ROLE OF ETHNIC AND GENDER DIFFERENCES IN MEDIATED CONFLICTS

Although ethnicity and gender play a significant role in many types of social interaction, little research exists on their importance in mediation. An analysis of community mediation cases (N = 27,852) from New York state demonstrated that, consistent with predictions from criminal justice research, Whites were underrepresented in mediation relative to Blacks and Hispanics, and that females were more likely to participate in mediation as claimants than men. Both ethnicity and gender were related to the type of dispute, degree of violence, intimacy between disputants, source of referral, and mediation outcome. Additional analysis, taking into account source of referral, education, and income level of the claimant, did not fully account for the observed ethnic or gender differences. Results are discussed in terms of reasons why ethnic and gender differences exist in mediation, limitations of demographic data, and areas for future research.