ABSTRACT
Mediation is an educational device even more than it is a problem-solving device. Mediators thought that the key factors contributing to automatic court referral to mediation settlement were the willingness of the parties to negotiate and compromise, the contribution of legal representatives, their own skill as mediators and administrative support from the court. As mediation progresses, there is an expectation that trust will grow, particularly trust in the process and in each party’s competence as a negotiator. Family disputes are, in most cases, suitable for mediation because they involve the making of decisions relating to the future by two people bound together by an enduring common interest – their children. N. Thoennes and C. Pearson have described success in mediation as a function of the pre-existing characteristics of the dispute and the disputants as well as the degree to which the disputants perceive the mediators to have accomplished the primary tasks of mediation.
