There are many technologies that provide alternative conflict resolution. One of them is mediation. This is a method of resolving disputes in which a third party appears, a mediator, who should not be interested in winning either of the parties. This is a well-known practice that has shown its effectiveness over the long term.
Plectrum functions
A mediator is a person whose duties include helping the parties to a conflict resolve it. At the same time, the disputants themselves control this process and the final decision still remains with them. Mediation is the process of helping parties to behave properly.
The mediator must remain neutral in any difficult situations and not succumb to feelings of personal likes or dislikes. It often happens that a previously independent party ceases to be such. In this case, the efficiency of this process is seriously reduced.
Principles of mediation
This process has a number of starting points, on which the mediator normally relies. Thus, the mediator must adhere to the following principles:
- Voluntariness. All parties, including the mediator, should be willing to resolve the conflict in this way. Mediation is an exclusively voluntary process, as it is aimed at reconciliation, and not oppression of the two parties.
- Privacy. The mediator must not disclose the content of the conflict, as well as its solution, provided that both parties have not agreed to this. The mediator may tell specific cases, but without mentioning names, surnames and other data that may directly or indirectly point to conflicting persons.
- Mutual respect. Only on this basis can a compromise be reached.
- Equality of the parties. Relations between conflicting parties should be built exclusively businesslike, implying perfect equality.
- Neutrality.
- Transparency of the procedure. Despite confidentiality, mediation is a procedure that should not have pitfalls.
Types of mediation
In general, mediation is a complex process, so a separate version of it should be used in each specific situation. What are they? There are such forms of mediation:
- Problem oriented mediation focuses on the interests of both parties, rather than the approaches themselves that are causing the conflict.
- Transformative, the meaning of which isfocus on the communication of the two parties, so that they learn to listen and hear each other.
- Narrative mediation, in which it is a process in which each side expresses its own opinion about the ongoing action.
- Ecosystem - helping families resolve conflicts.
There are also a number of other types of process that are derived from this type. The mediation procedure can contain components of all these varieties, so this division is only conditional. In real practice, the mediator himself determines the style that is most effective in a given situation.
Benefits of mediation
Mediation has many advantages over litigation. And it would be right to list them.
- Saving time, effort and money. Litigation can drag on for weeks, months or even years. The result of mediation will most likely be felt right now.
- Mediation better takes into account the individual situation, while the court conducts its procedure exclusively according to templates.
- It is not aimed at establishing the correctness of one of the parties, but at finding solutions to the current situation.
- The mediation process takes into account the needs of the participants and their emotional state at the moment, as well as in dynamics.
So, mediation is aimed at taking into account the experience of the parties, and not similar conflicts, as happens with litigation. This is the biggest plus.
Regionsuse of mediation
Conflicts are characteristic of any human relationship. Therefore, mediation can be applied in any sphere of activity. So, it is actively used in resolving commercial disputes, in which the court sometimes cannot even intervene. For example, there were minor conflicts at work that did not violate the law. In such a situation, only a professional mediator can resolve it.
Mediation is actively used in the field of social work and psychology. For example, the classic family conflict resolution is a clear case of mediation. Families often quarrel. This is fine. As they quarreled, they reconciled, and thoughts of divorce do not even visit their heads. But some conflicts are so serious that they make the family dysfunctional. And here, without mediation, it is almost impossible to solve the problem. Therefore, social work with the family has a predominantly intermediary function, like the whole sphere as a whole.
Mediation Service
There are a huge number of private and public services that provide mediation services between conflicting parties. Social services can be classified as departmental institutions, and organizations specializing in mediation can be classified as private. However, other professions that are not related to law or social work can also act as intermediaries.
So, it was already said earlier that a psychologist who regulates family relations focuses on certain types of mediation. Another interesting viewis school mediation, which appeared relatively recently and has already shown its effectiveness in resolving school conflicts. It should be discussed in more detail.
Mediation at school
Very often there is no school psychologist or social educator whose job it is to mediate between conflicting children. In times of crisis that have engulfed the entire country, it is quite difficult to find money to hire a professional, so such functions can and should be taken on by a teacher or a class teacher.
Some people perceive the mediation process as an attempt to calm the fighting teenagers by force, followed by a call from the parents to the director or class teacher. But it is an attempt to resolve the conflict, not to freeze it. In the first case, the parents will come and possibly punish their children. But the conflict will still remain and at one point it can flare up again. The teacher should teach children the right way to find compromises, and not just eliminate the symptoms of a problem in a social group called a school class. There may also be a school mediation service that deals with problematic issues. True, she is extremely rare in educational institutions.
What conflicts does mediation solve in secondary schools?
Some believe that it is mainly aimed at eliminating conflicts between different students. But after all, teachers are also people, and therefore they can quarrel with children. And the mediator at school must eliminateany possible conflicts, even if the child quarreled with a cleaner who has nothing to do with him. Moreover, it is by no means worth arguing that some conflicts are more serious, while others are trifling. If both sides perceive them painfully, then their negative influence should not be underestimated.
Age should not be considered. There are victims, and therefore it is necessary to take into account the interests of both parties, regardless of social status. In general, discrimination against young people and children has never ended well. Very often, in an attempt to prove their worth, they go to commit cruel acts or simply become "difficult teenagers." Communication with children is important to build solely on positions of mutual respect, as with any adults.
Conclusions
Mediation in school or any other area of human life will exist for a very long time. After all, in a situation of acute conflict, none of the quarreling will be able to understand the whole situation. And a sober look from the outside can be of great service in this case.
