Evaluation of participant reactions to premediation group orientation

Abstract

A group orientation program was evaluated by having 138 participants who had finished mediation complete a self‐report form rating specific elements of the orientation. Eighty‐four percent thought the orientation helped. The feature rated most helpful by 42 percent of the respondents was a thirty‐minute video about the effects of divorce on children, followed by a supervisor's closing speech on grief and adjustment (27 percent), a judge's comments about mediation and parental responsibilities (21 percent), and printed material about children and visitation after divorce (10 percent). More than one‐third of the clients indicated that the orientation changed how they approached their case.