Intercultural Mediation and Conflict Management Training: A Guide for Professionals and Academics

262 Pages·2021·7.913 MB·English

by  Claude-Hélène Mayer

Claude-Hélène Mayer
Intercultural
Mediation
and Confl ict
Management
Training
A Guide for Professionals
and Academics
fl
Intercultural Mediation and Con ict Management
Training
Claude-Hélène Mayer
Intercultural Mediation and
fl
Con ict Management
Training
A Guide for Professionals and Academics
Claude-HélèneMayer
DepartmentofIndustrialPsychology
andPeopleManagement
UniversityofJohannesburg
Johannesburg,SouthAfrica
InstitutfürTherapeutische
KommunikationundSprachgebrauch
EuropaUniversitätViadrina
Frankfurt(Oder),Deutschland
ISBN978-3-030-51764-9 ISBN978-3-030-51765-6 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51765-6
©SpringerNatureSwitzerlandAG2020
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Dedicated to Blanchie, Lolo and Ecee
Foreword
Thefieldofinterculturalinteractionisperhapsoneofthefewareasofresearchthat
has taken Kurt Lewin’s statement “There is nothing so practical as good theory”
seriously as can be seen in the work of Edward T. Hall, Harry C. Triandis, John
W. Berry, Richard W. Brislin, Paul B. Pedersen, Dan Landis, Michael Bond and
many others. Richard Brislin spearheaded the field of intercultural training by
offering many volumes over the years (Brislin, 1981; Brislin & Pederson, 1976
Brislin, Cushner, Cherrie, & Young, 1986; Brislin & Yoshida, 1994; Chshner &
Brislin, 1997), and Developing Intercultural Mediation and Conflict Management
Skills: A Training Manual with Exercises by Professor Claude-Helene Mayer is a
timelyadditiontothecollectionofvolumesthatistheorybased,whichcanbeused
bybothpractitionersandacademics.ItakethisopportunitytocongratulateProfessor
Mayerforheraccomplishment.
Interculturalconflictisnatural andintheideal case, barring thecondition when
meanandabusivepeoplearetakingadvantageofwhoevertheyareinteractingwith,
itisoftenwellmeaning(Brislin,1993)whenbothpartiesareputtingtheirbestfoot
forward. Intercultural conflict is natural since both interactants act from their own
culturalreality,anddespitebeingwellmeaning,misunderstandingsoccur,mistakes
are made and sometimes the situation becomes hopelessly intractable. Professor
Mayer presents theories of cultural values, types and dynamics of conflict and
mediation process, and provides cases and incidents to explain the theories, which
isvaluableforpractitionersfortheycanapplythetheoriesandusefulforacademics
toexaminetheapplicabilityoftheoriesandtorefinethem.
The book covers important theories like Kluckhohn and Strodtbeck’s value
orientations, Triandis’ individualism and collectivism, Schwartz’s universal frame-
workofhumanvalues,Moore’scausesofconflict,Ausburger’sbehaviouralconflict
styles, Bennett’s intercultural conflict resolution styles, Glasl’s escalation model,
Bolten’sinterculturalcompetencemodelandAusburger’smediationmodel.Profes-
sorMayeremploystheconstructivistapproach,andhaspresentedherownresearch
findingsandinsightsthroughoutthebook,whichaidsinunderstandingthetheories
and phenomena. She presents examples from a wide geographical area covering
vii
viii Foreword
Asia,AfricaandtheWesternworld.Thebookalsocoversmanypracticaltoolslike
Dulabaum’s IARA (impartiality, acceptance, recognition and affirmation) and
SMART(specific,measurable,acceptable,realandterminated),whicharegrounded
intheory,andtherefore,usefulandgeneralizable.
The book will be of great value to the English readers since it presents many
theories that have hitherto only been available to German researchers and practi-
tionersinthepast.TheEnglishreadersalsohavetheadvantageofalltheexperience
theauthorhascollectedsincethepublicationofthebookinGermaninpreparingthis
English edition of the book. The book makes a definitive contribution to the
literatureoninterculturalconflictmanagementandtraining.
ManagementandCultureCommunity DharmP.S.Bhawuk
Psychology,UniversityofHawaiiat
Manoa,Honolulu,HI,USA
References
Brislin, R. W. (1981). Cross-cultural encounters: Face-to-face interaction.
Elmsford,NY:Pergamon.
Brislin, R. W. (1993). Understanding culture’s influence on behavior. New York,
NY:HarcourtBraceJovanovich.
Brislin, R. W., Cushner, K., Cherie, C., & Yong, M. (1986). Intercultural interac-
tions:Apracticalguide.BeverlyHills,CA:Sage.
Brislin, R. W., & Pedersen, P. B. (1976). Cross-cultural orientation programs.
NewYork,NY:GardnerPress.
Brislin, R. W., & Yoshida, T. (Eds.). (1994). Improving intercultural interactions:
Modulesforcross-culturaltrainingprograms.ThousandOaks,CA:Sage.
Cushner, K., &Brislin, R.W. (Eds.) (1997). Improving intercultural interactions:
