EFFECTS AND EFFICACY OF PEER MEDIATION
Heller (1996) has noted that well-disciplined schools make appropriate school discipline a part of every curriculum, program, and practice. In particular, Heller recommends peer mediation as a means of reducing school conflict and violence.
Peer Mediation can be defined as a mode of student conflict management in which two trained peer mediators work as a team to encourage problem solving between disputants (Benson & Benson, 1993).
According to Lane and McWhirter (1992) peer mediation evolved from the realization of the need to encourage win-win situations in guiding students toward the development of an ethos of sensitivity to and awareness of how others are affected by their actions. The authors stated that when used in conjunction with traditional means of discipline, peer mediation operates to provide the forum for resolution of disputes on school grounds. Moreover, student involvement in the mediation process is said to ensure practice with critical thinking, problem solving, and self-discipline.
The purpose of this study is to examine research on the effects of peer mediation. To provide context, the review will examine studies of peer mediation at the elementary, junior high, and high school level. Findings of the reviewed research will be used to formulate conclusions regarding the general efficacy of the strategy as a means of reducing school conflict and violence at diverse levels (elementary, middle, secondary) of the educational system.
Peer Mediation In Elementary Schools
By far the bulk of the current literature on peer mediation has been conducted using samples of elementary school children, possibly because of the belief that prevention efforts should be made as early as possible. In one study, Johnson, Johnson, Cotten, Harris and Louison (1995) examined the effectiveness of an inner-city peer mediation program in a midwestern elementary school in w...