Care Work” in Facilitative Mediation
Interactional Techniques for Emotional Support in the Context of Conflict Resolution
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12875450 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Angela Cora Garcia (0000-0003-1052-5364, Bentley University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Volume | 22 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 54-74 |
| Publication date | 2026-03-06 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Qualitative Sociology Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1733-8077 • E-ISSN: 1733-8077 |
| Publisher | University of Lodz Press (PUBLISHER • PL) |
| DOI | 10.18778/1733-8077.22.1.03 |
| OpenAlex | W7134065376 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 47 |
This paper investigates how facilitative mediators use “care work” techniques when participants display emotional or relational concerns during the session. Conversation analysis is used to analyze a pre-existing dataset of video-recorded small claims and divorce mediation sessions. Techniques the mediators used to do care work include reflection, topic refocusing, complimenting, role modeling, and coaching. The analysis shows how the trajectory of the talk in the mediation session is impacted by care work. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for the mediator’s role and the effectiveness of the interaction for the conflict resolution process in mediation
Conflict resolution · Context (archaeology · Conversation · Conversation analysis · Mediation · Process (computing · Resolution (logic · Session (web analytics · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Conflict Management and Negotiation · Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies
Doing Conversation Analysis
Communication in Medical Care
Talk in Action
Agreeing and disagreeing with assessments
Glossary of transcript symbols with an introduction
Sequence Organization in Interaction
Advice-giving and disputant empowerment in divorce mediation sessions
Can early caucus improve a community mediation model? Counteracting stressors prior to joint session
How mediators use reformulation practices to de‐escalate risky moments
Participation, agreement and reduced acrimony through family mediation
A Cry for “Help”? How Crisis Negotiators Overcome Suicidal People's Resistance to Offers of Assistance
“Girls Can Kick Ass … Without Being Angry”
“You don’t have to say straight out …”
The naming of emotions in dispute mediators’ strategic manoeuvring
Formulations and the facilitation of common agreement in meetings talk
How Reflection Works in Transformative Dialogue/Mediation
Negotiating Negotiation
Emotions in Action
Black Ballerinas
Wanting a “Feminist Abortion Experience”
Conversation Analysis and Psychotherapy
Compassion in the face of terror
Observations on the Display and Management of Emotion in Naturally Occurring Activities
Local identity processes in business meetings displayed through laughter in complaint sequences
Facts into faults
Taking the footing of a neutral mediator
Argumentative Talk in Divorce Mediation Sessions
Dispute Resolution Without Disputing
Understanding antibiotic overprescribing in China
Conversational displays of mediator neutrality in a court-based program
Maintaining neutrality in dispute mediation
Emotivity and face
The interactional work of suppressing complaints in customer service encounters
A Simplest Systematics for the Organization of Turn-Taking for Conversation
Medical Authority under Siege
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |