Introduction
Social conflicts are becoming a reality of everyday life. Although society is constantly in the process of reorganizing its economical, political and legal institutions, such reorganization does not affect the tendency for conflicts in various situations. The presence of conflicts in various spheres of life dictates the necessity in their analysis, identification of their causes and the conditions generating conflict situations, and the development of means of their prevention and resolution. The integration of mediation and human services can be seen in the nature of the mediation process itself, in which assistance is provided for those who cannot solve their problems and disputes by themselves. In that regard, this paper provides an overview of the integration of mediation with human services, stating that mediation is an appropriate method for the specific population served by human service agencies.
Mediation as a Process
The main principles of the community mediation process include voluntarism, informality, effectiveness, quickness, satisfaction, and affordability. In that regard, such principles as affordability indicate that the target population of the mediation service is those who cannot afford other ways of solving their problems, and in that regard, the emphasis is on those who are economically and socially disadvantaged (“Community Mediation Services,” 2009). The approach to conflict resolution competing with traditional legal methods is based on the model of finding a consensus, rather than confrontation, and was not limited to a specific sphere of specific jurisdiction, or specific areas of law. In that regard, the specific attribute of community mediation can be seen in setting the goal of “strengthening relationships and building connections between people and groups”, in addition to preserving individual interests (“National Association for Community Mediation Homepage,” 2009). Accordingly, it should be stated that the process of mediation, as an integral link with human services, implies to an extent the same participants, i.e. the services, and the community, and accordingly the interventions are made with such considerations in mind, where the benefits of mediation are outlined as outlining the relevant issues at the same time and diminishing the number of future conflicts.
Thus, it can be stated that the process of mediation, in the context of community is a process in which human services are an integral part, and the services of mediation provided are focused on a specific population of these communities. In terms of the latter, it can be assumed that such focus is explicitly demonstrated by the offering of free, no-obligation consultations, a condition that the economically and socially disadvantaged population will appreciate the most.
Mediation Services
The services provided as a part of community mediation involve several common aspects in most community mediation services. For families, such services include the collaboration with the Department of Corrections for a Family & Systems Teams (FST), in which the families that have boys and girls from 11-21 years of age, and who at moderate to high-risk levels are represented (“Community Mediation Services,” 2009). The main focus in such service is in identifying the needs of the family, through an interview in which the family will select the parties which will be present in FST meetings. The parties might include Juvenile Community Corrections Officer (JCCO), “family members, support persons, mental health service provider, drug treatment provider, school personnel and others, depending on the needs of the particular client family” (“Community Mediation Services,” 2009). The role of mediation is facilitating and coordinating this whole process, including the interviews, and the meetings. Other family-related services include family conflicts, where mediation helps resolving the disputes among family members; Co-parenting, where the mediation helps the children to cope with the changes resulted from conflicts between the parents; strengthening military families, where the family issues such as “custody, separation, support, housing, debt, contract dispute, or employment grievances” (“Community Mediation Center,” 2009) are helped in dealing with in military families. The latter can be seen as a part of the specifically designed program for such purpose, which is the Reservist Re-Integration and Transitions (H.O.M.E.) program. This program provides support and mediation services for the families and service members of the Reserves and National Guard during the deployment cycle (“National Association for Community Mediation Homepage,” 2009).
The focus on families can be seen through the provision of family group conferencing, a special form of mediation, in which families that gave problems and conflicts are joined together to brainstorm their problems and reach a solution together. It should be noted that the family services are not limited to everyday problems of couples and their children, but also extend to cover the problems that are related to the families as clients of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The relation of mediation, the services, and the communities specific population can be seen in the fact that the other options for such populations in solving their problems imply referring to top legal systems, an option that is too costly to consider for this specific population. On the other hand, the aforementioned services are either low cost, free, or partially free, i.e. free for specific categories, e.g. mediation services for military families, in which the services are free for E-1 to E-3 categories, while for the rest the payment is determined by pay grade (“Community Mediation Center,” 2009). It should be mentioned that even in such cases, the centers offering the mediation services indicate that the inability to pay does not limit the access to mediation.
Voluntarism and Donations
An essential part of the integration of mediation and human services is its non-profit nature. As it was stated previously, the free to low-cost services is a specific attribute of community mediation, specifically targeting those specific populations. Voluntarism can be considered as an essential aspect of most mediation centers, where these centers provide the opportunity for people fulfilling specific requirements to be engaged in solving the problems of the community. These centers offer the training necessary either themselves or coordinating the participant within certified training programs. The general requirements for volunteer mediators include at least 40 hours of mediation training, and certification, based on the chosen field, a family, or general mediator. In terms of the latter, the requirements also imply a recertification every two years. The dependence on the work of volunteer mediators can be seen through the diversity and the availability of many training programs offered by mediation centers. As mentioned on such centers, the main purpose of such training is to increase the positive effects of the centers’ in their communities, through the development and the expansion of skills of the centers’ members. It should be noted that training options are not free, and include specific costs, depending on the training program, in which there are options of non-certification practicum. Nevertheless, it can be predicted that such payments are used to raise the quality of the volunteers involved, rather than giving access to everyone who wants to participate.
The funding issue is another important factor in the non-profit nature of the mediation organizations. The donation options are available in most of the centers, which specifically outlines the fact that the donation is a major aspect that keeps the work of community mediation services working. Taking the example of Community Mediation Center, the center specifically mentions that the help was provided to “over 938 economically disadvantaged families, individuals, and youth” (“Community Mediation Center,” 2009), a fact that would not have been possible without the monetary donations, which include many options and programs to choose from. The transparency of these donations is also essential to provide the confidence of the donors in choosing the way to help.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that there is an existing link between mediation and human services. Analyzing community mediation in terms of processes, services, and the non-profit nature of mediation organizations, it can be stated that all of the aforementioned is appropriate to the specific populations in need of mediation help. In that regard, mediation in the community puts among its purpose strengthening the relationships within the community with consideration to future conflict between these communities’ participants.
References
Community Mediation Center (2009). Community Mediation Center. Web.
Community Mediation Services (2009). Community Mediation Services. Web.
National Association for Community Mediation Homepage (2009). National Association for Community Mediation. Web.