ABSTRACT
In this chapter we have discussed the processes of recruitment, selection, training and support that shape new volunteers into practising mediators in the UK. Equal opportunities for all are at the heart of these processes. People who have the desire and the basic capacity to learn and understand the ways of working that non-violent conflict resolution requires, can become mediators. From its early beginnings until very recently, community mediators have not had to face many strict assessments, and they have not been expected to come into mediation with a theoretical understanding of conflict and human behaviour or psychology. In this sense the recruitment and selection processes involved in becoming a community mediator have been fairly open, and services have had to consider carefully whether this raises questions of quality for clients, and whether volunteers are fully confident in themselves. To meet these questions most services have placed a strong emphasis on regular support and supervision as discussed here. Standards of quality and professionalism have been steadily rising over the past decade of mediation in the UK, from the point where 12 hours of training was considered enough, to today’s situation where professional trainers offer foundation courses of 40 hours over five days, mediators can gain National Open College Network accreditation, and National Vocational Qualifications are around the corner.12 Community mediators of the future will be more likely to hold one of a number of forms of accreditation, gained as a result of their initial training or through assessment of their mediation practice. How this will affect the nature of the body of community mediators in this country remains to be seen. However, it is certain that, whatever backgrounds new mediators will come from, they will be shaped as mediators through processes of recruitment, selection, training and support very much like the ones described in this chapter.
