ACR Library of Resources

A Cautionary Tale: Lessons to Be Learned from Past Mistakes in Afghanistan

Courtney Draggon was a student intern at ACR during the fall and winter of 2001 while completing her undergraduate degree in American University's Peace and Conflict Resolution Program. Her areas of concentration are the Balkans and Asia. She recently returned from studying peace-building and conflict resolution in Northern Ireland. She plans to pursue her conflict resolution studies at the graduate level.
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A Well-Founded Fear of Prosecution: Mediation and the Unauthorized Practice of Law

In this article, Hoffman and Affolder make a strong case for new, clear and uniform standards for distinguishing between mediation and the practice of law.
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ACR Family Section Annotated Diversity Bibliography

This annotated diversity bibliography was researched and compiled by Marya C. Kolman and Amy Wenger Bixler, of Columbus, Ohio with assistance from law students, Mara A. Smith and Shama Ahmed. Guidance and assistance was provided by Paula Trout, Margaret Powers and Sue Bronson.

Click here to download the complete document.

ACR's Diversity and Equity Committee

ACR is committed to diversity and equity in its membership, structure, and organizational work. A culturally diverse organization is one that recognizes, supports, values, and utilizes people's differences and similarities in support of the organization's goals and objectives. Diversity and equity mean recognizing and working to eliminate injustices in access, process, and consequences of ACR's efforts to strive to meet the needs of diverse members and stakeholders.

Click here to find out more about ACR's Diversity and Equity Committee.

ACR's Ethics Committee

ACR's Board of Directors has approved the following policy for the Ethics Committee. The President will appoint the Ethics Committee Chair, who will in turn appoint the remaining Committee Members. The Committee will review member nominations for each individual Section's Ethics Committee. To ensure a efficient and diverse flow of members through this committee, the first Ethics Committee will develop criteria for selecting Committee members, as well as a training process that new members will be required to undergo prior to joining the Committee.

Click here to find out more about ACR's Ethics Committee.

ADR Book Reviews-- Workplace Mediation

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Alternative Contract Delivery Systems

This article is excerpted from a speech delivered by Mr. Keil to International Centre for Legal Studies Conference on International Construction Law, Salzburg, Austria, June 13, 1998.
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Best Practices for Government Agencies: Guidelines for Using Collaborative Agreement-Seeking Processes

This recommendations in this report were developed through a joint effort of the SPIDR Environmental/Public Disputes Sector and the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution in Atlanta, Georgia, supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. This report focuses on best practices for government agencies and other users in the United States and Canada, reflecting the membership of the SPIDR Environmental/Public Disputes Sector. While potentially applicable to other countries, the recommendations will likely need to be tailored to the political frameworks, institutions and cultural norms in those societies.
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Building Consensus for a Sustainable Future

These Guiding Principles have been developed by Round Tables in Canada to build awareness, understanding, and an interest in using consensus processes to achieve a sustainable future. Consensus processes are not new and are not uniquely Canadian. This document reflects the experience with the use of these processes in Canada and elsewhere, and in particular, that of the Round Tables themselves. This document is not a comprehensive "how-to" for consensus processes; rather it proposes guiding principles and key steps to make consensus work. It is intended to be a living document that will change with time and new experience.

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Charles Rumbaugh on U.S Federal ADR Rules

What follows is a letter Charles Rumbaugh sent to the U.S. Government in response to an October 27, 1997 Federal Register publication of a proposed U.S. Government rule on ADR. Tthe U.S. Government is a BIG purchaser of goods/services and consequently its ADR policy potentially impacts the entire commercial arena.
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Conflict Resolution Education at Colleges and Universities

Conflict resolution education and service opportunities are expanding at the college and university level. The various forms this work takes are reviewed below. Links and references to more detailed information is provided at the end for individuals interested in pursuing these opportunities more fully.
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Conflict Resolution Education Resources

References for Articles, Books, Videos and Reports. This bibliography realtes to issues raised in the Fourth R, Summer 2003, the quarterly newsletter of the ACR Education Section.
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Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Grades 6-8

Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Grades 6-8
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Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Grades 7-12

Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Grades 7-12
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Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Grades K-6

Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Grades K-6
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Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Higher Education

Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Higher Education
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Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Preschool-Grade 3

