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In the future, different generations will be able to live peacefully, and national conflicts will disappear altogether. This will require professional dispute resolvers – mediators of social conflicts.
A mediator of social conflicts is a specialist who helps to resolve confrontations between groups of people in such a way as to find a way out in a peaceful way. He can work with conflicts that arise for various reasons – cultural, religious, national and any other.
For example, in France already in the 1990s, mediators resolved almost all property disputes, in India in 1947 the resolution of labor disputes through mediation was legally approved, and in 2005-2007 international mediators took part in the settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict.
The mediator of social conflicts is one of the professions of the future.
A mediator is an intermediary between the parties. His tasks:
- keep a neutral stance
- understand the objective and subjective causes of disagreement,
- understand understand the interests and requirements of both parties,
- help conflicting parties to negotiate in such a way that the solution suits both parties.
At the same time, the mediator cannot advise or provide legal assistance to one of the parties and disclose information about the dispute without the consent of the parties.
In our country, mediation must be carried out in accordance with the requirements of the Federal Law “On an alternative procedure for resolving disputes with the participation of a mediator.” And people over 25 years old can professionally engage in mediation.
What kind of disputes do mediators resolve?
Here are a few situations mediators can help you deal with. At the same time, the possibilities of specialists are not limited to these examples – mediators can help in resolving various conflicts.
Refund of money transferred by mistake. The woman transferred money for the purchase of a puppy through an online bank using a phone number and entered the number incorrectly. The money went to a man whose accounts were arrested by bailiffs. With the help of a mediator, the woman negotiated with the bailiffs, and they agreed to issue documents for the return of money from the arrested account.
Conflict at school. The class teacher could not find a common language with the sixth grade. Pupils clashed with her, and with other teachers, and with students from other classes. The mediators held meetings between the school administration and parents, as well as between students and the class teacher. As a result, it was possible to find out the causes of the conflict and develop common rules for communication. The relationship between teacher and students improved.
Disputes between sellers and buyers. The woman bought an evening dress, but two days later decided to return it. The seller thought that the woman had already worn this dress, and refused to return the money. With the help of a mediator, the parties negotiated. The seller returned the money minus the cost of dry cleaning.
Key Skills of a Social Conflict Mediator
The main task of the mediator is to quickly understand the essence of the dispute, listen to both parties and help them find a common solution. To do this, it is important to have a number of qualities and skills:
- systems thinking,
- ability to analyze a large amount of information,
- willingness to work in conditions of uncertainty,
- stress resistance,
- ability to work with people
- empathy,
- the ability to maintain a neutral position,
- knowledge of the typology of conflicts and an understanding of how they develop,
- flexibility,
- ability to moderate negotiations.
Trends and directions of the profession
To resolve social conflicts truly effectively, mediators need to deal not only with differences that arise between individuals or communities, but also with global issues. For example, in 2020, 14 out of 34 armed conflicts took place in countries with high levels of gender inequality or discrimination. Mediators must fight inequality and discrimination, promote the ideas of diversity and inclusion, insist on the priority of non-violent conflict resolution. To do this, they need to analyze the causes of conflicts and the context in which they arise more carefully, as well as discuss the importance of these topics more often at professional conferences and round tables.
In addition, mediators need to help people learn to recognize the existence of conflict. For example, in the United States, the black population is more likely than others to recognize that interracial and interethnic conflicts are taking place in America. This means that people who are not under pressure tend to overlook tensions in society.
To avoid crises due to such conflicts, it is necessary to openly tell the society that certain groups of the population face discrimination. At the same time, generalizations and accusations against other groups of people should be avoided. For example, saying “all whites in America are oppressing African Americans” will cause resistance from the accused people and increase the likelihood of misunderstandings, to put it mildly, but coverage of specific conflicts will show the population that the problem really exists.
Where does the profession come from?
Dispute mediation has existed for many centuries – the practice of resolving a conflict situation with the participation of an independent mediator appeared in ancient Greece. There, people invited a person who is not involved in the dispute to help in resolving the conflict. And neutral cities helped the warring states negotiate peace.
Much later, in the XNUMXth and XNUMXth centuries, people combined observations about disagreements into conflictology. This is a field of knowledge at the intersection of psychology, economics, philosophy, history and other disciplines. Conflictology studies the causes of conflicts, develops their typology and suggests methods for overcoming them.
Mediation of social conflicts is a specialization in the profession of a mediator.
Knowledge and skills that will be useful for a mediator of social conflicts can be obtained at universities that have specialties in Conflictology, Psychology and other related areas. Such programs are available at the Siberian Federal University, RSSU and other universities. The SibFU program states that students learn to identify manipulations, organize negotiations, resolve conflicts in organizations, family, intercultural and ethnic disputes, and conduct political discourse.
In foreign programs, in addition to the base that is needed to resolve any conflicts, creative ways to find a way out of the situation are considered. And to get acquainted with the direction, you can take a free course on Coursera. On it you can get acquainted with the basic concepts that are important for anyone who wants to effectively resolve their own conflicts or look at the profession of moderator of social conflicts.