User:Alastair Haines/CR basics

Some of the basic principles of conflict resolution for a mediator are as follows.

Responsibility
Conflicts are resolved by the conflicted parties, not by the mediator.

This is the most basic principle of mediation and should be made clear up front.

It is crucial that conflicted parties understand that they are responsible for resolving their differences, no one else can do it for them.

Some people seeking an end to conflict will attempt to resign responsibility by handing it to a mediator.

Professional mediators learn quickly to resist such attempts.

but this will almost inevitably lead to failure.

Specificity
Most conflicts are obvious. It is obvious that there is a conflict, and also obvious what the issue is.

However, many apparent cases of conflict merely involve misunderstandings. The conflicted parties are using different language or conceptual frameworks to work through issues, rather than holding genuinely conflicting opinions.

In such cases, the conflict is about whose "language" to use. The parties are uncomfortable or nervous about using other parties' ways of thinking and speaking, or genuinely can't understand them.

A mediator's role, here, is a "translation" role. The key is understanding each party's language and showing them how to understand other parties.

This role is useful in all kinds of conflict. It is the most basic requirement of any mediating role. A simple technique to use is called reflective listening. It has the advantage of modeling for conflicted parties a method they can use to resolve their own differences, without outside assistance.