Conflict Resolution Education Resources--Preschool-Grade 3
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Conflict Resolution Reduces Number of Federal Cases Decided by Juries

The number of jury trials in federal courts has decreased, thanks in part to increased use of dispute resolution mechanisms. A recent article in the Los Angeles Daily Journal by William Glaberson reports a significant slide in the number of jury cases in both criminal and civil cases. The article notes that on the criminal side "only 4.3 percent of federal criminal cases charges now end in jury verdicts, down from 10.4 percent in 1988." The drop in federal civil cases resolved by juries has been equally dramatic, reflecting just 1.5 percent of federal cases, "down from 5.4 percent in 1962."
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Conflict Resolution/ Peacebuilding Begins in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Reflections on conducting conflict resolution training in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The author asks himself, "How can I train people in conflict resolution skills when their trauma is so fresh and their pain so raw?"
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Creating a Conflict-Friendly Organizational Environment

This thesis asserts that "conflict friendly" cultures are desirable and attainable in American business organizations.
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Designing Integrated Conflict Management Systems

Report contains practical guidelines for the design of conflict managements systems within organizations. A committee of SPIDR's ADR in the Workplace Initiative sought comments from a broad spectrum of the dispute resolution community, including practictioners working with or within private companies, non-profit organizations, and government agencies to explain why organizations should consider developing integrated conflict management systems to prevent and resolve conflict. Audiences: employers, managers, labor representatives, employees, civil and human rights organizations and other who interact with organizations. (printed report)

To order this report, contact acr@acrnet.org
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Does It Work? The Case for Conflict Resolution Education in Our Nation's Schools

Review an Overview and the Table of Contents of the book. To order this publication, contact acr@acrnet.org.
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Engaging Stakeholders

In the education community, much reference is made to the principle of involving stakeholders in the process of reinventing schools. However, in practice, parents and most importantly students are often left out of the conversation...
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EPP Critical Issues Paper: Hewlett White Papers

In October 2001, Terry Amsler of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation first approached us about involving the Environment Public Policy Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) in the Foundation’s rethinking of its Conflict Resolution Program. Specifically, would this Section and its nearly 400 members consider the meaning of environment and public policy practice and the impact of the field within the context of public participation, deliberative democracy, and transparency between citizens and their governments?
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Ethical Standards of Professional Responsibility

The purpose of this document is to promote ethical conduct and a high level of competency, including honesty, integrity, impartiality and the exercise of good judgement among members in their dispute resolution efforts.

*These standards were adopted by SPIDR in 1986. The Standards are currently being reviewed by the ACR Standards Committee for the Association for Conflict Resolution.
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Funding School Based Conflict Resolution Education

When seeking funds to implement a school based conflict resolution education program, the best place to begin is within your own school district. Most school districts throughout the US receive formula grant funds from state departments of education to support local Safe and Drug Free School programs. In addition, school districts also receive entitlement funds with provisions for professional development. Talk with school district grant program coordinators, professional development coordinators and assistant superintendents for curriculum and instruction about your ideas.

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General Conflict Resolution Education Resources

General Conflict Resolution Education Resources
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Guidelines for Voluntary Mediation Programs Instituted by Agencies Charged with Enforcing

This paper addresses essential and recommended elements of mediation programs instituted by agencies charged with investigating and adjudicating statutory workplace claims.

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Implementing a Peer Mediation Program

Peer mediation: A form of conflict resolution in which trained student leaders help their peers work together to resolve everyday disputes. Participation in peer mediation is voluntary, and with the exception of information that is illegal or life-threatening, all matters discussed in mediation sessions remain confidential. Student mediators do not make judgments or offer advice, and they have no power to force decisions upon their peers. Because mediation is sensitive to the underlying causes of conflict, the vast majority of peer mediation sessions (85%) result in lasting resolutions.
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Infusing and Integrating Conflict Resolution into the School Curriculum and Culture

Integrating conflict resolution into the curriculum and culture of schools can be accomplished in the several ways, outlined and discussed below.
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Investigations as a part of a Conflict Management System

Discusses the role of the investigation (as opposed to mediation) as a part of a conflict management system. Focuses on when an investigation rather than mediation is needed, and how investigation and mediation procedures could be used at the optimum moment. A number of approaches for dealing these questions are discussed.
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Links to Dispute Resolution Public Policy Information

