The Role of Value Based Identity Conflict in Mediation

The need to adapt, transform and broaden alternative dispute resolution processes is necessary to address new challenges in the field of conflict resolution. An unexplored challenge in the dispute resolution community is how to address the role of value and identity issues in mediation. Occasionally, value or identity issues will become overt in a transactional specific case dispute, creating challenges for the third party facilitator to assist those in conflict with their effort to reach a resolution. Using contextual theory as a framework to analyze value based identity conflict (VBIC) issues in mediation, this thesis project explores: the role of values and identity in a mediation process; how VBIC can be identified by a third party facilitator during a problem-solving mediation; and how a third party facilitator can address VBIC characteristics and issues once the mediation process has begun. Utilizing the knowledge and experience of academics and practitioners from the dispute resolution field, this research suggests a variety of ways to identify and address VBIC issues during a mediation process.