional factors. Therefore, this approach is effective in terms of describing an artwork that manifests in domains before or beyond language. Second, I explored institutions as “social power plants” in order to examine how Pintilie’s practice relates to theories of radical museology. By applying the lens of corpoliteracy to Pintilie’s work as well as to the mediation practices of its exhibitions, the artistic quality and societal potency of the work can be addressed. Simultaneously, her artistic vision contributes to the expansion of corpoliteracy as a theoretical framework by continually challenging the institutions the projects manifest in. In the final section, I reflected on the mediation programme for Pintilie’s work, “You are another me. A Cathedral of the Body”, which attempted to put the aforementioned theory into practice.

Adolescents’ Online Risks and Parental Mediation in Nigerian Families: Gender in Focus

This study investigates the gender perspectives of adolescents’ online risk-taking and parental mediation in Nigerian families. Because the “the-one size fits all” relating to effective mediation of adolescents’ digital media may not apply to adolescent boys and girls in the same way. Accounting for gender differences in digital media use that lead to risky behavioral outcomes will enhance parents’ efforts in interceding their online media activities. The population for this study includes parents and students in public secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria. The sample size for this study was 1,050 parents and their children. The questionnaire was the data collection instrument to obtain information about adolescent online media activities and parental mediation practices. The study’s findings show that girls engage in chatting with strangers and social networking more than boys, and boys engage in online gambling, online gaming and pornographic content more than girls. The findings also show that the risky online behavior of adolescent girls correlates with increased time spent on online media activities. Interventions targeted at female adolescents relating to digital media use, online media activities and risky online behavior will enhance parental efforts in interceding in their risky behaviors.

Customary Mediation Practices: Practical Experiences from Indonesia

The current view of society no longer sees that the court is the only dispute resolution institution. The existence of court institutions has been indicated by various cases of corruption, collusion, and nepotism, better known as KKN. This is given that many products of court decisions deviate from the principles of justice, are quick and inexpensive. In this context, an alternative dispute resolution model is needed in the customary law community that is more efficient, fair and accommodating in order to maintain the continuity and sustainability of the life of the customary law community, which is more humane and equitable. The tradition of dispute resolution in customary law communities is based on the value of the philosophy of togetherness (communal), sacrifice, supernatural values, and Justice. In customary law Community, common interest is a philosophy of life that permeates every member of the indigenous community. The practice of customary mediation in this paper in practice, the karo people of North Sumatra and papu is a form of local wisdom in resolving disputes or conflicts in Customary Law communities with a community mediation approach where in Community Mediation, leaders (customary leaders) have an important role and must have skills in resolving disputes using customary rules contained in Indigenous communities. The purpose of adat mediation practices in Indonesia is the existence of community adat mediation to maintain the balance and harmony of Indigenous Peoples by prioritizing deliberation rather than dispute resolution through legal channels.

The Mediation Existence and Opportunities of State Administrative Court in Supreme Court Regulation

The implementation of mediation in the Indonesian judiciary is regulated in Supreme Court Regulation (PERMA) No. 1 of 2016 on Mediation Procedures in Courts. However, the PERMA only regulates the practice of mediation in District Courts and Religious Courts, not in the State Administrative Court. Nevertheless, the PERMA allows the State Administrative Court to conduct mediation by the provisions of the legislation. However, practical guidelines governing mediation at the State Administrative Court are not detailed. In practice, this legal vacuum has led to a lack of optimisation of mediation as an instrument of dispute resolution at the State Administrative Court. The research aims to analyse the extent of the opportunities provided by the Supreme Court in PERMA No. 1 of 2016 to implement mediation procedures at the State Administrative Court. This research is normative juridical and analytical descriptive conducted by literature review. The data was collected using the documentation technique to be analysed using the normative analysis method. The analysis indicated no specific rules regarding the implementation of mediation at the State Administrative Courts. Still, the opportunity is wide open when viewed from the type of case, which is generally included in the civil case type. Furthermore, then PERMA is not the only absolute legal basis for the implementation of mediation at the State Administrative Court, as confirmed in Article 130 HIR and Article 154 RBg. The PERMA only fills the legal vacuum related to mediation procedures not explained in the previous regulations. Therefore, it is necessary to reform the law related to mediation at the State Administrative Court to achieve a court with integrity, speed, simplicity and low cost.

Chinese Parental Mediation, Predictors, and Associations with Children’s Problematic Media Use: A Latent Profile Analysis

ABSTRACT Research Findings: This study aims to examine the latent profiles of parents’ mediation and their predictors, as well as links between different profiles and children’s problematic media use. A total of 1415 children aged 3–6 years (47.8% boys) and their paired parents were recruited in Shanghai, China and surveyed demographic information, parents’ mediation practice and marital conflict, and children’s media use problems. Latent profile analyses, tests of variance, and logistic regression analyses were used for data analysis. The results indicated that: (1) four potential profiles of mediation were yielded: mother-dominated mediation, father-dominated mediation, coordinated high-level mediation, and coordinated low-level mediation; (2) there were significant associations between children’s age, fathers’ age, parents’ educational backgrounds and marital conflict with mediation profiles; and (3) the likelihood of children experiencing problematic media use was lowest in the consistent high-level group, followed by the mother-dominated and the father-dominated group, and highest in the consistent low-level group. Practice or Policy: These findings imply that parents’ digital parenting patterns are influenced by multiple factors, and that parents who are older, have less education, have older children, and experience more marital conflict should be given more support and assistance to improve parents’ child-rearing and child development.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Mediation and New Zealand's Dispute Resolution System

