The study, funded by Monash University, RMIT University and the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration, found that over two-thirds of mediators at the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (VCAT) used humour in mediation sessions<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The remaining mediators said they avoided the use of humour in sessions, or used it sparingly – only if the disputants introduced it or when it arose incidentally.<\/p>\n VCAT is a low-cost resolution tribunal that offers mediation as a way of resolving disputes in areas including building and planning disputes, retail tenancies and discrimination.<\/p>\n Monash University\u2019s Dr Becky Batagol said VCAT mediators who used humour in their mediation sessions reported it helped \u201clighten up\u201d disputes, release stress and to break up \u201ccharged situations\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOne mediator with a central European background said that he used humour with clients from multicultural backgrounds to change the dynamic of the dispute,\u201d Dr Batagol said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mediator said his own multicultural background made him more confident of using humour in this way.\u201d<\/p>\n The research also found that a quarter of the mediators were on the watch for potential cultural issues before attempting humour.<\/p>\n \u201cThe mediators\u2019 use of humour was a good match with the available research into the therapeutic and intellectual effects\u00a0of humour in situations of conflict,\u201d Dr Batagol said.<\/p>\n \u201cHumour is ideally suited for mediation because it is a way of creating an atmosphere of cooperation and reaching a midpoint between two opposites<\/strong>. It often means that solutions can be found to difficult legal problems.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the Monash University press release: A good joke may be the key to resolving a legal dispute according to new research. The study, funded by Monash University, RMIT University… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[285,12,62],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1345"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1346,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1345\/revisions\/1346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1345"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1345"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1345"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/therapytoronto.ca\/images\/blogpics\/HappyWorkplace.jpg\" "\\"people")
A good joke may be the key to resolving a legal dispute <\/strong>according to new research.<\/p>\n