This article summarizes the survey findings from thirteen organizations offering alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services in medical malpractice cases. We discuss the types of disputes handled, the ADR systems used, the typical case outcomes, and the staff qualifications. We also report on the challenges and successes that these ADR programs faced, including the impact of recent legislation on medical malpractice litigation. The results highlight the central role of communication in resolving conflict following unexpected medical errors.
This study investigates, through descriptive examples taken from actual mediation cases, mediators' opening statements in one victim offender mediation/dialogue program involving crimes of severe violence. Three distinctive elements of the mediators' opening statements are illustrated, and implications for the continued study of mediator communication are discussed.
This article focuses on forty oral Victim Impact Statements (VIS) presented during the public sentencing hearing of an offender convicted of murdering forty-eight women over the course of twenty years. We argue that the VIS in this case illustrate the increasingly complex and public nature of victim testimony in the formal U.S. criminal justice system. Through the use of grounded theory analysis, we highlight critical issues regarding the communicative function and emotional intensity of victim impact testimony as victims address the court, the offender, and the community through their statements. This case study extends Roberts and Erez's ( 2004) communication model of VIS and offers several practice and policy recommendations for the use of VIS in non-capital criminal cases.
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