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MEDIATION
Mediation involves solving a dispute through peaceful means. It uses a person trained as a mediator to help two or more people resolve a conflict or disagreement. The mediator, however, is not solely responsible for resolving the conflict and enforcing an agreed upon solution. In fact, the mediator is secondary to the reconciliation process. The primary participants are the people involved in the conflict (the participants or disputants). It is their responsibility to devise a mutually agreeable plan and adhere to its accords. The primary responsibility of the mediator is to guide them throughout the process. Mediators ask the disputing parties to tell their stories and ask questions for clarification and ultimately identify ways to solve the conflict.
Peer mediation, which rose in popularity in the 1980’s, is a specific type of mediation process that uses youths in key roles to mediate a dispute among their peers and often operate in conjunction with conflict resolution curricula (Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, 1998; Gottfredson, 1996). Some programs use trained peer mentors or helpers, while others use trained youth mediators to assist in developing alternative solutions to fighting and provide an alternative to traditional interventions by a school administrator (Gottfredson, 1996). Under any format, peer mediation encourages students to apply conflict resolution skills when it matters most—when they are in conflict. By helping students resolve and learn from interpersonal disputes, peer mediation programs also advance the educational mission of the schools in which they operate.
The general principal underpinning the mediation involves trained students helping their classmates identify the problems behind the conflicts and to find solutions. This does not mean determining who is right or wrong. Rather, students are encouraged to move beyond the immediate conflict and learn how to get along with one another. A key component to any mediation process is letting each student tell his or her own story and then to feel as if someone understands his or her perspective. As W.A.V.E. mediator Nate Johnson says, “Just knowing someone understands really reduces the tension in mediation.”
Not every kind of problem, however, is suitable for peer mediation. For example, assault or other criminal activities are usually not referred to a mediation program. But common situations such as name-calling, spreading rumors, intentionally bumping into students in the hallways, and bullying have been successfully resolved through peer mediation.
Finally, peer mediation is not only beneficial for the disputants but also for the mediators and the broader social environment in which it occurs (schools). According to the School Mediation Center, there are multiple benefits for student mediators. These include developing leadership, enhancing language skills, improving academic achievement, increasing self esteem, increasing positive status among peers, learning communication skills that are valuable in all relationships, learning a problem-solving technique that can be applied to many situations, and having a strong positive influence on other students. Moreover, peer mediation offers benefits for the student body as a whole, which include 1) becoming active in the problem-solving process, which leads to a greater commitment to making solutions work, 2) providing positive models for solving conflicts, 3) assuming greater responsibility for solving their own problems, 4) recognizing that adult intervention is not always necessary, and 5) encouraging students to share their feelings and search for positive ways to meet their needs. Parents and students also have reported that conflicts at home are being resolved more effectively. Society may benefit by teaching students positive ways to resolve conflicts, which can aid in the reduction of violence. Researchers hypothesize that youths who learn to resolve conflicts positively are likely to do the same when they grow up.
THEORETICAL CONTEXT
A tremendous amount of research indicates that the development of children is influenced by five main spheres of influence in their lives: the individual, family, school, peers, and the community. Children and youths who are exposed to risk factors and lack the necessary repertoire of protective factors within each of these spheres are most at risk for problem behaviors. Several theories suggest that beginning at about age 12, peer influence takes precedence over all other sources of influence, including parents, school, and the mass media, becoming the single most important factor in determining a variety of behaviors throughout adolescence (Stovell, 1999). In fact, empirical research confirms this hypothesis. In a meta-analysis of risk factor studies, Elliott (2003) reports that antisocial peer relationships have the weakest predictive ability (r=.04) at ages 6 through 11 in predicting serious offending at ages 15 through 25, but by age 12 to 14, antisocial peers have a strong (r=.37) predictive ability for predicting serious offending at ages 15 through 25.
By creating programs that attempt to shape peer influence, we can capitalize on a process that will occur anyway (Stovell, 1999). According to Richard Cohen (1995), the most fundamental benefit of peer mediation is that it effectively resolves youth conflicts. Close to 90 percent of all mediation sessions result in an agreement that satisfies not only the parties but also teachers, administrators, and parents. And when students choose to end a conflict in mediation, it is resolved for good. This is because mediators encourage their peers to discuss all issues in dispute, not only the precipitating incidents. Even in cases where written agreements do not result, parties often learn enough about the situation to defuse the situation. Peer mediation teaches students the skills and then encourages them to resolve their own conflicts in a supervised setting. And although mediation enables students to resolve their own conflicts, it does not exonerate them from responsibility for their behavior; the school disciplinary system remains uncompromised. Peer mediation engages all students, even those considered “at risk.” It provides students with a face-saving way to settle their disputes, and many of these same students excel when they are trained as mediators. Becoming a mediator gives at-risk students more than important life skills—it gives them a badly needed way to contribute to their school.
Cohen (1995) further posits that peer mediation is not only used after a conflict has erupted into violence but that it also works in numerous ways to effectively prevent violent conflict. The development of conflict resolution skills in both mediators and the students at large enables them to resolve more of their own conflicts. Outreach efforts encourage students to come to mediation soon after conflicts develop and before they escalate. Even after a conflict has erupted, mediation can prevent it from leading to more or greater conflicts. Most large-group disputes can be prevented if the interpersonal conflicts at their core are resolved in a timely manner. Peer mediation can also can be a boon to other prevention efforts. Many of the factors that contribute to problems such as substance abuse and teen pregnancy (low self-esteem, lack of decision-making skills, negative peer pressure) seem to be positively effected by peer mediation programs. Mediation also seems to have a positive impact on “school climate.” The program fosters feelings of belonging, ownership, and control over school life.
