A part of my practice and background includes “alternative dispute resolution.”  Lately people in the field have taken to calling it “appropriate dispute resolution,” the idea being that dispute resolution processes like mediation and arbitration are no longer simply alternatives to litigation.  The question for professionals in the dispute resolution field is how to match the appropriate dispute resolution technique with the problem faced by clients.

The spectrum of dispute resolution techniques ranges from straightforward negotiation through the use of facilitators to mediation and ultimately to arbitration, a form of private judge.  At a recent Ontario Bar Association event, a panel of knowledgeable dispute resolution professionals discussed the most recent development in the area of appropriate dispute resolution.  This new development is something called “circling.”

Circling is drawn primarily from the Aboriginal experience of drawing together members of the community to share knowledge, insight and consensus when the community is faced with a problem.

When I listened to the discussion of “circling” at the Ontario Bar Association event, I was a little puzzled about the difference between a “circling” process, which sounded essentially like a facilitated group discussion, and mediation, which is a process whereby a neutral person works with two or more people to develop a solution to whatever problem they face.
My curiosity led me to register for a training session this week at the offices of Peace Builders International.  On Wednesday I spent from 8:30 in the morning until 4 in the afternoon with a number of people from different walks of life, all of us interested in learning how the technique of “circling” can be used to resolve disputes.

Peace Builders International is led primarily by Eva Marszewski.  She is a lawyer and mediator who concluded some time ago that litigation offered a pretty one-dimensional solution to many problems and she moved her practice into the appropriate dispute resolution field exclusively. 

Over the course of the day on June 13, 2007 I learned that the “circling” process is being used in Ontario schools to assist students in uncovering problems that might interfere with learning at an early stage.  It is helping to build relationships in the classroom, and in some cases to provide an appropriate alternative to suspension and expulsion.  In the larger community, “circling” is being used to build networks and partnerships and to resolve conflicts.  The application that was of most interest, however, was the use of it under the Youth Criminal Justice Act where youth who are in the criminal justice system are given a diversion alternative whereby they can meet and hear their victims, develop a rehabilitation plan and work to reintegrate a young offender into the community.

The idea of a peacemaking circle is to have an experience to **** work with the group to develop some guidelines about their discussion and then to gently control the discussion by allowing each person to express themselves and their views in a respectful environment.  Imagine a really good chairperson who gently but firmly leads a respectful sharing of views and ideas.

An interesting component of the “circling” process is the use of what’s called a “talking piece.”  The “talking piece” is a symbolic item that is passed from participant to participant whoever holds the talking piece has the floor and cannot be interrupted until they have adequately expressed their views.  No one has an obligation to speak and can simply pass the “talking piece” to the next person in the circle, but if they choose to speak they must do so in turn when the “talking piece” arrives in their hands. 

My first reaction to the idea of a “talking piece” was that it seemed a little contrived.  But once I saw it in action, I could see that the discussion did flow nicely and participants did respect the opportunity to speak of whoever held the talking piece.

Peace Builders hopes to expand the use of circles, particularly in the area of Youth Criminal Justice.  I think they are on to something here and I intend to follow their progress and even volunteer to lead a circle to see what it offers, not only young people accused of criminal offences, but also their victims.  I think anyone close to the Youth Criminal Justice system would agree that right now it needs new ideas and youth circles seems to be a good one.  I’ll have more to say on this subject in future blogs. 

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 28th, 2007 at 11:07 am.
It is categorized under Miscellaneous.
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