Certification and Standardization of Mediators - Essay Example

Certification and Standardization of Mediators Certification and Standardization of Mediators Whenever people coexist for any time, mediation naturally occurs. Mothers who give one child the larger piece of cake but give the other child the slice with more frosting, just practiced the ancient art of mediation. The Hindu scriptures contain the first recorded mediations from 5000 years ago. Gotama Buddha (563 BCE to 483 BCE) spread the art of mediation across Asia where it swept through the members of the Buddhist and the Hindu faiths (altMD, 2010).

In 1939, California was the first state officially to use mediators in divorce proceedings in court-sponsored reconciliation (Folberg & Milner, 1977, as cited in Milner, Folberg, & Salem, 2004, p.5). Years later, California added child custody decisions to mediator responsibilities. “In 1980, California became the first state to mandate all parents with custody or visitation disputes to participate in family mediation prior to a court hearing” (Milner et al., 2004, p.5). By 2004, most states had mandates regarding family divorce disputes, and 38 states had mediation mandates where child custody issues occurred (Tondo, Coronel, & Drucker, 2001, as cited in Milner et al., 2004, p.5).

Example One. One of the frontrunners and more controversial figures in divorce mediations was O.J. Coogler, an Atlanta lawyer and author of the book, Structured Mediation in Divorce Settlement (1978). This marriage and family litigator used labor negotiations and social sciences as a guide to build a framework for third-party mediators to use when assisting divorcing couples resolve issues such as property division, alimony, child visitation, and child custody (Milner et al., 2004). Despite establishing the Family Mediation Association (FMA), the bar association harshly rebuked Coogler.

“The bar association declared mediation by non-lawyers to be the unauthorized practice of law and attempted to dissuade lawyers from mediating through the threat of ethical sanctions” (Silberman, 1988, as cited in Milner et al., 2004, p. 5). Example Two. Confidentiality is crucial in court proceedings. In a civil suit involving the still photography and filming of underage girls, the judge ordered mediation in an attempt to circumvent litigation (Zimmerman, 2009). However, the defendant did not take the mediation proceedings seriously.

He appeared four hours late, dressed inappropriately, shouted profanities at the court, continually placed his dirty, bare feet on the plaintiff’s table, threatened the plaintiff’s lawyer, and then proceeded to breech confidentiality by telling intimate details of the underage girls to the media. Zimmerman stated of this case: The Florida civil case of Doe v. Francis offers an important case study showing the impact of the ‘bad faith’ exception to mediation confidentiality upon the process and underlying principles of mediation. Doe v. Francis raises deep seated questions involving the limits of mediation confidentiality, what is meant by negotiating in ‘bad faith,’ and the influence courts have in directing mediation (2009, p. 354). Example Three.

Milner et al. (2004) clearly explained that mediation is not arbitration, negotiation, nor is it therapy. Mediation can only work when both parties are open-minded to options and are willing to make compromises for the betterment of all involved. When one party has the luxury of time and money, and he or she will not compromise on the issues; mediation is a waste of time for all involved parties. Licensure and Credentialing of Mediators “The Ontario Mandatory Mediation Program started on January 4, 1999 in Toronto and Ottawa, and in Windsor on December 31, 2002” (Family Mediation Canada, 2011) Licensed mediators resolve over 90 percent of all lawsuits in Toronto and Ottawa circumventing a court trial.

The rigorous certification process mediators must endure before licensure is the reason for Canada’s success. In Canada, to earn a mediator’s license, a candidate must go through the Family Mediation Canada/ Médiation Familiale Canada (FMC) to earn national FMC mediator certification. The following are some of the requirements: A minimum of 80 hours of basic conflict resolution and mediation training and at least an additional 100 hours of further education and training in specific areas of family issues is mandatory.

An approved mediation practicum is necessary or, in lieu of, two positive peer evaluations from experienced family mediators.The candidate must produce a videotaped role-play assessment along with a skills-assessment.A written final examination.Continuing education hours are required in order to maintain certification status (Family Mediation Canada, 2011, Family Mediator Certification Program).ConclusionsThe court systems in the United States are overbooked and backlogged; relief must be found (Milner et al., 2004). At first glance, mediation appears to be the solution; it obviously works for Toronto and Ottawa.

The difference between the Canadian system and the United States system is in the uniform training, licensure, and certification process required by the Canadians. The United States has fifty separate fiefdoms with fifty individual sets of rules whereby each county often has its own unique sets of rules. For mediation to work in the United States, the courts must establish a national set of honored rules, a national certification process, and a national license for mediators. ReferencesaltMD. (2010). History of mediation: East and west.

altMD Smart Alternatives. Retrieved from . www.altmd.com/Articles/History-of-Meditation Family Mediation Canada. (2011). Family mediator certification program. Family Mediation Canada/ Médiation Familiale Canada (FMC). Retrieved from www.fmc.ca/index.php?page=12Folberg J. D., Milne, A. L., & Salem, P. (Eds.). (2004). Divorce and family mediation: Models, Techniques, and applications. New York, NY: Guilford Press. Zimmerman, (2009). Judges gone wild: Why breaking the mediation confidentiality privilege for acting in “bad faith” should be reevaluated in court-ordered mandatory mediation, 353-384.

Cardozo J. of Conflict Resolution [Vol. 11:35]. Retrieved from http://cojcr.org/vol11no1/353-384.pdf