Six factors inhibiting the use of peer mediation in a junior high school

Professional School Counseling, April, 2004 by Susan K. Theberge, Orv C. Karan

Developmental Issues

Adolescents in contemporary western culture struggle to define themselves and to fit in with their peers. Changing bodies, hormones, and the attendant emotional vicissitudes set the stage for dramatic shifts in personal interactions. Shifts in relationships with families and peers occur in order to accomplish the task of identity development, when adolescents begin to seriously consider who they are and what they want to be.

Power Imbalance

Two areas within this category stood out clearly in the data as major sources of conflict. The first was victim/victimizer dynamics, in some cases between dyads and in other cases emerging from a group teasing and/or harassing a less powerful victim. The second major source of conflict stemmed from boy-girl interactions.

Power imbalances can inhibit the use of mediation. It may be difficult, intimidating, or frightening for those in the one-down position to initiate mediation for fear of taunts or retribution, while those more powerful may have little motivation to change their behavior. Boy-girl dynamics also are tied to social prestige, another form of power. Arguments between couples or rivalries over a desirable partner put fragile adolescent egos on the line.

A Lack of Respect

Adult respondents reported that more than in the past students treated teachers and each other with less respect. The phenomenon may be related partly to youth culture and peer orientation, but some adults also spoke of an increasing disconnection between adolescents and the adults in their lives who traditionally have taught appropriate behavior and set boundaries. Of course, such behavior is not necessarily limited to adolescents but may be part of a shifting pattern throughout this country, as revealed in a study by the research group Public Agenda that found that rudeness is getting worse in America based on their survey of 2,013 adults ("Survey finds manners gone amiss," 2002).

Although students may not necessarily agree with what adults define as disrespect, there may be a fine fine between fashionable insult and cruel and humiliating remarks. This perceived lack of respect may inhibit the use of mediation because it contributes to a cultural norm of gaining status through putting others down--a win-lose perspective-rather than the win-win perspective of peer mediation. Students who feel wounded and hurt may seek revenge or want to withdraw rather than meeting face to face with the person who humiliated them.

Students with Chronic Negative Behavior Patterns

Some adults mentioned a small group of students who appeared to be almost exclusively peer-oriented, unresponsive to adult interventions, and exhibiting behavior perceived as chronically negative. If an adolescent feels as though he or she is related to, connected with, and a member of a group of others, the internalization of the important, albeit negative, values of those to whom one is connected will be fostered (Deci, Vallerand, Polletier, & Ryan, 1991). As Folger, Poole, and Stutman (1993) noted, the degree to which people experience themselves as interconnected with each other and as a part of a larger community has a major impact on school climate. In this school, there was a significant group of disaffected students who lacked those feelings and did not feel a part of the "social contract" of the school. Usually, these same students were not defined as "successful" by the standards of the school.