From Library Journal

Throughout the country, legal dispute mediation is rapidly growing as a cost-effective and sometimes required alternative, or at least a preliminary, to the courtroom settlement of disputes. Human relations expert Potter (Finding a Path with a Heart: How To Go from Burnout to Bliss, Ronin, 1994) has produced a superb guide to mediating disputes that will appeal to many readers, including managers, teachers, parents, and especially those directly involved in mediation such as law enforcement agents and attorneys. Potter's focus here is to give the mediator pragmatic, step-by-step approaches to gathering information, controlling the opposing parties, using active listening and body language, and making a decision about the dispute. This excellent source can serve as a basic training manual for those involved in mediating disputes, and the extensive array of real-life examples of typical scripts that may play out in such situations helps further to clarify these ideas. Developed with business and academic involvement, Potter's handbook is highly recommended, especially for libraries in communities with dispute-resolution centers.?Dale Farris, Groves, Tex.

Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"Conflict is not necessarily bad," says bestselling author Beverly Potter. "In fact," she continues, "conflict can be a catalyst for creating interactions that are more satisfying." Realizing this hidden opportunity requires that disputes be handled skillfully, and Potter's well-written, whimsically illustrated manual shows the way. It covers all aspects of dispute resolution-from furniture arrangement and body posture to appropriate techniques of questioning. Numerous scenarios are described and interpreted to aid readers in developing effective resolution skills. It's a valuable addition to the library of any person-business manager, teacher, parent, community leader-who wants to blind more harmonious relationships. -- NAPRA Review, Vol. 8, NO. 1, 1997

>From Conflict To Cooperation: How To Mediate A Dispute presents effective techniques for resolving disputes. These are powerful tools for all managers, supervisors, coaches, parents, teachers, neighborhood leaders, police officers, and anyone caught in the middle of other people's disputes. Beverly Potter shows how effective mediators can pull people together to produce creative solutions. Uniquely oriented to the mediator rather than the disputant, From Conflict To Cooperation is a guide containing the keys to building cohesiveness and avoiding the plummeting morale, burnout, and reduced productivity that result from animosities that are not handled effectively. This is a sensible manual showing how to intervene to control hostility while uncovering each party's perspective on the issues involved. It then demonstrates how to mediate an agreement on what should be done, who should do it, and when. With hands-on methods and realistic scenarios adapted from police training designed to handle domestic disputes, and techniques developed at a number of university and corporate environments, From Conflict To Cooperation shows how conflict can be an opportunity, control disputants and avoid outbursts, set a problem solving tone, uncover the nature and scope of the dispute, interview angry people and keep them on track, get disputants to solve their own problems, what to do if mediation fails, and what to do if you yourself are a disputant. -- Midwest Book Review