The Moral Order in Family Mediation: Negotiating Competing Values. (27th April 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Smithson, Janet; Barlow, Anne; Hunter, Rosemary; Ewing, Jan
• Is Part Of: Conflict resolution quarterly. Volume 35:Number 2(2017)
• Page Start: 173
• Page End: 196
• Publication Date: 2017-04-27
• Subjects: Mediation -- United States -- Periodicals
• DOI: 10.1002/crq.21195
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1536-5581

Abstract

Abstract : We used discourse analysis to study how mediators and parties negotiate competing priorities and values during the family mediation process. We drew on understandings of practical morality, specifically the concept of a moral order, to study UK mediation session talk. Our analysis highlighted the contradictory moral orders drawn on by parties and mediators. The saliency of moral categories and concerns in parenting is demonstrated, and we consider the problems this causes in the "no‐fault" context of mediation.