Strategic interruptions in small claims mediation: How precipitous timing of mediator interventions can facilitate conflict resolution

While interruptions are often considered impolite, oppressive or intrusive, in some interactional contexts they may be supportive or helpful. In small claims mediation mediator interruptions of disputants do occur for a variety of reasons. Some of these interruptions are used strategically, to stop disputant actions which may be counter-productive at that point or to further the mediator’s work in assisting disputants in resolving their dispute. This paper uses conversation analysis, a qualitative method of analyzing talk in its sequential context, to analyze mediator’s “strategic interruptions” of disputants in a previously collected data set of 23 mediation sessions held in the Midwest and West Coast regions of the United States. The analysis of the 136 strategic interruptions in these data shows how mediators used them to stop or pre-empt counter-productive actions such as premature rejection of a proposal for resolution or to terminate mediation, disputant interruptions and arguments triggered by such interruptions, or disputant’s production of irrelevant or out of place turns or actions. While there is a potential risk to disputant autonomy or perceptions of bias when mediators interrupt disputants, strategic interruptions can be a useful technique for mediators as they facilitate the conflict resolution process. One implication of this study is that the potential benefits of strategic interruptions should be addressed in mediation training.