Links to organizations identified by the ACR’s Legislative and Public Policy (LPP) Committee that track international, federal and state legislative and regulatory information related to conflict resolution.

http://www.acrnet.org/about/lppresources.htm

Model Standards of Conduct for Mediators

These Standards were developed by the AAA, ABA Section of Dispute Resolution and SPIDR (now merged with AFM and CREnet to form ACR). These Standards, which serve as a general framework for the practice of mediation, are being revised and updated by the AAA, ABA Section and ACR.
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Open Space Technology and The Organizational Conflict Management Section

What is Open Space Technology (OST)? How does it work? What are the principles behind it? These questions answered and more.
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Recent Developments of Arbitration in Latin America— Focus on Mercosur Countries: Argentina and Brazil

The author describes her attempts to spread the knowledge of Alternative Dispute Resolution Methods in Latin America, focusing on the countries that subscribe to the MERCOSUR treaty.
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Recommended Guidelines for Effective Conflict Resolution Education Programs in K-12 Classrooms, Schools and School Districts

The Development of these Guidelines
The Recommended Guidelines for Effective Conflict Resolution Education Programs ("Guidelines") presented here are the product of work begun by a committee of the Conflict Resolution Education Network (CREnet) and completed by the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR)...

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Recommended Standards for School-Based Peer Mediation Programs

The school-based peer mediation program standards ("Standards") presented here were developed in 1995 and represent the work of the Standards Committee of NAME (National Association for Mediation in Education) and the associates of NAME. The Standards are meant to ensure quality and to stimulate thought within peer mediation programs...

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Report on Competencies in Conflict Management Systems Design

This working paper represents the Committee's first contribution to recommending competencies that systems design practitioners should aim for in order to carry out their work in a professional manner. Beyond the interests of SPIDR members, the scope of this working paper has been expanded to respond to the interests and needs of organizations in seeking this expertise, and of students aspiring to this discipline.

Click here to download the full document.

Standards of Practice for Family and Divorce Mediation

The Standards incorporate much of the best of the previous standards, and update them to include topics such as domestic violence and child abuse. In addition, the Standards address the issue of the best interests of the children and how mediation can help parents to address them in divorce.

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Strategic Planning for Mediation

The article reviews the principal questions you should ask yourself before you undertake the design and setup of a workplace mediation program in a governmental setting.
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Teaching Students To Be Peacemakers

Introduction

The authors spent several years of their childhood living on a farm in central Indiana. We grew up in a time when children were part of the economic unit of the family. We worked along side of our parents and grandparents. We learned about conflict through the ebb and flow of daily family life. Getting us up at five o'clock in the morning to milk the cows was a conflict....
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Ten Ways to Get Sued: A Guide for Mediators

This article outlines specific circumstances that could give rise to legal complaints against mediators for their mediation-related conduct. Specifically, the article describes ten scenarios in which a mediator may be exposed to liability. The ten are not organized as a hierarchical "top ten" list; a scenario's placement within this list is not intended to signal anything about its likelihood relative to any other scenario on the list. Insufficient empirical experience with post-mediation lawsuits makes definitive probabilistic assessments impossible. Instead, the ten scenarios are organized into a sequence that illustrates several broad categories of mediator behavior that could give rise to liability.

Copyright © 2003 Harvard Negotiation Law Review; Michael Moffitt

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The Moral Imagination: The Art and Soul of Building Peace

Presented by Keynote Speaker John Paul Lederach at the 2004 ACR Annual Conference.
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TRANSFORMATIVE TOOLS: A tool kit for Transformative Mediation

This article is unique in furnishing practitioners a veritable handbook for using the transformative model of mediation (although also useful in evaluative mediation). The content of the article is particularly effective for mediations involving ongoing relationships such as family and workplace mediation as well as businesses wishing to continue doing business after resolving their differences.
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U.S. Arbitrators Support Development of ADR Initiatives in South Africa

A discussion of the ramifications of a law passed in 1996 that protects all employees, unionized or not, from unfair dismissal. The law calls for dismissed employees to take their complaints to the Commission on Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA). Commissioners are mandated to conciliate (or mediate) all complaint and if mediation fails, arbitration is the next step.
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