The COVID-19 pandemic has transformed mediation practice in New Zealand's institutional, government-led mediation regimes. The introduction of lockdowns, social distancing and personal protective equipment created a "new normal" for the delivery of consensual third-party dispute resolution in this area. Many of the changes introduced during the pandemic remain despite the removal of restrictions in 2022. This article explores New Zealand's online alternative dispute resolution (ADR) capacity on the eve of the pandemic. This limited capacity was severely tested during the first lockdown in 2020, highlighting barriers and challenges but also opportunities. However, it was the second major lockdown beginning in August 2021 that cemented many of the changes. In addition to exploring the New Zealand experience, this article provides specific case studies, such as employment mediation, and make some comparisons with apposite overseas jurisdictions. ADR, and mediation in particular, is at a crossroads. A choice must now be made whether to return to a primarily in-person model or continue to emphasise online delivery.

Mediation as a 21st century conflict resolution mechanism: Exploring procedural fairness experiences of mediation users in Ghanaian courts

AbstractMediation has become a contemporary conflict resolution mechanism in the 21st century that offers an alternative to traditional legal processes. This qualitative study explores the experiences of mediation users in three courts in the Central Region of Ghana, with a focus on procedural fairness. Grounded in the theory of procedural fairness, the study examines how Ghanaian and African conceptions of fairness influence mediation practice. The study found that the Ghanaian and African understanding of procedural fairness is rooted in specific situations—taking into account parties' demands in generating settlement agreements, allowing parties to select their mediators, involving important personalities in mediation, ensuring the fair settlement of cases, and deciding who should speak first. Participants evaluated procedural fairness within the context of confidentiality, neutrality, party empowerment, and the assurance of being heard. These evaluations align with what has been reported in Western literature. This research contributes to the growing body of literature on conflict resolution by providing insights into the significance of procedural fairness within mediation practice, with specific reference to Ghana. The findings underscore the importance of aligning mediation processes with principles of procedural fairness, offering valuable lessons for practitioners, policymakers, and researchers who seek to optimize the efficacy and fairness of mediation as a conflict resolution mechanism.

Multi-amplicon nitrogen cycling gene standard: An innovative approach for quantifying N-transforming soil microbes in terrestrial ecosystems

Agriculture accounts for nearly three-fourths of all nitrous oxide (N2O) anthropogenic emissions, a potent greenhouse gas (GHG). Improvements in agricultural management practices are critical for improving plant nitrogen (N) use efficiency and reducing N2O emissions. While implementing “climate-smart” management can reduce N2O emissions, building a linkage between these emissions and the N-cycling microbes that drive them will require N-cycling gene assays that are cost-effective, practical, and accessible to climate-smart researchers. In a recent study, a group of researchers demonstrated the suitability of synthetic oligonucleotides to serve as real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) standards for quantifying microbial genes in soils. While this study is not based on that study, our results complement their findings and offer fresh insights into this novel methodology. Here, we describe an innovative approach that provides precision in the absolute quantification of five N-transforming target genes (AOB amoA, AOA amoA, nirK, nirS, and nosZ) in soils. Similar to the aforementioned study, our method obviates the cost-intensive aspects of traditional qPCR methods for preparing standard curves in soil microbial ecology (e.g., gel purification of PCR products and in-vivo cloning of plasmids) and is capable of being extended to any biochemical system, or environment of interest. Additionally, our qPCR approach provides several advantages: it utilizes a single multi-amplicon synthetic oligonucleotide, requires only a single dilution series and one stock solution to quantify all gene targets, and contains a non-edaphic gene (ZIKV) that can serve as a soil spike to determine DNA extraction efficiency and DNA recovery estimates. Furthermore, our protocol mitigates PCR inhibition from soil-derived substances using a modified DNA extraction protocol and inhibitor-tolerant polymerase. Ultimately, our work aims to reduce the technical burden on non-biologists/biochemists when conducting soil microbiological assays, support the development of climate mediation practices, and advance climate-smart agriculture goals.

Bidirectional Within-Family Effects of Restrictive Mediation Practices and Adolescents’ Problematic Social Media Use

Much remains unknown about whether restrictive mediation is an effective parenting strategy to prevent or reduce problematic social media use among adolescents. Therefore, this study examined bidirectional within-family effects between two restrictive mediation practices (rule-setting and reactive restrictions) and problematic social media use using random-intercept cross-lagged panel modeling. Three-wave survey data collected among Dutch adolescents (T1: N = 1928, Mage = 13.31 years, SD = 0.91, 43.3% girl) with a 1 year-interval were used. Results showed that within-family changes in problematic social media use symptoms predicted subsequent within-family changes in perceived parental restrictive mediation. More specifically, an increase in symptoms predicted a decrease in rule-setting and an increase in reactive restrictions 1 year later. Within-family changes in perceived parental restrictive mediation practices did not predict within-family changes in problematic social media use symptoms, suggesting that the relation is unidirectional. However, concluding that limiting adolescents’ Internet use is ineffective to prevent problematic social media use would be premature. Future research should investigate whether it may be an effective parenting strategy for a certain subgroup of adolescents or under certain circumstances.

