Some ten-fifteen years ago there was a movement to unite the four major conflict resolution organizations under one institutional roof. Those four would have been the Academy of Family Mediators, The Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, the teachers group that promoted conflict resolution programs in public schools, and the National Association for Community Mediation.
As a member of NAFCM at the time, I felt strongly that the interests of NAFCM would not be served by joining the new organization, which was to be known by the name of Association of Conflict Resolution, ACR. The issue was discussed with passion and conviction at the NCPCR meeting in Phoenix, and NAFCM did not join ACR.
I am not truly surprised to learn that the Academy of Family Mediators has now decided to pull away from ACR and re-establish their former independent organization. I can only surmise that the attempt to meld their goals into the larger organization did not work out in the long run.
