Learning from Zu˜ni war gods
Repatriating alternative dispute resolution for practice and research
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.34015Keywords:
alternative dispute resolution, mediation, family law, court mediation, Zuni family relations, family interventioinAbstract
This article applies lessons learned from the Zu˜ni people of the southwestern United States about successful and sustainable intervention as a metaphor to address common tensions among alternative dispute resolution (ADR) scholars and practitioners. These tensions are found in professionalisation, institutionalisation and identification of best practices. Through example of Zu˜ni efforts to repatriate sacred artefacts known as Ahuy: da, I argue that ADR is an intervention that works best through direct and ongoing dialogue rather than rigid adherence to a set of standards. The problem lies in how such adherence can limit and distort rather than inform or support best practices in research as well as mediation practice. I propose qualitative, ethnographic field research as a way to address this problem, and provide an example from ongoing study of a US family court mediation programme.
References
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Coy, P. G. and Hedeen, T. (2005) A stage model of social movement co?optation: community mediation in the United States. The Sociological Quarterly 46(3): 405–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00020.x
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Crampton, A. (2015) Ethnographic refusal as research method. Qualitative Social Work 14(4): 453 470.
Dingwall, R. (2010) Divorce mediation: should we change our mind? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 32(2): 107–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2010.506307
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Mayer, B. (2013) Mediation: 50 years of creative conflict. Family Court Review 51(1): 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12005
McAdoo, B. and N. A. Welsh. (2004) Look before you leap and keep on looking: lessons from the institutionalization of court-connected mediation. Nevada Law Journal 5: 399–432.
Merenstein, A. (1992) The Zu˜ni quest for repatriation of the war gods: an alternative basis for claim. American Indian Law Review 71(2): 589–637. https://doi.org/10.2307/20062567
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Nader, L. (1993) Controlling processes in the practice of law: hierarchy and pacification in the movement to reform dispute ideology. Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 9: 1–25.
Parkinson, P. (2014) The payoffs and pitfalls of laws that encourage shared parenting: lessons learned from the Australian experience. Dalhousie Law Journal 37: 301–43.
Patton, B. (1984) On Teaching Negotiation. Program on Negotiation working paper. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School.
Press, S. (2013) Family court services: a reflection on 50 years of contributions. Family Court Review 51(1): 48–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12007
Redmond, B. (2004) Reflection in Action: Developing Reflective Practice in Health and Social Services. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
Salem, P. (2009) The emergence of triage in family court services: the beginning of the end for mandatory mediation? Family Court Review 47(3): 371–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1617.2009.01262.x
Saposnek, D. (2004) Commentary: The future of the history of family mediation research. Conflict Resolution Quarterly 22(1–2): 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.91
Schneider, A. K. (2012) Foreword: the future of court ADR: mediation and beyond. Marquette Law Review 95(3): 12–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804074-4.00015-7
Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
Silbey, S. (1993) Mediation mythology. Negotiation Journal 9(4): 349–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.1993.tb00722.x
Simpson, B. (1998) Changing Families. Oxford: Berg Books.
Singer, J. (2008) Dispute resolution and the post-divorce family: implications of a paradigm shift. Family Court Review 47(3): 363–70.
Staller, K. (2006) Railroads, runaways, and researchers: returning evidence rhetoric to its practice base. Qualitative Inquiry 12(3): 503–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800406286524
Stokoe, E. (2011) Simulated interaction and communication skills training: the ‘conversation-analytic role-play method’. In C. Antaki (ed.) Applied Conversation Analysis 119–39. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Suro, R. (1990) Z?nis’ effort to regain idols may alter views of Indian art. New York Times (13 August): A1, A13.
Trinder, L. and Kellett, J. (2007) Fairness, efficiency and effectiveness in court-based dispute resolution schemes in England. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 21(3): 323–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebm009
Welsh, N. A. (2011) Current transitional state of court-connected ADR. Marquette Law Review 95(3): 873–86.
Alfini, J., Barkai, J., Bush, R. Hermann, M., Hyman, J. Kovach, K., Liebman, C., Press, S. and L. Riskin. (1994) What happens when mediation is institutionalised? Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 9: 307–32.
Amato, P., Kane, J. and Spencer, James. (2011) Reconsidering the ‘good divorce’. Family Relations 60: 511–24. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00666.x
Ballard, R., Holtzworth-Munroe, A., Applegate, A. and D’Onofrio, B. (2011) Factors affecting the outcome of divorce and paternity mediations. Family Court Review 49(1): 16–33. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1617.2010.01350.x
Bernard, H.R. (2002) Research Methods in Anthropology: Qualitative and Quantitative Methods. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Burawoy, M. (2003) Revisits: an outline of a theory of reflexive ethnography. American Sociological Review 68(5): 645–79. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/1519757
Coben, J. (2006) Intentional conversations about the globalization of ADR. Hamline Journal of Public Law and Policy 27: 217–27.
Coy, P. G. and Hedeen, T. (2005) A stage model of social movement co?optation: community mediation in the United States. The Sociological Quarterly 46(3): 405–35. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1533-8525.2005.00020.x
Crampton, A. (2006) Fall 2005 Dispute Resolution Symposium: addressing questions of culture and power in the globalization of ADR: lessons from African influence on American mediation. Hamline Journal of Public Law and Policy 27(2): 229–41.
Crampton, A. (2015) Ethnographic refusal as research method. Qualitative Social Work 14(4): 453 470.
