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The Question of Race, Gender and Culture in Mediator Selection - Chapter 27 - AAA Handbook on Mediation - Third Edition

Author(s): 
Fred D. Butler
Page Count: 
6 pages
Published: 
April, 2016
Practice Areas: 
Dispute Resolution & Litigation,
ADR,
Mediation,
Mediators,
Parties,
Nationality
Author Detail: 

Fred D. Butler is an Attorney and Mediator in San Francisco. He serves as a Neutral for the American Arbitration Association, the U.S. Office of Equal Opportunity, the U.S. Postal Service, the University of California and a number of courts in the San Francisco Bay Area. He is a past President of the Northern California Mediation Association (NCMA). Mr. Butler is a graduate of Rutgers University and holds a M.P.A. from New York University and a J.D. from Hastings College of Law. The following was presented to the California State Bar.

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Description: 

Originally from:

AAA Handbook on Mediation - Third Edition

THE QUESTION OF RACE, GENDER AND 
CULTURE IN MEDIATOR SELECTION

Fred D. Butler

I. Introduction
When I consider the question of when race, gender, or culture should be a factor when choosing a mediator, I come up with this answer: When the parties believe that the consideration of the race, gender, or culture of the mediator would help resolve their dispute.
Mediators understand that while it is true that the process belongs to the mediator, the dispute and its resolution belongs to the parties. Therefore, the success of the mediation rests with the parties. It is this empowerment of the parties that makes the process work, and if the parties or their advocates believe that the race, sex or gender of the mediator is important, then it is important.
Still, is it that simple? Some of us mediators, who were educated in the 1960s in community development concepts, remember theories about basic human needs. One that stands out for me is George Herbert Mead’s hypothesis: “I am what you think I am.”  More often than not, these dynamics are at work as it relates to how the parties perceive the mediator.