Relational transformation in mediation: Following constitutive and regulative rules

Abstract

Disputes can be analyzed in terms of implicit rules people use to ascribe meaning to situations (“constitutive rules”) and to specify appropriate action (“regulative rules”). These concepts, drawn from the Coordinated Management of Meaning theory of Pearce and Cronen (1980), represent an untapped resource for mediators and are especially compatible with the Transformative Mediation approach of Bush and Folger (1994). This article shows, through intensive analysis of simulated sessions, how mediators can explicitly track and clarify the multiple contexts of parties' constitutive rules, and how relational transformation can emerge and be encouraged through surfacing opportunities for empowerment (decision making and strength toward self) and recognition (perspective taking and compassion toward others).