Dingwall, R. (2010) Divorce mediation: should we change our mind? Journal of Social Welfare and Family Law 32(2): 107–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/09649069.2010.506307
Dingwall, R. and Kidd, K. (2003). After the fall …: capitulating to the routine in professional work. Penn State Law Review 108: 67–89.
Emery, R. (2012) Renegotiating Family Relationships: Divorce, Child Custody, and Mediation (2nd edn). New York: Guilford Press.
Ferguson, T. J., Anyon, R. and Ladd, E. J. (2000) Repatriation at the Pueblo of Zu˜ni: diverse solutions to complex problems. In D. A. Mihesua (ed.) Repatriation Reader: Who Owns American Indian Remains? 282–91. Omaha, NE: University of Nebraska Press.
Fineman, M. (1991) The Illusion of Equality: The Rhetoric and Reality of Divorce Reform. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Greatbatch and Dingwall, R. (1999) The marginalization of domestic violence in divorce mediation. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 13(2): 174–90. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/13.2.174
Grillo, T. (1991) The mediation alternative: process dangers for women. The Yale Law Journal 100(6): 1545–1610. https://doi.org/10.2307/796781
Harrington, C. B. and Merry, S. E. (1988) Ideological production: the making of community mediation. Law and Society Review 22(4): 709–35. https://doi.org/10.2307/3053707
Johnson, J. (2001) Contaminated collections: preservation, access, and use. In Proceedings of a Symposium Held at the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) Shepherdstown, West Virginia April 6–9, 2001. Retrieved on 2 November 2017 from www.spnhc.org/media/assets/cofo_2001_V17N12.pdf.
Mayer, B. (2013) Mediation: 50 years of creative conflict. Family Court Review 51(1): 34–41. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12005
McAdoo, B. and N. A. Welsh. (2004) Look before you leap and keep on looking: lessons from the institutionalization of court-connected mediation. Nevada Law Journal 5: 399–432.
Merenstein, A. (1992) The Zu˜ni quest for repatriation of the war gods: an alternative basis for claim. American Indian Law Review 71(2): 589–637. https://doi.org/10.2307/20062567
Merry, S. (1990) Getting Justice and Getting Even: Legal Consciousness among Working-Class Americans. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.
Mnookin, R. H. and Kornhauser, L. (1979) Bargaining in the shadow of the law: the case of divorce. The Yale Law Journal 88(5): 950–97. https://doi.org/10.2307/795824
Moloney, L., Qu, L., Weston, R. and Hand, K. (2013) Evaluating the work of Australia’s family relationship centres: evidence from the first 5 years. Family Court Review 51(2): 234–49. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12023
Murphy, J. and Singer, J. (2015) Divorced from Reality: Rethinking Family Dispute Resolution. New York: New York University Press.
Nader, L. (1993) Controlling processes in the practice of law: hierarchy and pacification in the movement to reform dispute ideology. Ohio State Journal on Dispute Resolution 9: 1–25.
Parkinson, P. (2014) The payoffs and pitfalls of laws that encourage shared parenting: lessons learned from the Australian experience. Dalhousie Law Journal 37: 301–43.
Patton, B. (1984) On Teaching Negotiation. Program on Negotiation working paper. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Law School.
Press, S. (2013) Family court services: a reflection on 50 years of contributions. Family Court Review 51(1): 48–55. https://doi.org/10.1111/fcre.12007
Redmond, B. (2004) Reflection in Action: Developing Reflective Practice in Health and Social Services. Farnham: Ashgate Publishing.
Salem, P. (2009) The emergence of triage in family court services: the beginning of the end for mandatory mediation? Family Court Review 47(3): 371–88. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-1617.2009.01262.x
Saposnek, D. (2004) Commentary: The future of the history of family mediation research. Conflict Resolution Quarterly 22(1–2): 37–53. https://doi.org/10.1002/crq.91
Schneider, A. K. (2012) Foreword: the future of court ADR: mediation and beyond. Marquette Law Review 95(3): 12–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-804074-4.00015-7
Schon, D. (1983) The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. New York: Basic Books.
Silbey, S. (1993) Mediation mythology. Negotiation Journal 9(4): 349–53. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1571-9979.1993.tb00722.x
Simpson, B. (1998) Changing Families. Oxford: Berg Books.
Singer, J. (2008) Dispute resolution and the post-divorce family: implications of a paradigm shift. Family Court Review 47(3): 363–70.
Staller, K. (2006) Railroads, runaways, and researchers: returning evidence rhetoric to its practice base. Qualitative Inquiry 12(3): 503–22. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800406286524
Stokoe, E. (2011) Simulated interaction and communication skills training: the ‘conversation-analytic role-play method’. In C. Antaki (ed.) Applied Conversation Analysis 119–39. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Suro, R. (1990) Z?nis’ effort to regain idols may alter views of Indian art. New York Times (13 August): A1, A13.
Trinder, L. and Kellett, J. (2007) Fairness, efficiency and effectiveness in court-based dispute resolution schemes in England. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family 21(3): 323–40. https://doi.org/10.1093/lawfam/ebm009
Welsh, N. A. (2011) Current transitional state of court-connected ADR. Marquette Law Review 95(3): 873–86.
Published
2017-12-15
Issue
Section
Research Articles
How to Cite
Crampton, A. (2017). Learning from Zu˜ni war gods: Repatriating alternative dispute resolution for practice and research. Mediation Theory and Practice, 2(2), 131-156. https://doi.org/10.1558/mtp.34015
