Metaphors Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Metaphors - Assignment Example In other words, mediation helps in predicting the behaviors and attitudes of hosts. For instance, when a mediator applies the metaphor that â€Å"conflict is war†, then the conflicting parties are likely to behave aggressively to win the war, which may never be reaching a conclusion (Smith, 2005). Similarly, when the mediator adopts a metaphor that â€Å"being in a conflict in not being in a war†, then the parties will strive to make an assumption and find a solution to their problem. Smith also presents that metaphors work by structuring and evaluating an individual’s experiences by positioning them to the problem (Smith, 2005). Through this process, it is possible to discover an individual’s hidden assumptions, needs, behaviors, emotions, facts and intuitions, and bring them working as a whole. As a psychotherapist, I feel that the use of metaphors can successfully reconcile conflicting parties. This is because metaphors can highly influence and work effectively to promote a negotiation problem. The use of metaphor offers a mediator an opportunity to treat each viewpoint as a ration argument, making him or her take a neutral stance in the dispute being resolved. This also improves the mediator’s influence to avoid hostile confrontation. Lorig Charkoudian, in his article, identifies that police officers are frequently called to solve neighborhood disputes, which range from minor conflicts to violent confrontations. However, police interventions usually stop the conflict just for some time. Additionally, police response is usually inadequate, and successive calls to solve the same problems can be expensive to the police department. Police are currently encouraging the community to resort to dispute resolution centers to prevent repeat calls, reduce time spent on solving disputes and limit police work in processing lawsuits (Charkoudian, 2005). I agree with the author, over these