Includes bibliographical references (pages 397-418) and indexes.

Part one: Understanding dispute resolution and mediation -- Approaches to managing and resolving conflict -- How mediation works -- Part two: Laying the groundwork for effective mediation -- Managing initial contacts with the disputing parties -- Selecting a strategy to guide mediation -- Collecting and analyzing background information -- Designing a detailed plan for mediation -- Building trust and cooperation -- Part three: Conducting productive mediations -- Beginning the mediation session -- Defining issues and setting an agenda -- Uncovering hidden interests of the disputing parties -- Generating options for settlement -- Assessing options for settlement -- Conducting final bargaining -- Achieving formal agreement or settlement -- Strategies for dealing with special situations -- Toward an excellent practice of mediation -- Conclusion: Challenges for the growth and development of mediation -- Resource A. Professional practice guidelines: The society of Professionals in dispute resolution (SPIDR) ethical standards of professional responsibility -- Resource B. Mediation services agreement: sample waiver and consent form -- Resource C. Settlement documentation form: sample memorandum of understanding -- Resource D. List of professional associations. More than ever before, mediation has become an integral part of resolving disputes in our increasingly contentious society. While labor, family, and divorce conflicts made up the major part of mediation practice just a decade ago, the field has exploded in recent years to include applications in a broad - and still growing - range of commercial, interpersonal, public, and international arenas. Throughout this period of dynamic growth, the first edition of The Mediation Process, originally published in 1986, has led the way as the best resource in the field for a generation of practitioners and trainers, students in degree programs, and professionals in corporate, legal, health care, education, and governmental arenas. This long-awaited new edition has been revised and expanded to provide not only an updated bibliographical resources section to facilitate further research but also comprehensive coverage of the most contemporary issues in mediation practice, including applications in such important new areas as commercial, community, cross-cultural, court-based, environmental, public policy, and international mediation; five variations of the mediator role - the social network, benevolent, administrative/managerial, vested interest, and independent mediators - that demonstrate the universality of the mediation process and forms of assistance provided to parties in disputes across cultures; and recent efforts to further good practice in mediation, including the development of ethics code; the training, qualification, and certification of mediators; and the development of university and professional school courses in mediation.