The Implementation and Practice of Administrative Litigation Mediation

The Implementation and Practice of Administrative Litigation Mediation

A Comprehensive Comparative Analysis of Mediation Practices in Indonesia and Malaysia

Mediation is one of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) that emphasises a mutually agreeable resolution and incorporates a win-win situation between parties. Mediation is not a rare concept in Indonesia and Malaysia. People in Indonesia and Malaysia have long used mediation in their daily lives as mediation has been proven to be effective since long ago. Due to its extensive use in Indonesia and Malaysia, a comprehensive study was carried out by the researcher to identify the comparison of mediation in Indonesia and Malaysia. In this paper, the researcher will review the practice of mediation in Indonesia and Malaysia via a comparison analysis where the researcher employs a qualitative approach via library-based research. Many reference sources and reading materials have been used by researchers to see similarities and differences between these two countries. The result of this study affirms that mediation practices in Indonesia and Malaysia are quite similar, despite being governed under a different law and regulations. In addition to having many similarities, one of the things that attracted the researcher's attention is that both countries have their challenges in carrying out mediation. Therefore, this aspect of the challenge also needs to be touched upon so that mediation can be conducted in both countries smoothly. It is also hoped that with this study, in the future, this study can also be used as a guide or manual in discussing mediation for both countries.

Scope for Mediation in Indian Insolvency - A Close Look

Mediation, in simple terms, is a process by which a neutral third party facilitates a dialogue between disputing parties in the right environment to come to a mutually agreeable ground for settling the dispute, thereby maintaining cordial relationships through co-operation. The nature of this mechanism is adaptive enough for application to different scenarios and can evolve as a complementary process for litigation, thereby reducing judicial stress and overload. This article explores the practicality of mediation practices under the IBC regime.

Mediating educational technologies: Edtech brokering between schools, academia, governance, and industry

The use of educational technologies in schools is being reshaped by a new kind of intermediary organization that brokers relations between schools, academia, governance, and industry. In this article we define and examine ‘edtech brokers’ as organizations that operate between the edtech industry, public schools, research centers and governments, guiding schools in the procurement and pedagogical use of edtech. Edtech brokers have remained mostly unexplored despite their potential to redraw the boundaries between public education and the global edtech market. We claim that edtech brokers have become increasingly relevant in the past years, embedding new types of professionalities into education, and taking an active role in co-creating and updating schools’ digital infrastructures, the evidence-making mechanisms around edtech, and the pedagogical practices around edtech. The article proposes three distinct categories of edtech brokers – ambassador, search engine, and data brokers – and explores their practices of mediation. By doing so, we outline the potential effects that brokers can have on schools and edtech markets, and we disentangle their specific imaginaries of the future of education they promote, often aligned with wider policy desires for reform.

Mediation 2.0: a mentalizing-informed framework for renewed purpose and practice

In this paper, we outline a new way of thinking about the purpose and practice of mediation. We propose that mentalizing-inspired mediation can be an effective tool for understanding the interpersonal conflict behaviours that often perpetuate disputes, inhibit their resolution, and promote the likelihood of new disputes emerging in the future. By adapting the theory of mentalizing and the mentalization-based treatment (MBT) model, we introduce a scientifically grounded approach, which we call MBT-M, to inform and elevate mediation education and practice. MBT-M offers a neat and modern reframe on the purpose and practice of mediation as a process that can assist parties to identify, and recover from, impaired mentalizing in order to understand, or ‘mentalize’, the conflict behaviours that are preventing the meaningful resolution of their dispute. Future work will outline how the MBT-M model can offer a robust, evidence-based platform from which to guide mediation interventions, research and scholarship.

Migrant-serving organizations and urban citizenship-making in times of crisis: Copenhagen, Berlin and Tel Aviv compared

ABSTRACT The role of civil society actors in urban citizenship had been recently examined by scholars. This article provides an investigation of how such actors interfaced with the local state during the pandemic to facilitate migrants’ urban citizenship, namely their place-based rights and resources. It focuses on migrant-serving organizations (MSOs), which are understood as key agents of migrant urban citizenship-making. Drawing on empirical research in Berlin, Copenhagen, and Tel Aviv, we argue that while the three cities were impacted by similar national responses to the pandemic, varied local governance contexts, in conjunction with national migrant regimes, resulted in different urban responses. These differences were characterized by the distinct mediation practices of MSOs: bricolaging, bridging and building. While our article brings a more nuanced understanding of how urban citizenship landscapes are (re)produced in times of crises, the act of identifying and describing the three modes of mediation practices contributes to the theorization of the ways in which civil society helps to shape urban citizenship.