When was mediation invented? Are there different types and styles?
Mediation is thousands of years old and was used to resolve trade, commercial, social and political disputes for centuries. Mediation has been an integral aspect of many tribes and cultures, especially those founded on a harmony, rather than an adversarial basis of interaction. Modern common law and civil law jurisdictions utilize an adversarial model to resolve conflicts. The idea being that each party argues or advocates contrary positions and a third party (monarch, judge, jury, arbitrator) issues a binding decision. Mediation is an alternative to decisions being imposed by the power of the state or sanctioned by the government. However, contracts reached in mediation are just as binding as those entered into voluntarily by the parties. Some types of mediation include: Workplace Mediation (e.g., disputes involving employment issues); Business Mediation (e.g., disputes involving tax issues); Family Mediation (e.g., disputes involving family and relationship counseling issues); and Co
