A comparative study of traditional and modern marital conflict mediation in Uganda

Abstract

This study focused on comparing traditional and modern marital conflict mediation arrangements in Uganda. The study was carried out in Kampala and Mpigi districts, covering 37 respondents who included marital conflict mediators and beneficiaries of mediation services. The study findings revealed that while the process of mediating marital conflicts in the modern arrangement has formalities in the beginning, the actual mediation is informal in both arrangements. The major factor that explains the choice of mediation was found to be the nature of the problem itself. The advantages of using the traditional mediation centred around issues of confidentiality, provision of free services, more relaxed setting and the disadvantages included likelihood of lack of professional experience of mediators and biases on the part of the mediator. Advantages of seeking modern mediation included bringing difficult spouses to law, free legal advice, easily resolving child and property related cases and lack of biases. The disadvantages included corruption, insufficient time to attend to clients, lack of privacy and confidentiality, social stigma and high costs. The study recommends that marriage counsellors and mediators should be given training in mediation so that they have a clearer picture of mediation requirements.