Juvenile
Conflict Resolution
ALISON GERENCSER
ABSTRACT
Country:
U.S.A.
Language:
English
This proposal will explore the University of Florida's two part juvenile conflict resolution program. Mediation programs give students and adults an opportunity to manage conflict and resolve disputes with the assistance of a neutral third party. The University of Florida Levin College of Law has established a mediation program at a center for at risk girls and the Juvenile Detention Center (Center) which serves both boys and girls. Citizen volunteers and law students mediate disputes between juveniles attending these institutions. The citizen volunteers and students also provide weekly sessions to instruct residents in dispute resolution skills. Through participating in mediation and learning dispute resolution skills, juveniles acquire knowledge and self-awareness that will diminish the likelihood of future offenses. Conflict is a natural, vital part of life. When conflict is understood, differences acknowledged and appreciated, it can become an opportunity to learn and create. The synergy of conflict can help create new alternatives. When the conflicting parties are able to build on one another's strengths to find solutions, the climate created nurtures individual self-worth and opportunities for individual need fulfillment. Although conflict is inevitable, violence is not.
In addition, law students also can train younger students to be peer mediators. Research has shown that peer mediation is very successful. Before mediation training, students generally managed conflicts through trying to win by forcing others to concede or withdrawing or expecting the teacher to solve the problem. After training, students knew negotiation and mediation procedures and knew they could solve their own problems and could apply this knowledge to conflicts...whether in the hall, lunchroom or playground.
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