I Can't, I Just Can't (2)

In response to my recent post on parties freezing at decision-time in mediation, Gary Fitzpatrick of Vancouver has found something:

'Hey! I found something! The ACResolution Quarterly Magazine Winter 2006 Reducing the Power of Victimhood, Joshua Searle-White.
He discusses the fact some people refuse to agree because they have embraced victimhood. "But at a deeper level, victimhood is actually a powerful attempt to control others and get what we want."
He then sets out some ways to deal with the issue.
My next problem is how to identify these underlying issues early.
I find they only show themselves clearly when everyone thinks the matter should settle and suddenly a party will "freeze". Well now that I understand that problem completely I'm ready to take on the world.'

Try Googling on victimhood and you get some interesting stuff, mainly at the macro level.

(Athough my post was focused on my experience in two recent mediations where plaintiffs had been unable to even enter a negotiation when it came to the crunch because they had appeared to have accepted their WATNA, the concept of victimhood seems to have many faces including one where a Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 after she slipped on a soft drink and broke her coccyx. The beverage was on the floor because Ms.Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument)