Book description
Winner of the 2009 CPR Award for Outstanding Book
In this groundbreaking book, Bernard Mayer, a pioneer in the field of
conflict resolution, offers a new paradigm for dealing with long-term
disputes. Mayer explains that when dealing with enduring conflict,
mediators and other conflict resolution specialists need to move past
the idea of how quickly they can resolve the conflict. Instead, they
should focus on how they can help people prepare to engage with an
issue over time. Once their attention is directed away from a speedy
resolution to a long-term approach, new avenues of intervention become
apparent.
Bernard Mayer, a professor at the Werner Institute
for Negotiation and Dispute Resolution, Creighton University, and a
partner in CDR Associates, has been working in the conflict field
since the late 1970s as a mediator, facilitator, trainer, researcher,
program administrator, and dispute system designer. He has worked on
many complex environmental confl icts, organizational and labor -
management disputes, interpersonal conflicts, planning and development
issues, public decision - making processes, and ethnic disputes. He
has an extensive background in family and child welfare mediation as
well. Bernie has worked with corporations; labor unions; Native
American governments and associations; federal, state, and local
agencies; public interest groups; professional associations; schools;
child welfare programs; mental health services; and universities.
He has consulted on conflict and conflict intervention throughout the
United States and Canada and has extensive experience working
internationally as well. He has been recognized as a leader in
applying mediation in new arenas such as mental health, child welfare,
and disputes between public agencies and involuntary clients. He has
also been recognized for his work in bridging the gap between theory
and practice in confl ict intervention. Bernie received his Ph. D.
degree from the University of Denver, his M. S.W. from Columbia
University, and his B. A. from Oberlin College. He is the author of
The Dynamics of Conflict Resolution: A Practitioner ' s Guide
(Jossey- Bass, 2000) and Beyond Neutrality: Confronting the Crisis
in Confl ict Resolution (Jossey- Bass, 2004), which received the
2004 annual book award from the CPR International Institute for Confl
ict Prevention & Resolution, as well as many other writings about
conflict. He lives in Kingsville, Ontario, and Boulder, Colorado, with
his wife, Julie Macfarlane, and family.
