Browsing by Subject "restorative justice"

Despite the identity-based nature of hate crimes, previous studies on hate crime mediation have not yet explored the role of social identity in this process. Thus, this research investigates mediators’ perspectives and experiences on the role and effect of social identity on the mediation of hate crime, hate incidents and prejudice-based behaviour by applying Tajfel’s and Turner’s Social Identity Theory. In addition, it outlines strategies to mitigate its influence on the mediation process and evaluates approaches to conflict resolution rooted in Social Identity Theory. Data for this study was collected through eight semi-structured thematic interviews with Finnish mediators in the field of victim-offender mediation and community mediation from March until May 2023. Qualitative content analysis was applied as a method of data analysis. The results revealed the diversity of mediators’ accounts regarding the role of social identity in mediation. Participants’ descriptions of exemplary case examples outline the potential effects of social identity on the mediation of hate crime, particularly a strong ingroup-outgroup distinction in connection with overgeneralised outgroup perspectives and negative outgroup attitudes. The findings suggest that differences in social identity between the mediator and the participants can lead to biased views towards the mediators, creating the necessity to build trust and emphasise the mediators’ impartiality to bridge identity differences. Diversity among the mediators seems to support these processes. Moreover, the study has identified three strategies to avoid the influence of mediators’ social identities on mediation: (1) Becoming aware of their own social identity, (2) reflecting their own stereotypes and prejudice, and (3) achieving an understanding of the clients’ social identity. To mitigate the influence of participants social identities in mediation two strategies have been identified: (1) Asking critical questions, and (2) facilitated conversation and discussion. Despite the potential positive effects of addressing social identity on the mediation process, limitations of this approach are also outlined in this study. The results offer tools for mediators to deal with and address social identities and related bias in mediation, to understand the potential impact of their own social identities and provides knowledge on their effect in hate crime mediation. Future studies could investigate participants’ perspectives on the matter and study the effectiveness of these approaches for long-term bias reduction, which could further support the success of the mediation process in times of internationalization, societal diversification, and polarization.