Acceso usuarios
Mildred E. Negrón Martínez, Manuel Gatell González, José Ruiz Dómenech
In this paper, conflict mediation is presented as one of the roles of the social-community psychologist. A description of the historical background of the creation of dispute resolution programs is outlined within the wider context of the conflict resolution field. The emergence of the Conflicts Mediation Center (CMC), established in 1983 as the first and only service of its kind created in Puerto Rico as part of the judicial system and staffed by social-community psychologists, is described. The CMC´s objectives and services are also presented. The characteristics of conciliation and mediation as conflict intervention techniques are discussed on the basis of the experience gained as mediators at the CMC and on conflict resolution empirical research carried out in the Social Sciences field. In addition, emphasis is made on the values inherent to mediation and the mediator´s responsibilities, the conclusions resulting from empirical research conducted on mediation, and the roles of the psychologist. Finally, a summary of the research carried out on the CMC in Puerto Rico is presented together with some of the criticism and projections pertaining to mediation.
