Mediator Settlement Strategies

Settling cases poses a challenging task for the mediator. Most disputes are hotly contested by both parties or they would not have progressed to the point of entering the court arena or mediation. Yet, despite differences in the nature of their cases, the organization of each program we have studied, and the style of mediation predominating in each, striking similarities exist in the techniques used by the mediators to settle cases. Observation of over 40 different mediators in 175 mediation sessions in three programs suggests that in order to do the job which they are charged with accomplishing—bringing mediation cases to settlement— mediators develop a repertoire of strategies employing a variety of sources of power. Mediator strategies fall into four principal categories: presentation of self and the program, control of the process of mediation, control of the substantive issues in mediation, and activation of commitments and norms. Mediators empower themselves by claiming authority for themselves, their task, or the program based upon values external to the immediate situation, or manipulate the immediate situation so that settlement is more rather than less likely. Based upon their differential use of these strategies, mediator styles fall along a continuum between two types: bargaining and therapy. Mediation seems to range between a bargaining process conducted in the shadow of the court to a communication process which resembles therapy in its focus upon exploring and enunciating feelings .     

The Social Psychology of Making and Responding to Hospital Complaints: An Account Model of Complaint Processes*

Drawing on a study of 399 hospital complaints entering the National Health Service formal complaints procedure, this paper analyzes the interaction between complainant and hospital as a social episode in which the hospital is called to account for violation of the complainant's normative expectations and makes its response. The non-instrumental and uncrystallized character of many complaints is emphasized. Letters of complaint and replies from the hospital were readily analyzed in terms of the proposed model, providing insights into the social psychology of complaining, the goals of complainants, and the elements of successful apologies. Factors correlating with complainants' satisfaction further support the model and confirm the importance of a socially appropriate response to complaints. The implications of the study are discussed both in relation to hospital complaints and in the context of the literature on disputing more broadly.     

The Psychology of Routine Discretion: Accident Screening by British Factory Inspectors*

It is well recognized that discretion over the day to day enforcement of law is often exercised routinely by “repeat players.” However, the psychology of repetitive, routine decision making has not received particular attention. An empirical study of factory inspectors' discretion in screening accidents for investigation was conducted, using interviews with inspectors and analysis of records. The paper analyzes the selection decision as a process of categorization that attends simultaneously to characteristics of the accident, the legal and organizational context, and normal responses within the agency, in a way that maximizes cognitive economy. The paper suggests that, with experience, skill at routine decision making comes to be exercised towards the “automatic” end of a continuum from ‘automatic’ (non-conscious) to (consciously) “controlled” processing of information. Since data are available on accidents not selected as well as those selected, the implications of inspectors' decision strategies can be examined.     

Taxpayer Reporting Responses and the Tax Reform Act of 1986

This paper examines the effects of the Tax Reform Act of 1986 on the reporting decisions of taxpayers, using microlevel information from the 1984 and 1989 Statistics of Income. We find that tax reform clearly mattered in the reporting decisions of individuals, with reporting elasticities that cluster between 0.3 and 0.7. However, our results also indicate that individuals' estimated responses vary in different ways for individuals with different income levels, in ways that differ by the types of incomes received by taxpayers, in ways that are sensitive to the estimation approach, and in ways that depend upon data adjustment methods.     

STAKEHOLDERS AND PERSPECTIVISM IN QUALITATIVE POLICY EVALUATION: A REALIST REFLECTION

This paper examines the epistemological bases for the inclusion of stakeholders in policy research. While it concedes that the input of stakeholders provides essential expert and experiential knowledge for the understanding of complex policies and programmes, it contends that the approach which assumes that all interpretations of policy including those of stakeholders should be afforded equal validity, which we term relativist perspectivism, undermines the possibility of robust research by allowing power to replace methodological rigour as the primary research dynamic. It is noted that this problem tends to be more acute when the research is qualitative. A study into the gendered effects of Common Agricultural Policy reforms is used as an illustrative example of how research can be compromised by relativist perspectivism. It is argued that realist research methodologies uniquely provide the capacity to maintain epistemological robustness, while also being able to take due account of the perspectives of stakeholders.     

STRAINED LIVES AND CRIME: EXAMINING INTRA‐INDIVIDUAL VARIATION IN STRAIN AND OFFENDING IN A SAMPLE OF INCARCERATED WOMEN*

When applied to the study of changes in an individual's offending, general strain theory posits that individuals will be more likely to offend during periods of high strain. Using 36 months of retrospective data collected from female inmates, we explore the relationship between intra‐individual changes in strain and changes in offending and drug use. We also examine how different dimensions of strain‐recent composite strain, duration, clustering and accumulation, contribute to the explanation of offending. We find that changes in strain are associated with changes in violence, drug use, and property crime and that these relationships remain after the addition of control variables. Moreover, the strain‐crime relationship holds when the correct causal order is specified. When modeling offending, taking various dimensions of strain into account does increase the amount of variation explained for some outcomes, but other dimensions are highly correlated. We conclude that conceptualizing the interaction between strain and crime as a dynamic process is constructive and that general strain theory will be improved if criminologists move beyond static conceptions of strain.     

FEMINIST THEORY,CRIME, AND JUSTICE*

Feminist research has expanded beyond its origins in Women's Studies to influence the more traditionally bounded academic disciplines. Criminology has not been immune to these excursions. This paper presents an overview of feminist theory/methods and its applications within select areas of crime and justice studies. Points of intra-theoretical divergence as well as directions for future feminist contributions are noted.     

Managers as Third-Party Dispute Handlers in Complaints about Hospitals*

Drawing on a study of 399 hospital complaints entering the National Health Service's formal complaints procedure and twenty-five interviews with managers who deal with complaints, this paper reviews the nature of the roles played by the managers. Emphasis is placed on the variety of roles they adopt according to the nature of the complaint made, the person complained about, and the implications of the allegations. The managers, viewed as important legal actors in the management of disputes, are also representatives of the organization being complained about. The implications of this are explored in the context of their claims to be able to adopt independent or impartial third-party dispute resolution roles.