3: The Limited Mediator

Author:
Rachael Blakey
Publication Date:
26 Feb 2025
Pages:
69–89
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51952/9781529232981.ch003
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Chapter 3 considers the original conceptualization of family mediation through the limited mediator archetype. It begins by examining the key theory on family mediation, namely the concept of mediator neutrality and the continuum of facilitative to evaluative mediator practice. While the combination of these two theories is supposed to provide mediators with a broad skillset, it is argued that family mediation’s traditional conceptualization confines mediators. It is this restriction that gives rise to the limited mediator archetype: a strictly neutral professional bound to a facilitative framework. The second section of this chapter explores the limited mediator archetype through late 20th-century empirical research, revealing that there was little to no appraisal of the profession during this period. This discussion also considers how the limited mediator was a logical, and perhaps even welcome, archetype during this period. However, the final section critiques the traditional understanding of the family mediation process, arguing that the limited mediator archetype is unable to respond to the various neutrality dilemmas that arise in the mediation setting.

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Cover Rethinking Family Mediation
Rethinking Family Mediation
The Role of the Family Mediator in Contemporary Times
Author:
Rachael Blakey