Presents brief overview of mediation process between crime victims and their offenders and role of social workers as mediators. Includes case example of mediation involving burglary. Presents impact of mediation process on helping victims achieve closure and helping offenders personally make amends. Identifies issues related to program development…

Explores how couples cope with marital conflict from the early years of their relationships to the present time. Focuses on conflict management styles from face-to-face confrontation to avoidance, as well as gender and ethnicity influences on styles of coping with conflict. Implications for social work practice are discussed. (Author/MKA)

Mediation is a technique of joint advocacy that is being successfully applied on a growing scale to resolve interpersonal conflicts. The mediation process and its functions are described and compared with traditional social work methods. (Author)

As an ethnocentrically designed child welfare system grapples with how to best incorporate kinship care into its array of services, conflicts between kinship caregivers and the foster care system have arisen. Suggests that the application of mediation to these conflicts can serve as a step in social workers' efforts to provide culturally relevant…

Social workers often work in settings where other professions exert a higher level of control. The organizational literature on causes of conflict and conflict resolution is briefly reviewed. A case study of a newly opened school-based health center provides an opportunity to analyze conflicts between the school and health center personnel and…

Describes the application of conflict-resolution strategies to managed-care disputes. The premises and processes for conflict resolution through negotiation are presented, the application of these principles to common disagreements between providers and payers is demonstrated. Strategies for overcoming difficulties resulting from differential…

Reviews the recent history of custody conflicts between foster and birth parents in the Pennsylvania courts. Traces the development of laws relating to foster care and examines conflicts between the legal system and child welfare services. (JAC)

Examines the organizational binds facing social workers concerned with the provision of services to clients in times of fiscal restraint. Suggests a mutual support group as a step toward empowerment. Workers may shift from a support group to a coalition for action as change agents within institutional settings. (JAC)

Whether the union is jeopardized by disappointment, fear of not achieving satisfaction in life, or other problems, the couple in crisis may turn to divorce as the lesser evil. The mediation process is of potential value to those couples who may want to avoid protracted, painful lawsuits. (Author)

Outlines a three-stage training program that focuses on teaching a limited set of skills to children for use in conflict resolution. Stages include readiness activities, skill training, and structured generalization. Results indicate peers and teachers have observed improvement in children who participated in the program. (Author/JAC)

Describes frustration theory as useful for generalists in identification and specification of goals, assessment of blocks to goal attainment, problem solving, and formation of action systems. Proposes a theoretical base for understanding client systems, and helps workers to assess their behavior in relation to their professional and personal…

Describes a group run by vocational rehabilitation and community mental health professionals for "no-movement clients". Discusses techniques focusing on changing the no-movement characteristics of the clients including commitment building, conflict resolution, goal setting, reinforcement of self-confidence, and job seeking skills. (RC)