Narrative Mediation And Conflict Resolution

Narrative mediation is a conflict resolution technique. It is based on how people structure and describe the discrepancies or contradictions that they become completely absorbed in.

It is important to note that personal language reflects how a person sees the world, which in turn often provides valuable clues as to the true nature of a conflict.

In general, narrative mediation is helpful in getting each party to express their interests and personal needs. In this way, mediators can deconstruct individual stories to solve the problem in a way that promotes intrapersonal and interpersonal understanding.

Conflict resolution starts when you identify the root cause of the problem. For example, you may think you are angry at someone for not cooperating with you.

This shows that if you can encourage people to tell their side of the story and then analyze the way they tell their conflict, these kinds of details come to the surface.

The Basic Concepts of Narrative Mediation

To understand narrative mediation, you must first be familiar with some of the concepts inherent in this method:

• Conflict narrative. The way each person creates a story about the conflict. It provides clues about the elements and aspects they consider to be problematic and determine their position.
• Alternative narrative. The ideal situation in which all parties can overcome the conflict. Again, all parties use personal language to express what they want and what they are willing to do to find a solution.

• Metanarratives. The rules and values ​​that are implicit in the conflict story and also in the alternative story.

Narrative Elements

The characteristics of the stories people tell about conflict is another important aspect of narrative mediation. These elements form the basis for the deconstruction process of the real conflict. The characteristic elements are the following:

• Storyline. The way an individual generally describes the cause of the problem, the change that led to the conflict, the complicating factors, and what would then enable a solution.
• Subject. The concrete aspect that the conflict is about.
• context. The physical and social environment where the problem occurs.
• characters. Everyone involved in the conflict (in one way or another).

One person’s narrative about a problematic situation is usually very different from another’s. It often seems like they are talking about two very different issues.

Narrative Mediation Techniques

Narrative mediation uses different techniques to resolve conflict. The ultimate goal is to build a common story that all parties can agree on.

This narrative should also represent everyone and lead to a unified alternative narrative. To do that, mediators may use one or more of the following techniques:

• Double listening (English link). This involves paying attention to the negative descriptions of a person and then making them positive. For example, a statement like “her selfishness bothers me” becomes “I wish she were more generous.”
• Paraphrase. Here the mediator synthesizes as much as possible what each person tells. They use the storyline as a basis and summarize the cause, the change and the complicating factors. This encourages each party to listen to each other through the mediator.
• reconsideration. This consists of taking note of the aggressive expressions used by the various parties and then reusing them in a conciliatory way. For example, if someone says “he’s a liar,” the mediator intervenes with a sentence similar to this: “maybe you mean you notice some inconsistencies in what he says.”

• Externalization. The mediator helps the parties identify the most negative feeling the opposing party evokes. For example, if the feeling is anger, the parties participating in the conflict resolution will delve deeper into their experience of that anger and how it manifests.
• Addition of other narratives. This is comparable to, for example, a role-playing technique. The mediator asks the parties involved to put themselves in the shoes of a neutral party in order to see the conflict from a different perspective. For example, what would a police officer say about what you just told us?

Conclusion

All these techniques try to deconstruct each party’s story. The aim is to make the stories more open, flexible and understandable for all involved. These techniques generally work well in organizational contexts.