Conflict Diagnosis and Alternative Dispute Resolution
Laurie S. Coltri, J.D., Ph.D., University of Maryland University College

ISBN-10: 0130981095
ISBN-13: 9780130981097

Publisher: Prentice Hall
Copyright: 2004
Format: Cloth; 672 pp
Published: 11/04/2003

Suggested retail price: $115.60
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For Alternative Dispute Resolution courses and Conflict Resolution courses.

Filling a void in the market, Conflict Diagnosis and Alternative Dispute Resolution uses the innovation of the Conflict Diagnosis concept to provide an in-depth appreciation of ADR processes. The survey takes a true developmental- and social-psychological perspective on the interdisciplinary topic of dispute resolution and prefaces descriptions of mediation, arbitration and other processes with a comprehensive exploration of the theoretical and empirical basis for understanding their uses, misuses, indications and counterindications. The text's compelling presentation provides students with a thorough and complete approach to understanding the psychological dimensions of conflict, provides guidelines for evaluating and developing strategies and tactics to address interpersonal conflict, and provides a comprehensive survey of ADR processes, including a strong treatment of legal issues.

  • Conflict Diagnosis approach—Provides the theoretical basis for conflict resolution and both concrete and experiential alternative dispute resolution.

    • Provides students with a practical skill that allows them to clarify the reasons for the conflict, the ultimate goals of the disputing parties and the impediments to effective resolution.

  • Perceptual and cognitive distortion as a primary issue in interpersonal conflict.

    • Enables students to appreciate the perceptual distortions that create the misimpression that competition is always the safest and best way to handle conflict and enables them to better understand the noncompetitive alternatives.

  • Comprehensive survey of ADR processes—e.g. Mediation, arbitration, nonbinding evaluation and hybrid processes.

    • Provides students with a thorough understanding of ADR including a review of the legal and ethical issues that confound ADR practice.

  • Logic and rigor emphasis—Combats the tendency in the field toward intellectual sloppiness. Figures and tables illustrate the logical typological organization of the work.

    • Provides students with a logical framework within which they can organize the ideas and facts that comprise the ADR field.

  • Innovative theory and metaphor.

    • Provides students with an interesting method of learning novel material.

  • Real-world examples—i.e. Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the War Against Terrorism.

    • Provides students with relevant fictionalized accounts that provide interest and motivate students to delve into the subject matter.

  • Experiential learning exercisese.g. Conflict Journal assignments ask students to choose an ongoing conflict in their own lives and apply what they are learning to the conflict.

    • Provides students with an application of concepts presented to their own lives, so that they can gain a more in-depth understanding of the material.

  • Extensive pedagogical aids—e.g. Bullet boxes, tabular information, New Yorker cartoons.

    • Provides students with a clear and entertaining presentation of material.

I. INTRODUCTION.

 1. Basic Definitions.

 2. Dispute Resolution Processes: An Introduction.

 3. Of Artisans, Invisible Veils and Philosophical Maps: Our Preconceptions About Conflict and How They Short-Change Us.

 4. Conflict Diagnosis.

 5. Recurrent Themes in Conflict Diagnosis.

II. THE STEPS OF CONFLICT DIAGNOSIS.

 6. Step 1: Describe the Conflict.

 7. Step 2: Identify the Sources of the Conflict.

 8. Step 3: Perform an Interests Analysis.

 9. Step 4: Assess the Character of the Conflict as Constructive or Destructive.

10. Step 5: Assess the Levels of Trust and Development Strategies to Increase or Preserve It.

11. Step 6: Assess the Impediments to Resolving the Conflict.

12. Step 7: Assess the Negotiation Styles and Practices of the Participants.

13. Step 8: Assess Power and Alternatives to a Negotiated Agreement.

14. Step 9: Consider Diversity Issues at Play in the Conflict.

PART III. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCESSES.

15. Mediations: An Introduction.

16. Understanding the Advantages and Disadvantages of Mediation.

17. The Process of Mediation.

18. The Law and Ethics of Mediation.

19. Arbitration.

20. Nonbinding Evaluation.

21. Mixed, Hybrid, and Multimodal Dispute Resolution Processes.

IV. PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER.

22. Power Tools and Magic Keys: Using Conflict Diagnosis to Manage Legal Disputes and Select ADR Processes.

Appendix A: Is Conflict Diagnosis Necessary?

Appendix B: Using Conflict Diagnosis.

Appendix C: In Search of Magic Keys to Resolving Conflict.


"This is not just a lawyer's text. The book is great for students who want to learn the different angles and skills needed for effective conflict resolution." — Otis Grant, Indiana University




"[The chapter on arbitration] discusses the varieties of arbitration along with comparisons to other methods of dispute resolution already discussed, allowing the student to move from known material to unknown material in a logical manner." — Linda Cabral Marrero, Mercy College




"Students will enjoy the author's writing style." — David J. White, SMSU-West Plains


Laurie S. Coltri was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. She received her bachelor's degree in English from the California Institute of Technology, in Pasadena, California, in 1974. Thereafter, she attended law school at the University of Southern California, graduating with a J. D. in 1979.

After several years of general law practice specializing in complex case preparation and legal research and writing, Coltri and her legal advocacy career came to a parting of the ways. In the early 1980s, after moving to Maryland, she began taking courses in the mediation of divorces. After a year of graduate work, she received a graduate concentration in divorce mediation from the University of Maryland at College Park, and began one of the earliest private mediation practices in the state. She mediated virtually the first court-referred child custody case in the Maryland trial courts in the mid-1980s, and directed a telephone-based visitation mediation service for the Prince George's County Department of Child Support Enforcement.

Returning to graduate school, Coltri received her doctorate in Human Development from the University of Maryland, College Park, in 1995. Her graduate work focused on the resolution of conflict and the impact of dispute resolution processes on individual development. Since 1996, Dr. Coltri, an Associate Professor, has taught for the University of Maryland, University College, in its highly regarded Legal Studies program. She has received the university's Teaching Recognition Award for her work and has published several articles and book chapters in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution.

Dr. Coltri shares a home in Columbia, Maryland, with her husband, Alan; their daughters, Julia and Robin, born in 1990 and 1994; and an assortment of slightly offbeat animal companions.

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