Mediator Tips
The Transformative Approach

Robert Baruch Bush and Joseph Folger have identified 3 general approaches to mediation in their book, The Promise of Mediation. They are as follows:

Satisfaction Story: A problem-solving approach that is currently being used by most practitioners.

Social Justice Story: Those who view mediation's goal as a way of building consensus-for-change within a larger group such as community.

Transformation Story: Refers to those practitioners who approach mediation as a way to change the participants and, thereby, change society.

The Transformation approach is based on two interconnected concepts: empowerment, which leads to recognition.

Empowerment

"Is achieved when the party experiences a strengthened awareness of their own self-worth and their ability to deal with the difficulties they face regardless of external constraints."

People are empowered during mediation when they participate in:

-Identifying both needs and goals:
She has a clearer realization than before of what matters to her and why.

-Suggests Options:
He is aware of a range of choices to meet his goals. He has control over his choices and has the choice to accept or reject mediation, legal advice etc.

-Skill Development:
She increases or adds to her own skills in communication, conflict resolution, listening, organizing and analysis.

-Resources:
He gains new awareness of resources already in his possession. He realizes more clearly than before that he holds something that is of value to the other party; he can communicate and persuade effectively; his resources can be rearranged to make them reach further.

-Decision Making:
She reflects, deliberates and makes conscious decisions for herself. She assesses the strengths and weaknesses of her arguments (and the other party's) and makes decisions in that light.

Recognition

"Is achieved when empowerment is present -- and they are willing to acknowledge and be responsive to the other persons' situation and common human qualities."

Recognition occurs only if the person experiences some degree of empowerment. Recognition is given to the other person when:

Cognitive (Attribution) Processes:
-She realizes that, she has the capacity to reflect about, consider, and acknowledges in some way the situation of the other party. She realizes and feels secure enough to stop thinking exclusively about her own situation and to focus to some degree on the other party.
-She realizes that beyond her capacity to analyze cognitively she has a desire to acknowledge the other person in an objective way.
-She realizes that she wants to focus her attention on what the other person is experiencing and find a way to acknowledge that experience on a human level.
-She is able to engage in reinterpreting past conduct and events in light of new information and deduce from that information a new perspective about the person and the conflict.

Words of Recognition:
-She openly acknowledges her new and changed understanding. She admits that she sees things differently (openly or privately).
-She accompanies her statement of a new perspective with an apology.
-She apologizes for her own past behaviors based on misinterpreting the other's previous behaviors without knowing about situational factors.

Actions of Recognition:
-She makes decisions in light of her changed understanding.
-She accepts the past and is willing to focus on the future.
-She regrets not having the sufficient resources to change a decision.
-She offers other suggestions in light of limited resources.