Mindful mediation : a comparative study on the stages of mindfulness and the role of the mediator

Degree Name

MA in International and Intercultural Management

First Advisor

John Ungerleider

Abstract

It is not by chance that humans engage in conflict. It may even be inherent to our DNA. How we initate conflict and manage it, however does contrast from culture to culture. From child to adult, behaviors in response to a conflict may reflect a cultural norm that if not explained, may block the process of mutual understanding. Where this is most visable on U.S. soil unearthed on school playgrounds, on the professional baseball field or in corporate boardrooms. A study of domestic, classroom and workplace conflict has led to an inquiry as to how third party individuals facilitate resolutions between disputants of different cultures. This Capstone paper attempts to answer the following question: How does Mindfulness, the development of self-awarness and awareness of others, better equip a mediator in facilitating an intercultural conflict? This exploration will cover the purpose of facilitative and transformative mediation as two common approaches mediators utilize in resolving disputes. The practice of Mindfulness enables the mediator to guide the disputants into a fair and just process in which all parties are exposed to elements of empowerment and recognition. The research reflects a body of case studies and definitions written by scholars and mediators in support of combining precepts of Mindfulness into mediation. A significant portion of the findings lie in the results of a survey created to ask mediators about their mediation training in Mindfulness and the use of Mindfulness in practice.

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