Thursday, April 5, 2012

Cross-Cultural Mediation



 Cross-Cultural Mediation

Conflict is an inevitable component in all human societies.  By definition, conflict occurring between individuals or social groups that are separated by cultural boundaries can be considered cross-cultural conflict” (Avruch, 1998).  In effort to resolve disputes of this nature, practitioners utilize methodological, experimental, physiological, quantitative, and clinical approaches.  From these methods, mediation, “a process in which a third party neutral, the mediator, assists disputing parties in reaching a mutually agreeable resolution” (Kovach, 2005), is often applied.
An example of a cross-cultural conflict in which mediation would be beneficial is as follows: An Islamic family recently relocated to a small Midwest town which has been unwelcoming to their presence.  In particular, Ahmad, a fifteen year old high school student, has been ridiculed and reprimanded for wearing his turban on campus.  Initially he was instructed by his homeroom teacher, Mr. Simmons, to refrain from wearing the turban on the following day.  Upon arrival on his second day of classes, he was issued after-school detention.  On the third day, Mr. Simmons immediately sent Ahmad to in-school suspension, informed him that he would be suspended for five days if he continued to disregard his authority, and reported the incident to Dr. Paula, the principal.  Once Dr. Paula was aware of the incident, he immediately removed Ahmad from in-school suspension and met with Ahmad and Mr. Simmons separately after school.  Dr. Paula apologized to Ahmad for Mr. Simmons’ actions and assured him that he would address the situation.  Rather than dismiss or suspend Mr. Simmons, which may have disturbed the community at large, Dr. Paula decided to include him in the resolution process.  He felt it would be more beneficial to require the teacher along with Ahmad and the homeroom class to seek mediation.  His goal was to gradually create an embracing environment for Ahmad, which would hopefully stem from the classroom, throughout the school, and possibly to the community.
As the mediator of this cross-cultural conflict, the practitioner should begin by analyzing the stakeholders.  First, Ahmad, a tenth grader of Islamic faith, has recently relocated from London, England to Maysville, Missouri.  His father is a religious studies professor and accepted a position at the local university.  According to his transcript, Ahmad is a tri-lingual honor roll student and has participated in various extra-curricular activities at former institutions.  Second, Mr. Simmons is a forty-six year old Caucasian American English teacher practicing in education for twenty-four years.  He is a lifelong resident of Maysville and represents the ideology of the community at large.  Third, Dr. Paula, a fifty-two year old second generation Dominican American, has served as the principal of the school for four years.  Prior to the high school, he was an assistant principal at the local middle school over ten years.  Therefore, he is familiar with several of his current students and their families.  Born and raised in St. Louis, he studied education at Washington University, taught seventh grade social studies until he completed his doctorate, upon which he accepted the assistant principal position in Maysville.  The next element to consider is the class as a whole.  This group of twenty-five tenth graders is made up of twenty-one Caucasian Americans and four Black Americans.  The vast majority of them have lived in this community or similar towns throughout their life.  Finally, from the mediator’s personal perspective, Mr. Taylor is a Black American from Raleigh, North Carolina, studied media and psychology, and resided throughout the southeast.  Of each of the stakeholders, Ahmad, Dr. Paula, and Mr. Taylor have more exposure and experience with various cultures and ethnicities, unlike Mr. Simmons and his homeroom students.  These factors must be kept in consideration during the mediation process.
In effort to initiate the mediation, the times to meet were set for Mondays and Wednesdays during the homeroom period over the course of six weeks.  All of the stakeholders are to be present inclusive of Dr. Paula primarily for observatory purposes.  At the first session, ground rules were established to ensure a courteous exchange during the conflict resolution process.  These regulations included the following:
  1. Keep interactions respectful, even when feeling frustrated or hurt.
  2. Maintain emotional control.
  3. Keep interactions on "hot topics" within a structured process.
  4. Show a willingness to understand.
  5. Communicate honestly and openly.
  6. Be as objective as possible. 
  7. Express concerns in a constructive manner.
  8. Focus on future solutions rather than past blame.
  9. Look for solutions that meet everyone's needs (Managing and Resolving Conflict, 2011).
Once the ground rules were ascertained, Mr. Taylor decided to initially utilize writing into clarity tactics.  This would permit Ahmad and perhaps more importantly his classmates and Mr. Simmons to recognize that they can not resolve these issues with their current line of thinking.  Instead they must evolve outside of their mental habits in effort to commence to being considerate of others’ differences (LeBaron, 2003).  As the process continued, Mr. Taylor intended to employ shapeshifting and partnering.  First, encouraging the participants to utilize shapeshifting will enable them to nurture inventive ideas and open new possibilities.  As they explore beyond their given knowledge, they will begin to recognize what might be and generate innovative ways of creating a new reality (LeBaron, 2003).  Second, partnering will allow them to discover their cultural and individual blind spots.  “To partner is to recognize that other cultural perspectives complement our own and so to seek those who have a range of experiences and perspectives different from ours” (LeBaron, p. 220, 2003).  With this method, Ahmad will be exposed to the culture and customs of the Maysville community, while Mr. Simmons and his homeroom class are exposed to Islamic customs and practices.
