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From November 2001 NASW NEWS NASW Professional Review Manager Sarah Childs Grebe has published an article on mediation — the summary chapter of her doctoral dissertation — at the Internet site www.mediate.com (www.mediate.com/articles/grebe.cfm). "Factors Predictive of Divorce Mediator Style" hypothesizes that a family mediator's style can be predicted by profession of origin, interpersonal style, personal conflict and leadership style, and career-related and background variables such as gender and number of years in mediation. For Grebe's study, data was collected using a mail questionnaire sent to all current practitioner members of the Academy of Family Mediators living in North America. "I was trying to find out if there was a difference in mediation styles among social workers, lawyers and psychologists," Grebe said. Her hunch was that social workers would hold more closely to a pure mediation style than would members of the other two professions. She thought a lawyer would be more likely to tell a client what to do, and a psychologist would be very hands-off and laissez-faire, allowing the client to find his or her own way. Grebe thought social worker mediators would achieve just the right balance of offering direction to clients while letting them determine their own outcome. "Social workers are really naturals at mediation, and once owned the field," Grebe said. "But there's been a flip-flop, and mediation has been taken over by lawyers." According to Grebe, mediation is changing into something it was never intended to be, becoming more akin to arbitration. But mediation's true values are a match for those of the social work profession, particularly its emphasis on self-determination. "We need to show social workers how they can apply mediation skills in areas where they already practice and that they're a natural for this," Grebe said. "If you're in the business of helping people figure out what they can do better, mediation couples with that perfectly. There are so many venues for it — nursing homes, community centers, schools — places where social workers already practice." Grebe said she thinks that because mediation often deals with divorce and separation, the public thinks that lawyers are the people to trust with these matters. "Schools of social work really need to get back on the bandwagon with mediation. We shouldn't let it slip away." She added that NASW's Office of Ethics and Professional Review does now offer mediation as part of its peer review process. "It's the wave of the future," said Grebe. Back to NASW NEWS Contents
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