Annotated Bibliography

Reprinted from "Finding and Hiring Quality Neutrals: What Every Government Official Needs to Know"


A. The Test Design Project and SPIDR's Commission on Qualifications

1. The following are, respectively, the most recent policy statement of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution and the concluding publication of the Test Design Project. The former is the best available overview of the qualifications for dispute resolution generally; the latter is a more in-depth treatment of what "quality" means in mediation in particular, with examples of how it might be obtained under different circumstances.


      SPIDR Commission on Qualifications (1995).
            Second report: Ensuring competence and
            quality in dispute resolution practice.
            Washington, DC: Society of Professionals
            in Dispute Resolution.
      Test Design Project (1995). Performance-based
            assessment: a Methodology, for use in
            selecting, training and evaluating
            mediators. National Institute for Dispute
            Resolution.
                

2. The following is designed to adapt the Test Design Project's work into a form more accessible to lawyers and other mediation clients, and is the best available short guide.


      Alaska Judicial Council (1995). A consumer guide
            to selecting a mediator. Washington, DC:
            State Justice Institute.
                

3. The Project's Methodology and the SPIDR Commission's Second Report are based primarily on the following papers and other works. This list includes both the direct precursors of those documents (noted with *) and a selection of critical papers and relevant ancillary reading, from a wide range of perspectives. Note that all documents listed as published by Negotiation Journal in 1993 appeared together; the Journal's October, 1993 issue devoted a special section to ten papers discussing the Project's Interim Guidelines for Selecting Mediators (1993). The 1995 Methodology was designed to take those and other critiques and commentaries into account, and superseded the Interim Guidelines.


      Bush, R. A. B. (1993). "Mixed messages in the
            Interim Guidelines." Negotiation Journal 9:
            341-348.
      Bush, R. A. B. and Folger, J. P. (1994). The
            promise of mediation. San Francisco:
            Jossey-Bass.
      Cobb, S. and Rifkin, J. (1991). "Practice and
            paradox: Deconstructing neutrality in
            mediation." Law & Social Inquiry 16 (1):
            35-62
      Dingwall, R. (1993). "Does caveat emptor alone
            help potential users of mediation?"
            Negotiation Journal 9: 331-334.
      Friedman, G. and Silberman, A. (1993). "A useful
            tool for evaluating potential mediators."
            Negotiation Journal 9: 313-316.
      Greatbatch, D. and Dingwall, R. (1989). "Selective
            facilitation: Some preliminary observations
            on a strategy used by divorce mediators."
            Law and Society Review 23: 613-641.
      *Honeyman, C. (1988). "Five elements of
            mediation." Negotiation Journal 4: 149-158.
      *Honeyman, C. (1990a). "On evaluating
            mediators." Negotiation Journal 6: 23-36.
      *Honeyman, C. (1990b). "The common core of
            mediation." Mediation Quarterly 8: 73-82.
      *Honeyman, C., Miezio, K., and Houlihan, W.C.
            (1990). "In the mind's eye? Consistency
            and variation in evaluating mediators."
            Working Paper No. 90-21, Program on
            Negotiation at Harvard Law School.
      *Honeyman, C., Peterson, N., and Russell, T.
            (1992). "Developing standards in dispute
            resolution." A paper presented at the 1992
            conference of the Law & Society Associ-
            ation.
      Honeyman, C. (1993). "A consensus on mediators'
            qualifications." Negotiation Journal 9: 295-
            308.
      *Honeyman, C. (1995). "Two out of three."
            Negotiation Journal 11: 5-10.
      *Honoroff, B., Matz, D., and O'Connor, D. (1990).
            "Putting mediation skills to the test."
            Negotiation Journal 6: 37-46.
      Kolb, D. and Kolb, J. (1993). "All the mediators in
            the garden." Negotiation Journal 9: 335-
            340.
      Landsberger, H. A. (1956). "Final report on a
            research project in mediation." Labor Law
            Journal 7 (No. 8): 501-507.
      *Matz, D. (1993). "Some advice for mediator
            evaluators." Negotiation Journal 9: 327-330.
      McEwen, C. (1993). "Competence and quality."
            Negotiation Journal 9: 317-320.
      Menkel-Meadow, C. (1993). "Measuring both the
            art and the science of mediation."
            Negotiation Journal 9: 321-326.
      Morris, C. and Pirie, A., eds. (1994). Qualifications
            for dispute resolution: Perspectives on the
            debate. Victoria, British Columbia: UVic
            Institute for Dispute Resolution.
      *Riskin, L. L. (1994). "Mediator orientations,
            strategies and techniques." Alternatives to
            the High Cost of Litigation 12, 9: 111-114.
      *Riskin, L. L. (1995). "Understanding mediator
            orientations, strategies and techniques: A
            grid for the perplexed." (Draft). Columbia,
            MO: Center for the Study of Dispute
            Resolution, University of Missouri-
            Columbia.
      Salem, R. (1993). "The Interim Guidelines need a
            broader perspective." Negotiation Journal
            9: 309-312.
      Shaw, M. (1993). "Selection, training and
            qualification of neutrals." A working paper
            for the National Symposium on Court-
            Connected Dispute Resolution Research.
            Washington, DC: State Justice Institute.
      Silbey, S. (1993). "Mediation mythology."
            Negotiation Journal 9: 349-353.
      *SPIDR Commission on Qualifications (1989).
            "Qualifying neutrals: The basic principles."
            SPIDR Commission on Qualifications
            Report. National Institute for Dispute
            Resolution.
      *Test Design Project (1993). Interim guidelines for
            selecting mediators. National Institute for
            Dispute Resolution.
                

B. Other documents on quality

The mediation training manual noted here is a first-generation working tool specifically tailored for Government agency internal neutrals. The Russell paper, produced by two testing firms cooperating with the Test Design Project, includes the most thorough available explanation of what is involved when and if quantifiable, validated selection tools are desired. And the SPIDR sourcebook reprints a number of organizations' quality control materials which are not otherwise easy to obtain.


      Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service,
            Administrative Conference of the U.S., and
            Department of Health and Human Services
            (1994). Mediation training: Instructor's
            manual, participants' manual, roleplays
            and exercises.
      Russell, T. L. (1993). "Final report to the National
            Science Foundation on phase 1 of the
            mediation skills assessment project."
            Alexandria, VA: Human Resources
            Research Organization.
      Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution,
            Commission on Qualifications (1993).
            Qualifications sourcebook compendium.
            Washington, DC: SPIDR.
                

C. Government agency dispute resolution and negotiated rulemaking

The following are specific to Government alternative dispute resolution. Note that the Harter articles listed below are reprinted in the Sourcebooks. ("Negotiating Regulations" is in the Negotiated Rulemaking Sourcebook; "Points on a Continuum" is in Sourcebook: Federal Agency Use of ADR.)


      Harter, P. J. (1982). "Negotiating regulations: A
            cure for malaise." Georgetown Law Journal
            71:1, 2-113.
      Harter, P. J. (1986). "Points on a continuum:
            Dispute resolution procedures and the
            administrative process." Administrative
            Conference of the U.S.
      Administrative Conference of the U.S., Office of
            the Chairman (1995; Pritzker, D. M. and
            Dalton, D. S., eds.). Negotiated rulemaking
            sourcebook (2nd Ed.)
      Administrative Conference of the U.S., Office of
            the Chairman (1987; Millhauser, M. S. and
            Pou, C., eds.). Sourcebook: Federal agency
            means of alternative dispute resolution.
      Administrative Conference of the U.S., Office of
            the Chairman (1992; Pou, C., ed.). Federal
            administrative procedure sourcebook.
    




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