‘It's Good to Talk’: Community Mediation in Scotland
| DOI | 10.1177/0032258X9807100102 |
| Published date | 01 January 1998 |
| Author | Richard Mays,Bryan Clark |
| Date | 01 January 1998 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
BRYAN CLARK, BA(Hons)
Mediator, Post-graduate Teaching Assistant, University of
Dundee
RICHARD MAYS, LLB, DipLP, LLM
Solicitor, Senior Lecturer in Law, Robert Gordon University,
Aberdeen
liTIS GOOD TO TALKI:
COMMUNITY MEDIATION IN
SCOTLAND
It has often been suggested that one
of
the key tests
of
civilized society
lies in the processes and mechanisms that exist
for
the resolution
of
disputes between citizens. Scotland has long adopted an adversarial
court-based system
of
civil justice. Criticism
of
this system and its
procedures has led to a search
for
new and better ways
of
resolving
disputes. As a consequence there has been a growth in interest in
'Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)'. One expression
of
this new
interest has been the recent introduction
of
mediation programmes to
tackle community and neighbourhood disputes. This article charts the
inception
of
these initiatives and discusses the experiences
of
those
active within the community mediation field in Scotland. Aspects
of
this
article are drawn from Scottish Office research conducted by the
authors, referred to in the text as 'the study'.
Introduction
Whilst the origins of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) can be
traced back to the early 1970s in the USA (Gold, Smith and Sander,
1985), here in Scotland the concept continues its embryonic
development. Any discussion, analysis or criticism of the state of the
development of ADR within Scotland must be tempered with the
knowledge that exhortations to embrace the concept began only in very
recent years (Mays and Clark, 1996).
ADR is concerned with finding new, alternative ways of resolving
disputes, usually outwith the courts and traditional legal process. No
clear definition or terminology is agreed upon but it includes a range of
activities such as mediation, conciliation and other primarily consensual
forms of dispute resolution (ibid.).
There has been an attempt, in the UK over recent years, to tackle
disputes arising within the social context of neighbourhood and
community relations by consensual, cooperative methods designed to
generate solutions with are acceptable to both disputing parties. To this
end, at the time of writing more than 50 'community mediation'
4The Police Journal January 1998
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