The effects of expressing your needs and having your needs heard during mediation
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Authors
Lishansky, Maria
Issue Date
2004
Type
Capstone
Language
en
Keywords
Psychology
Alternative Title
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to look at the different dimensions of what happens to individuals in conflict when the focus is placed on the needs of each party involved in the conflict. In the literature review, common counter productive ways of communicating have been described that are not helpful in resolving conflict. The literature review also presents different approaches that several authors believe can create better communication and more positive experiences between disputing parties. Having reviewed several different approaches to mediation in the literature, this study addresses one specific type of conflict resolution intervention. This intervention emphasizes and focuses on the needs of each party in the conflict. This mediation approach concentrates on enabling each party to express their needs and for each party to hear the other person's needs. This study looks at what happens to individuals in conflict when they feel that they have been able to express their needs and they feel that their needs have been heard by the other party.
Focusing on needs when resolving conflict can be a powerful way of going beyond the problem at hand and identifying the forces that are driving the conflict, and by doing so potentially finding a lasting resolution to the conflict. Having had personal experience with the needs based approach and believing that this approach holds the "key" to long lasting resolutions of conflict, I wanted to find out what really happens when you focus on needs. Given that there are so many different approaches to resolving conflict, I wanted to go beyond the literature and the experts in the field and find out from individuals directly what happens when they participate in a needs based approach when resolving conflict.