Adolescent development and family dynamics: Delineating a knowledge base for family mediation

Abstract

To facilitate the mediation process and resolve family conflicts involving an adolescent optimally, practicing mediators must have a conceptual understanding and theoretical framework of adolescence. The purpose of this article is to review what we know about normative adolescent development, highlighting how adolescents generally cope with stressors and conflict and identifying effects of their development on family dynamics. Implications for practice are discussed by identifying key underlying developmental issues related to parent‐adolescent conflict. Examples of how the conceptual information presented can be integrated and used by parent‐adolescent mediators are provided.

Parent‐child mediation: Integrating theory, research, and practice

“…The findings from the Van Slyck, Stern, and Newland (1992) study concerning the preintervention FES profiles for both adolescents and parents elucidates this issue. These profiles indicated that the adolescents involved were indeed distressed.…”

“…Van Slyck, Stern, and Newland (1992) conducted a study on parentchild mediation that examined the relationship among aspects of family functioning and characteristics of the presenting problem assessed prior to intervention and mediation outcome and subsequent family functioning. The study attempted to advance our knowledge of parent-child mediation through the use of standardized and empirically derived measures.…”

“…A fundamental issue that needs to be addressed involves the clarification of the basic nature of the conflicts that parent-child mediation attempts to resolve. Van Slyck, Stern, and Newland (1992) found that the largest single source of the presenting problem was identified as an attitudinal and behavioral problem on the part of the child. This finding is consistent with the assertion that the adolescents who are referred to mediation are troubled (Merry and Rocheleau, 1985).…”

“…members in defining the underlying issues in the conflict and to facilitate their movement toward some common agreement focusing on future behavior (see Huber, Mascari, and Sanders-Mascari, 1988;Merry and Rocheleau, 1985;Shaw, 1985). An additional goal that has emerged for parent-child mediation is to effect a basic positive change in the dynamics of the interactions of family members (Huber, Mascari, and Sanders-Mascari, 1988;Stern, Van Slyck, and Newland, 1992). An ancillary component of this latter goal of parent-child mediation is to educate the family members in positive conflict resolution techniques to enhance the family's ability to resolve future conflicts (Merry, 1987).…”

“…A more recent approach to the study of parent-child mediation has attempted to integrate, in a consistent manner, research findings with theoretical explanations (Van Slyck, Stern, and Newland, 1992;Van Slyck, Stern, Newland, and Olexa, 19.5 19921, as well as to integrate theory with issues of practice . The purpose of this article is to continue this integrative approach by examining previous research along with recent findings in light of relevant theory.…”