Özet:

Background. Interpersonal conflicts are natural and unavoidable in the school context where students with varying backgrounds and different levels of social, psychological and cognitive development are brought together. Conflict resolution and peer mediation approach has been widely used in schools to address the problem of interpersonal conflicts among students.Effectiveness of these programs was extensively studied and reported by many researchers in the field. Very few, if any, of them, however, focus on the peer mediation process itself and/or the difficulties disputing students have during the mediation process. Purpose. Purpose of this study was to analyze the types of difficulties disputing students had during mediation process through peer mediator students' perspective. Method. The study utilized semi-structured interview technique to collect data from a total of 60 (34 females and 26 males; 30 4th-grade and 30 5thgrade) peer mediator students at two elementary schools in İzmir which serve students from low-SES families. Data collected through interviews were, then, transcribed into text and analyzed through content analysis. The interview transcriptions were coded by the same researcher twice, a week apart and intra-rater reliability was found to be 90.90%. Student statements in the interviews were coded under several categories based on the frequency. In addition to frequency and percentage figures, sample student statements were also provided in tables. Findings. In this study, mediation process was carried out in five steps; (1) engaging the disputants in a dialog to explain the nature and reasons of the conflict, their demands and reasons, (2) engaging the disputants in a dialog to explain their emotions and reasons, (3) helping disputants reflect on what they perceive to be the other party's demands, emotions and their reasons, (4) helping disputants to negotiate peaceful and integrative solution alternatives, (5) helping disputants reach a peaceful and integrative agreement. For the first step of mediation, peer-mediator students emphasized such difficulties as “difficulty in expressing oneself”, “inconsistency in statements”, “emotional resistance” and “difficulty in understanding”. Similar difficulties were observed in the second step, as well. “Inadequate communication” and “inability to emphatize” were the most prevalent types of difficulty in the third step. In the fourth step, “incompatible solutions”, “difficulty producing solutions”, “inadequate solution”, and “negative solutions” were the most common types of difficulty disputants had. Finally, in the last step, “self-centered thinking” and “blaming each other” caused the disputants to have difficulty in reaching a peaceful and integrative agreement. Discussion. Disputants seemed to have difficulty expressing themselves during mediation as they hurt each other physically, verbally and psychologically during the conflict. This may also be caused by their inability to effectively communicate. Similarly, disputants were embarrased by what they had said and done and, therefore, displayed a certain level of emotional resistance when asked to deal with the same issue again during negotiation. Disputants were also unable to empathize with the other party due to lack of communicative ability which often resulted in less than desirable agreement types; either sided or temporary. The emerging themes of lack of self-expression skills and empathy skills could be remedied in the long run by sustained training as part of conflict resolution and peer mediation programs.

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