Modelsforcross-culturaltrainingprograms(vol.2).ThousandOaks,CA:Sage.
Acknowledgements
I would like to expressly thank certain people for their direct and/or indirect
contributiontothistrainingmanual.
My heartfelt thanks go to Inka Heisig and Gudrun Tschechne from SOPRA
(Social Practice), Hannover, who guided and supported me, especially during the
first years of my mediation practice. I have acquired all the vital insights that are
important in the field of mediation and conflict management through Inka and
Gudrun. Both have always been great role models for my practical work right up
tothisday.Fortheintensivesupportofmyprojects,dearInca,Iwanttoparticularly
thankyou.
I would also like to thank my friends and family, and especially my three
children,whoinspiremeandsharetheinterculturalexperienceswithme.
I also want to thank all my colleagues who have worked with me over the past
20 years in science, research and practice and who have developed innovative
conceptstogetherwithme.
Additionally,Iwouldnothavebeenabletodevelopandtestmanyofmymaterial
without the people who worked with me in my workshops, seminars and training
sessionsinthefieldofinterculturalmediation,mediationinschoolsinintercultural
contexts, intercultural systemic counselling, intercultural communication and con-
flict management as well as culture-specific training sessions and who offered me
constructivecriticism.Ithanktheparticipantsinthesciencefieldfortheirtheoretical
questions and critical comments and the people working in practices for their
practice-orientedobjections.
Finally,IwanttothankMelanieVölker,mylong-termcontactpersonandlecturer
at the Waxmann Verlag in Münster. Mrs. Völker has always been associated with
this book project professionally and with commitment in the German context and
alsowiththeeditingtasksandmyotherbooksandfilms,andshehaswitnessedthe
developments over many years. I would like to thank you sincerely for the long-
standing,professionalandfriendlycooperation.
ix
x Acknowledgements
ForthesupportandpublishingofthisfirstEnglishedition,Iwouldkindlyliketo
thank Shinjini Chatterjee, my editor at Springer Nature, who has supported me on
severalprojectsandwhosupportedtheeditingofthisbook’spublishing.
SincerethanksalsogotoBarbaraWood,thetranslatorofthisbook,aswellasmy
dearfriendandcolleagueElisabethVanderheidenforeditingthebooktechnically.
Professor Dr. Freddie Crous, the Head of Department of Industrial Psychology
and People Management at the University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg,
South Africa, has supported the translation of this book with all his might. I am
sincerely grateful for this support on ideological, psychological, institutional and
financiallevels.
Contents
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
PartI Conflict
InterculturalConflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.I1:WhatAreInterculturalConflicts?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
1.1E1:ReflectionofaInterculturalConflictExperience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
1.2E2:PersonalConflictandMediationRoots. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3E3:TheEmergenceofConflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.4I2:Culture-RelatedStructuresofReality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
1.5E4:AnInterculturalConflictDialogue:APleasantEveninginaPub?. . . 13
TypesofConflicts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6I3:HotandColdTypesofConflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6.1I4:HotConflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
1.6.2I5:ColdConflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.6.3I6:DynamicsofHotandColdFormsofConflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
1.6.4E5:Self-ReflectionRegardingHotandColdFormsofConflict. . . . . . 17
ConflictTypes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.7I7:TypesofConflict. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
1.7.1E6:WhichConflictTypeDoyouTendtowards?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
ConflictStyles. .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . 23
1.8I8:ConflictStyles. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.8.1I9:ConflictBehaviourStylesbyAugsburger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
1.8.2E7:HowtoWorkwiththeConflictBehaviourStyles
byAugsburger. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1.8.3I10:ConflictStylesbyBennett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
1.8.4E8:CaseWork:ConflictStylesbyBennett. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
xi