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Mediation and Adjudication in the Small Claims Court: The Effects of Process and Case Characteristics

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Roselle L. Wissler
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Research examining the relative effectiveness of mediation and adjudication has raised questions about whether the apparent benefits of mediation can be attributed to differences in the two dispute resolution procedures or, instead, are due to differences in the characteristics of the disputes or disputants. Litigants in four small claims courts provided multiple comparison groups that enabled us to examine case and process effects. Disputes and disputants in mediation and adjudication differed on few attributes. The process, outcomes, and impact of mediation and adjudication differed in ways generally consistent with their theoretical differences. Although the degree of liability admitted by the defendant played a role, overall, differences in the effectiveness of mediation and adjudication were due more to differences in the processes themselves than to differences in the disputes and disputants using each procedure.

Type
Articles
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , 1995 , pp. 323 - 358
Copyright
Copyright © 1995 by The Law and Society Association

Footnotes

This research was supported by grants from the American Judicature Society, the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and the American Psychology-Law Society. I thank MaryAnne Borrelli for helpful comments on earlier drafts.

References

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