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:
- Keep interactions respectful, even when feeling frustrated or hurt.
- Maintain emotional control.
- Keep interactions on "hot topics" within a structured process.
- Show a willingness to understand.
- Communicate honestly and openly.
- Be as objective as possible.
- Express concerns in a constructive manner.
- Focus on future solutions rather than past blame.
- 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
No comments:
Post a Comment