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Monday, August 31, 2009

Ind. Law - "Mediation not about feeling good; it’s about making good decisions"

Nicole Brooks had this story yesterday ($$) in the Bloomington Herald-Times that begins:

Mediation is not “feel good” work, said David Nosko, a victim-offender reconciliation case manager with Monroe County’s Community Justice & Mediation Center.

There may be no punishment greater for an offender than to sit across a small table from the person he or she harmed, he said.

The Mediation Center is offering in September a four-day, 32-hour training course for those interested in becoming mediators with the center or for people who simply want to gain mediation skills.

The center is a nonprofit organization largely staffed by volunteers. It is not overseen by the courts or any governmental group, although the county court’s probation department assigns many cases. Educators in the schools refer some cases to the center.

Headquartered in a one-room office on Bloomington’s courthouse square at 115 N. College Ave., the center provides conflict resolution, training programs that focus on small claims cases and shoplifting, and victim-offender reconciliation, among other programs.

Jon Dilts, a senior mediator and professor at Indiana University’s journalism school, said some people go through the 32-hour training so they can use mediation skills in their place of business or personal lives. A typical training session, which have been held in Bloomington the past eight or nine years, has as attendees business leaders who work in retail, property management, law and education students and people interested in civic engagement.

“We’re not counselors; we’re not lawyers,” Nosko said. “We don’t offer advice. It’s a discussion.”

Mediators facilitate listening and civilized conversations during which one person speaks at a time.

Having a third, neutral party listen to an argument between two warring neighbors or a landlord and tenant causes the incensed to behave with a bit more maturity and civility, said Ed Greenebaum, a center case manager, board member and trainer.

“That certainly does affect people’s behavior,” he said.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on August 31, 2009 10:47 AM
Posted to Indiana Law