We know that some jobs naturally give rise to threats to personal safety. Law enforcement officers and firefighters know they will occasionally be in harm’s way in the course of accomplishing their job-related duties. Likewise, judges and attorneys sometimes receive threats against their life or safety from angry or mentally ill parties in a legal case. However, little is known about threats against mediators or incidents of violence that may arise between parties during the course of the mediation process. While hopefully rare, when these events occur mediators must be prepared to harness all of their training in conflict resolution in order to maintain or restore a safe environment for all or to safely end mediation.

How often do these incidents occur, how do they arise, and how do mediators react? Mediators swap anecdotal ‘horror stories’ during professional conferences and gatherings, but there has been very little actual research into these phenomena. In order to learn more about the incidence of violence in mediation, Dr. Susan Raines and Dr. Marco Turk are undertaking a survey of mediators from all types of practice—small claims, landlord-tenant, probate, family/divorce, juvenile, commercial disputes, etc. If you are a mediator, please use the link below to take part in this survey, whether you have experienced violence in mediation or not. Please encourage others in your networks to participate as well.

Results of the survey will be shared on this blog and in academic publications so as to help
the field of mediation better understand and prepare for the possibility of violence during the
process.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/violenceandmediation

Thank You,

Susan S. Raines, Ph.D.
Director, MS in Conflict Management Program
Kennesaw State University
sraines@kennesaw.edu