In summary, peer strategies may address a wide range of risk factors. However, some of the general risk factors targeted are
■ School-centered, peer-related experiences such as early initiation in or favorable attitudes toward the problem behavior
■ Peer rejection and social alienation
■ Association with deviant peers, including grouping antisocial children together for instruction or punishment
■ Early and persistent antisocial behavior
Resiliency factors addressed by peer mediation and counseling programs often include but are not limited to
■ Opportunities to contribute
■ Skills to resolve conflict
■ Healthy beliefs and clear standards
EVIDENCE OF IMPACT
Some researchers have suggested that the efficacy of peer mediation is not yet been proven (Tolan and Guerra, 1994). Similarly, a controlled study by Araki, Takeshita, and Kadomoto (1989)—which evaluated a peer mediation program in several ethnically diverse Hawaiian public schools and included two comparison schools for each elementary and intermediate school and one comparison high school—found no consistent program effects on school climate, rates of student retention, suspension, dismissal, or attendance despite the favorable assessments of the program by student mediators, disputants, school administrators, and project staff.
Despite the lack of consensus regarding the benefits of peer mediation, several mediations show positive results for teaching students alternatives to conflict. Hanson (1994) showed that students involved in peer mediation seem to become more positive toward the idea of negotiation, express a greater willingness to help friends avoid fights and solve problems, and seem less likely to believe that some students deserve to be “beaten up” (Ohio Commission on Dispute Resolution and Conflict Management, 1996). While the majority of resolutions in one inner-city program appeared to take the form of “avoiding each other in the future,” the peer mediation process seemed to provide a good forum for talking through conflicts (Long et al., 1998). Johnson and Johnson (1996) report that in one middle school, 83 percent of students trained in peer mediation reported “win–win” resolutions of conflict, while 86 percent of untrained controls reported that conflicts resulted in a “win–lose” outcome.
The Conflict Resolution/Peer Mediation (CR/PM) Project worked with schools to train staff members and students in conflict resolution and peer mediation and was designed to help students learn interpersonal skills important for developing prosocial behaviors and constructive conflict management. Three Florida middle school sites participated in this study. Daunic et al. (2000) used extensive surveys of peer mediators and a matched control group, finding that in over 95 percent of referred conflicts disputants reached an agreement, usually consisting of avoiding each other (44 percent) or stopping the offending behavior (39 percent). Disputants reported high levels of satisfaction with the mediation process and adherence to the agreement reached after at least 1 week following mediation. Mediators reported generalization of skills to “informal” conflict situations and expressed high levels of satisfaction with the mediation process. Parents of peer mediators reported mediation as a positive experience for their children and indicated skills were generalized to the home environment. At two of the middle schools, the number of student disciplinary incidents declined significantly following implementation of the CR/PM program.
The Peer Assistance and Leadership (PAL®) program began in 1980 in one Austin, Texas, high school and has since evolved into a nationally recognized program throughout 350 Texas school districts and in five other States. PAL® curricula and training are designed to meet the standards and ethics for effective peer programs as set by the National Peer Helpers Association. The types of peer assistance offered in PAL® include the following: group and one-to-one peer tutoring and mentoring; facilitating activities and group discussions on issues such as alcohol and substance use and career choices; providing peer mediation and conflict resolution services; developing and participating in community service projects; and developing communication, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. Pre-program student absences were 7.9 compared with post-program student absences of 3.3. Pre-program student disciplinary referrals were 1.3 compared with post-program disciplinary referrals of 0.35. PAL® and PALee Parents overwhelmingly felt that PAL®made a positive impact on behavior at home and on attitude toward school.
The available evidence suggests that a small number of peer mediation programs have produced positive change in the way students approach and resolve conflict as well as improve school climate. There is also some evidence that peer mediation programs can result in fewer fights, fewer referrals to the office, and a decreased rate of school suspension (Johnson and Johnson, 1996).Nevertheless, the lack of support in some findings indicates that success is not automatic. Gerber and Terry–Day (1999) suggest that success depends strongly on how well the program is planned and carried out. Similarly, Cohen (1995) posits three ingredients essential for peer mediation programs:
1. There must be sufficient interpersonal conflict to warrant initiating the program. If mediators do not have the opportunity to mediate cases, few of the benefits associated with peer mediation programs will be realized. Each school must determine what constitutes “enough conflict.” Some programs handle only 20 cases a year, others mediate more than 500. As a general rule, programs should mediate at least one case per week.
2. There must be administrative support. For peer mediation to succeed, administrators must work aggressively to overcome attitudinal and structural resistance within their schools. In particular, administrators in charge of discipline must be willing to make referrals and support student mediators’ efforts.
3. There must be a designated peer mediation coordinator, who, like the coach to the basketball team, oversees all aspects of a peer mediation program. The more resources this school-based adult has in terms of skill, commitment, and time during the school day, the more successful the program is likely to be.
In addition, Cohen (1995) reports that the likelihood of success can be increased still further by helping to create a school philosophy and pedagogy that encourages students to take responsibility for their own education as well as work cooperatively with their peers, and integrating conflict resolution into the school through other avenues, including teacher training and in the general curriculum.