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Conflict Resolution
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- Notification of research observation Tue, 2011-04-05 23:19
- Week 8: Multi-Track Diplomacy Mon, 2011-03-21 03:19
- Week 7: Ethics Sun, 2011-03-13 23:39
- Week 5: Facilitated Dialogue & Appreciative Inquiry Wed, 2011-03-09 21:50
- Week 4: Mediation Wed, 2011-03-09 21:14
Week 7: Ethics
For Week 7, we will be discussing Ethics. The article for this week's discussion is "Ten Principles of Mediation Ethics."
The following questions may be used to facilitate discussion among your small groups, or you may respond to them directly through this forum.
-This article is written specifically about ethics in mediation, but many of the guidelines can apply in other forms of intervention. How can you apply one or more of these ethical principles to another form of conflict intervention?
-One of the guidelines is "impartiality." Is it reasonable to expect a person to be completely impartial? How can an effective mediator mitigate his or her own bias in order to ensure a fair mediation process?
-The author says that "self-determination" of the parties is an important principle of ethical mediation. What should a mediator do if he or she believes an agreement between two parties is unfair, but both of the parties agree to it?
-Influential countries or legal bodies (such as the United Nations) often intervene in conflicts between two countries. How are these mediators biased, and how can this bias be effectively removed?
Please Note: Next week is the final week of class. Due to time and communication issues, we will not be having a guest speaker. If there is a topic anyone would like to focus on instead of or in addition to Multi-Track Diplomacy, please send me an email and I will do my best to provide resources.
Several of the guidelines can be and should be applied to conflict intervention:
• Conflict of interest
o Mediators must avoid serving in cases where they have a direct personal, professional, or financial interest in the outcome of the dispute.
o This helps the mediator to gain credibility in all parties involved in order to work with the parties to develop resolution for the confliction.
• Confidentiality
o Mediator must earn trust in all parties in order to learn what the parties are looking for and help them to come to a resolution.
• Do no harm
o Any harm to the parties will strip the mediator of credibility and trust. The effectiveness of the mediator will be drastically reduced if not nullified.
• Informed consent
o Making sure all parties have the same information helps the mediator to be seen as fair and impartial.
• Duties to third parties
o Harming third parties will eventually lead to another conflict to be resolved. Solving one conflict and create another does not serve the purpose of true conflict resolution.
• Honesty
o This helps the mediator establish and maintain credibility and trust.
It is possible for a person to be impartial and still be involved in the process. However, it would be very difficult to remain impartial if the person has an opinion on the matter at hand or be influenced by others (such as the media).
The mediator will need to rely on his or her training and the mediation process to maintain fairness. It is important that the mediator behalves in a fair manner and treat all parties fairly. His/her opinions (biased or not) are of less consequence as long as his/her behaviors are not affected by these biases.
If both parties agree and are truly satisfied with the results, the mediator has fulfilled his or her responsibilities. The mediator’s opinion on what is fair or unfair is not a matter of significance.
Such bodies, as the UN, tend to be jaded by politics and interests of the influential countries. Due process put in place helps remove this bias, although not always.