In 2023, Dan Berstein and Stephen Kotev worked together to create effective, impartial, flexible safety guidance that Conflict Resolution practitioners could use to develop their own personal plans for general safety and for addressing challenging behaviors.
These resources built on decades of dispute resolution best practices in this area including a review of intimate partner violence screening, literature reviews of challenging behaviors in mediation, a nationwide study of conflict resolvers responding to emergencies, disruptions, and disconnects, and the work of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) Taskforce on Safety in ADR.
The resulting resources, including a draft report and tools to create your own safety plans, are still in development. A draft, not for circulation, is available here. We welcome your feedback.