Narrative Mediation To Resolve Conflicts

Narrative mediation is used to resolve conflicts that arise from the way people manage and describe the discrepancies or conflicts in which they are immersed. Personal language reflects one’s perception of the world, so it can give useful clues to the true nature of the conflict.

In general, narrative mediation is implemented to facilitate the expression of the interests and personal needs of each of the parties and to intervene on them, in order to stimulate intrapersonal and interpersonal understanding through the deconstruction of individual narratives.

A conflict begins to resolve itself when it is possible to trace its essence. Sometimes one person thinks he is bothered by the other, for example, because he doesn’t cooperate. Through narrative mediation, however, one comes to establish that in reality the conflict arises from the way that person requires collaboration. This concept becomes clear if you favor and analyze your own narrative of the conflict.

Concepts at the basis of narrative mediation

To understand how we can apply narrative mediation, it is first of all necessary to clarify some concepts concerning this method. These concepts are: conflict narrative, alternative narrative and metanarrative.

• Narrative of the conflict. It corresponds to the way in which everyone elaborates the history of the conflict situation. This gives clues to the elements or aspects considered most problematic and defines the position adopted.

• Alternative storytelling. It represents the ideal situation to overcome the conflict from everywhere. Also in this case everyone expresses their requests and the contribution they are willing to give to resolve the situation.

• Metanarration. Rules and values ​​implicitly present in the conflict narrative and in the alternative narrative.

The elements of the narrative

Characteristics of narratives are another aspect to consider before proceeding with narrative mediation. These elements are the basis for knowing the deconstruction process of the real conflict. The characteristic elements of the narrative are the following:

• Plot. It represents how a person describes the origins of the situation, the change that gives rise to the conflict, the consequences and the possible solution.

• Subject. This is a very specific aspect to which conflict is associated.

• Context. It refers to the physical and social context in which the problem occurs.

• Personages. That is, all those who in one way or another participate in the problematic situation.

Usually the conflict told by a person is very different from the one told by his counterpart. Sometimes it is as if two different realities are talking.

Narrative mediation techniques

Narrative mediation uses different techniques to be able to resolve the conflict. The ultimate goal is to build a story common to the parties, which represents them and which leads to a common alternative narrative. To do this, some or all of the following techniques may be used:

• Double listening. It consists of taking notes on the negative descriptions of the counterpart to turn them into positive affirmations. For example, if a person says: “I am bothered by your selfishness”, this should be expressed in the following way: “I wish you were more generous”.

• Paraphrase: consists in summarizing each of the parts to the maximum. It is possible to do this by starting from the plot and summarizing first the origins, depending on the role, then the change and then the complication. This favors listening between the parties, who make use of the mediator.

• Reformulation. It consists in collecting the aggressive expressions between the parties and proposing them in a conciliatory way. If one says “He / she is a liar”, the mediator intervenes by saying: “What he / she would like to express, perhaps, is the lack of foundation of his words”.

Other narrative mediation techniques

• Outsourcing. It is about identifying the most intense negative feelings aroused by the other party. So, if, for example, the feeling is one of anger, we will proceed by analyzing the way in which it manifests itself or is lived.

• Foresee other forms of storytelling. This is a technique similar to role play. Each participant is asked to impersonate someone unrelated to the facts to observe the conflict from the outside. For example: “what would a policeman think after listening to his words?”.

These techniques aim to dismantle the narrative of the various parts. They are able to smooth edges and make them more understandable to all interlocutors. They are generally effective in business settings.