When Talk Works

DEBORAH M. KOLB is executive director of the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School and professor of management at the Simmons College Graduate School of Management.

"Insightful and highly readable. The best examination of what successful mediators actually do. Anyone who wants to settle a dispute will learn a lot from these profiles." --Roger Fisher, coauthor, Getting to Yes "All mediators, and anyone else who practices or is interested in alternative dispute resolution, will be interested in this book." --Mary P. Rowe, ombudsperson, Massachusetts Institute of Technology "A must read for anyone contemplating the practice of alternative dispute resolution as a mediator or using the services of a mediator." --Wallace Warfield, George Mason University, and former president, Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution

• Preface xiiiThe Authors xviiIntroductionAnother Way to Settle Disputes: The Practice of Meditation 1Deborah M. KolbPart One The Professionals1 Frances Butler: Questions That Lead to Answers in Child Custody Mediation 17Kenneth Kressel2 Patrick Davis: “To Bring Out the Best … To Undo a Little Pain” in Special Education Mediation 61Susan S. Silbey3 Howard Bellman: Using “Bundles of Input” to Negotiate an Environmental Dispute 105Christine B. Harrington4 William Hobgood: “Conditioning” Parties in Labor Grievances 149Deborah M. Kolb5 Patrick Phear: Control, Commitment, and Minor Miracles in Family and Divorce Mediation 191Austin SaratPart Two Builders of the Field6 Albie M. Davis: Community Mediation as Community Organizing 245Sally Engle Merry7 Eric Green: finding Alternatives to Litigation in Business Disputes 279Lavinia E. Hall8 Lawrence Susskind: Activist Mediation and Public Disputes 309John ForesterPart Three Extending the Reach of Mediation9 Juju Atkinson: Blurring the Distinction Between Mediation and Adjudication 359William M. O’Barr10 Jimmy Carter: The Power of Moral Suasion in International Mediation 375Eileen F. Babbitt11 Linda Colburn: On-the Spot Mediation in a Public Housing Project 395Neal Milner12 Joseph Elder: Quiet Peacemaking in a Civil War 427Thomas PrincenConclusionThe Realities of Making Talk Work 459Deborah M. Kolb and Kenneth KresselIndex 495