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Mediating Neighborhood Conflict: Conceptual and Strategic Considerations

NCJ Number
108017
Journal
Negotiation Journal Volume: 3 Issue: 4 Dated: (October 1987) Pages: 397-410
Author(s)
H Mika
Date Published
1987
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Based on data from a community mediation service in Dallas, Tex., this article outlines selected characteristics of neighborhood cases and conflict and draws implications for the organization and practice of neighborhood dispute resolution.
Abstract
The article first discusses 'fictions' regarding community, neighborhoods, conflict resolution, and order and disorder which impinge on the organization and practice of conflict and conflict resolution in neighborhoods. Most of the cases examined for this study were referred by social service agencies, police, and courts, and they were related to neighborhoods with distinctive racial, ethnic, and class characteristics. The profile of neighborhood cases focuses on multiparty disputes; violence; racial, ethnic, or religious conflict; protracted trouble; public intervention; public remedies as public nuisance; rule compliance and enforcement; formal legal intervention; and the official tally of disputants. The selected characteristics of neighborhood conflict are uncertain goals, the dehumanizing of opponents and assigning of blame, complex communication, principles, threats, the desire to settle, agreement, and the valuation of settlements. In drawing implications for the organization and practice of neighborhood dispute resolution, the article addresses dispute resolution, the targeting of neighborhood dispute resolution, incremental reconciliation in protracted conflict, interagency strategies, and proactive interventions. 22 references.