What is mediation?

There are many aspects to mediation.

Mediation is a part of the civil court system where parties are aided in settlement negotiations aimed at helping them find their own best interest.

To most lawyers, mediation is something practiced by those who have been through a specialist training programme.

Mediation is part of the education community and is supervised by school teachers and conducted by specially trained peer group mediators in the same classes as the parties in conflict.

Mediation is a part of the juvenile criminal justice system. For non-violent offenders, victim-offender mediation is a process where community volunteers, under the supervision of the criminal justice system caseworkers, help both sides.

Mediation is a part of family counseling for people getting divorced. Mediation is a way for families who are splitting into parts to learn to deal with the changes in roles, duties and opportunities and to face those changes with emotional balance.

To many, mediation is a special form of family counseling handled by therapists.

Mediation is a part of community action and conflict resolution, a place where volunteers resolve conflicts and problems that otherwise would end up in small claims court.

To many, mediation is an alternative to the formal justice system, not a part of it, conducted by "real human beings" rather than lawyers.

Mediation is an employment conflict resolution tool aimed at finding a better way. Drawing from a wide pool of talent and skills, mediation seeks to end conflict and improve feelings in the workplace.

To many, mediation is a way to get to the bottom line and to find compromise without fighting using a group of mediators who defy definition other than experience.

Institutional mediation is conflict avoidance, a form of human resources management that aims to resolve conflict and improve communication between those served and the institution and between the different members of the institution.

To many in large hospitals, churches and other diverse organizations, mediation is a method of ensuring communication and that problems are resolved rather than ignored, cured rather than allowed to fester.