WHAT DO PEOPLE KNOW ABOUT MEDIATION ANYWAY?

In most classes I teach, I ask the students to do an informal survey as to what they know about mediation.

The most frequent answer relates to the individual’s or a family member’s mediation experience with child custody and visitation. This raises at least two concerns. First, child custody and visitation mediation is unlike other forms of mediation, so people who assume that experience is typical are misled. Second, when asked to describe the experience many people expressed negative feelings about the process.

A significant number of people haven’t heard of mediation or had a misunderstanding, believing, “It’s when you close your eyes and try to clear your mind.”

Mediators know the benefits of mediation and don’t understand why people don’t seek it out more often. As a part of my students’ survey, they also ask “people on the street” how they resolve conflicts in their life. The most frequent answers were “fight it out,” “try to work it out,” “forget about it and move on.” And then when asked who they would go to for help with a conflict, mediation didn’t even make the list of their sources. The most frequent answers were “a friend,” “the police,” and “an attorney.”

Professional mediators need to recognize most people know little about mediation and don’t appreciate its value. Instead, mediators need to better inform the public about the various benefits.