            Throughout this mediation, various cross-cultural issues may arise.  The majority of these will stem from religious differences.  Mr. Simmons, along with Ahmad’s classmates, identifies with or practices Christianity, while Ahmad is a devout Muslim.  Over the past thirteen hundred years, the relationship between these two religions has been tumultuous and the mutual distrust has remained.  However at present, much of the debate stems more from “political tensions and divergent cultural worldviews than with religion, and efforts have been made by both Christians and Muslims to find common ground and engage in respectful dialogue” (Religion Facts, 2011).  In addition, the value systems vary from child to child.  While some of them may feel as if teasing Ahmad is disrespectful, they may be easily influenced by those who express a blatant disregard for Ahmad.  Also, Mr. Simmons and other students feel as if they are justified by their religious beliefs and American principles in their intolerable attitude towards him. Breaking down this barrier will more than likely prove to be the most challenging.  (Post 9/11, many Americans continue to blame Muslims, radical or otherwise, for the disastrous events which occurred).
            Characteristics of this mediation that are different from those of other situations are the religious dynamics, the small town element, and the fact that an elder was also guilty of chastising a minor, not just his peers.  Typically Mr. Taylor has dealt with disputants of similar faiths or with scenarios in which religion was not a domineering issue.  In addition, his prior clients have resided in metropolitan areas throughout the southeast.  Therefore they were more exposed to varying cultures and ethnicities on a regular basis.  Also, the conflict between Mr. Simmons and Ahmad was the first case in which the disputants’ positions varied to such an extreme.  Typically the parties were on equivalent levels, whether students, employees, or teammates.  It was always a child to child or adult to adult relationship.  Each of these elements will create a unique learning experience for Mr. Taylor which will be beneficial in future endeavors. 
            Characteristics unique to this cross-cultural conflict are again the teacher reprimanding the student based on religious practices, having a group of students opposing a single individual, and the principal intervening and supporting a student versus the teacher and the classmates.  Typically in a public school system, all students’ religious beliefs or non-beliefs are accepted and respected, at least on the surface, by the faculty and staff.  However, Mr. Simmons blatantly went out of his way to scold and discipline Ahmad merely due to the fact that it is customary that he wears a turban.  Also, in most cases a group of students may oppose another group or the administration, or a student may have issues with one of their peers.  Yet in this scenario, Ahmad’s entire homeroom class along with a number of the students throughout the school have ridiculed and ostracized him.  He has been enduring this conflict alone.  One must also consider the fact that Dr. Paula came to Ahmad’s aid and supported him instead of siding with Mr. Simmons.  Usually it is the student who is at fault, nevertheless the teacher was obviously the one in need of reprimanding in this case.  Instead of leading by example and welcoming Ahmad, he perpetuated and encouraged the negative ideologies among his students.
            From this mediation, Mr. Taylor will gather a greater sense of how to address religious divergence.  This will be beneficial in future mediations.  It will provide him with firsthand experience on assisting disputants from varying religious backgrounds and beliefs.  Encouraging those in such circumstances is one of the most difficult obstacles to overcome.  One’s religious beliefs, practices, and acceptance are the core of their morals and value system and thus directly affect their interpretation and response.  Learning how to maneuver and enable disputants to become understanding and accepting of one another in these types of situations will be a critical skill to develop.
            Among individuals, conflict will continue to occur, typically even more so when cultures are crossed.  Hence it is crucial for people to learn how to cordially relate to each other when disagreements or misunderstandings arise.  “Faced with conflict, communicating is always the right thing to do” (Krauss & Morsella, p. 144, 2006).  In addition, mediation may be necessary to resolve cross-cultural conflict.  A professional or experienced practitioner should intervene and assist the disputants in respectfully and effectively resolving their issues.  

References:
Avruch K. (1998). Culture and Conflict Resolution. Encyclopedia of Life Support
Systems. Retrieved January 10, 2011, from
Kovach, K. (2005). The Handbook of Dispute Resolution. In M.L. Moffitt, R.C. Bordone,
            Mediation (pp.304-317). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Krauss, R.M. and Morsella, E. (2006). Communication and Conflict. In M. Deutsch, P.T.
Coleman, & E.C. Marcus (Eds.). The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory
and Practice (pp. 144-157). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Boss.
LeBaron, M. (2003). Bridging cultural conflicts: A new approach for a changing world.
San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Managing and Resolving Conflict.  Ground rules for effective conflict resolution.
Retrieved January 6, 2011, from

Religion Facts. Comparison Chart: Christianity and Islam. Retrieved January 10, 2011,

from http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/charts/christianity_islam.htm.