**6.2. Second meeting: before the conflict**

Morgagni [64] considered both of these aspects to be more effective. On the one hand, it can create a positive social environment by encouraging the integration of all students and avoiding the marginalization that often causes school dropouts, and on the other hand, it

**2.** The concept of mediation, conceptualized as concrete instrument to manage conflict and to avoid escalation. Through mediation students can meet themselves in front of a third person, mediator, impartial about the conflict (Morineau, 2004; Morineau 2010). Mediator must not judge them, interprets the two point of views, that of the two students and what they tell and give them advices in order only students to be able to find the best solution

In line with these theoretical backgrounds, the "Mediamente Bullo" project is applied in 15 lower schools, in Piedmont region of Italy. A total of 1100 students were recruited (658 males; mean age = 13.6; SD = 0.53). For each of lower school, three classrooms of third-year students

The aim of this project was to teach the conflict management, in particular for bullying, using their own personal energies in order to create positive interpersonal relationships among

The project also intends to be a response to requests of schools for bullying on three levels:

• Secondary prevention: intervention in contexts where the phenomenon is already born. • Tertiary prevention or intervention: treatment and care of persons involved in bullying.

This project responds to two needs for bullying, prevention and intervention. In the first step, it was possible to form all scholastic actors (students, teachers, parents etc.) about this phenomenon and its effect on interpersonal relationships. Then, in a path consisting of three meetings for each class, students and teachers have learned and experienced in class as resolving conflicts using mediation and empathy processes applying them to classroom relationships. During Mediamente Bullo, made up of three meetings that last 2 h, in the class there is a trainer (professional mediator) and the teacher who do not play an active role

After a brief introduction to the path of project, it worked on the meaning of the word conflict and the other words associated with it. In fact, the first meeting is focused on the meaning of "conflict": kids write their ideas, then they match with their bench mate to reach an agreement. In this way, they experience what a conflict is. After that, there is a plenary discussion

• Primary prevention: information and awareness raising on the subject.

positively affects personal resources.

106 Socialization - A Multidimensional Perspective

were involved. Data were collected in 2017.

[56].

students.

usually. In detail:

**6.1. First meeting: conflict**

During the second meeting, the attention is focused on communicational aspects and through examples and stories he talks about relationships, prejudices, observation and needs. Then he highlights why it is important to know how to communicate their emotions and how to change point of view, to understand the other's emotions. At the end of the meeting, a short movie called "The Cookie Thief" is watched and discussed (https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=NK3WYvwbFrQ&t=43s). This meeting focuses on the change point of view about each member of classroom group and interpersonal relationships. The aim is to discover and better understand more positive qualities of each student belonging to own classroom. The ability to know and recognize more positive aspects about others represents a very important resource for preventing and better managing the conflict. This meeting can change point of view, trying to understand and feel the others, emphatic experience. This also allows for more inclusion rather than social exclusion.

### **6.3. Third meeting: after the conflict**

The last meeting is focused on mediation: the trainer presents it as the best conflict management tool and argues highlighting emotional aspects and the role of empathy, according to previous meetings. In the last part of the meeting, through different role playing, some kids can experience himself as a mediator or as a litigant [56]. In particular, this meeting focuses on two components. The first is to develop and improve communication skills, learning this expertise can have many benefits. For example, it can help better report feelings and thoughts experienced or those of other people, and to stay in own emotions to understand those of others. Furthermore, it can mean to try not to be judgmental or biased by preconceived ideas or beliefs—instead can help to view situations and responses from the other person's perspective. The second is to represent the different way of reacting to conflicts. This meeting considers role playing and discussion of real episodes experienced in own classroom.

After the explanation of who is the mediator and his role in a conflict, students improve their skills trying to manage example of problematic situation of conflict.

In this meeting, the points are: empathy (to share and understand emotional states of others), neutrality (to identify causes, discussing them and practicing nonviolent methods and behaviors). It concludes with the graphic representation and explanation of what is and how it works, step by step, a mediation.

At the end of the path, all actors involved in this project discover different and new aspect about themselves and others. This can represent a possible tool for preventing any form of violence, in particular bullying.

To evaluate the effect of the project in each class, the level of bullying, prosocial behavior and mediation skills, two questionnaires were assessed before and after the path of three meetings.

*6.4.3. Pre-"MediaMente Bullo" project*

18.3% *accommodating*; 23% *shopkeeper.*

*6.4.4. Post-"MediaMente Bullo" project*

14.1% *accommodating*; 43% *shopkeeper.*

system of inclusion.

**7. Discussion**

never, 23.7% one time; 60% more than once.

*avoidant (p < .05); aggressive (p < .05); shopkeeper (p < .001).*

mediation skills after the path of project "MediaMente Bullo."

never, 20.4% one time; 48.1% more than once.

For the questionnaire "My Life in School": *physical bullying*: 80.45% never, 11.2% one time; 7.63% more than once; *verbal bullying:* 61.6% never, 11.5% one time; 26.9% more than once; *indirect bullying*: 64.3% never, 12.2% one time; 23.3% more than once; *prosocial behavior:* 31.5%

I Teach You to Quarrel - Empathy and Mediation: Tools for Preventing Bullying

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76882

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For the questionnaire "You and the conflict": 24.4% *avoidant*; 8.1% *aggressive, 23.2% compliant;*

For the questionnaire "My Life in School" [68, 69]: physical bullying: 82.1% never; 13.2% one time; 4.7% more than once; *verbal bullying:* 80% never, 11.8% one time; 8.2% more than once; *indirect bullying*: 80.9% never, 11.3% one time; 7.8% more than once; *prosocial behavior:* 16.3%

For the questionnaire "You and the conflict": 16.1% *avoidant*; 4.5% *aggressive, 22.3% compliant;*

The general index of bullying of the sample is calculated by the average of these scales for the three bullying (physical, verbal and indirect) indices. Data analysis shows significant differences between before and after the project in bullying, mediation skills and prosocial behavior. After the evaluation of scores, distribution data did not follow a normal distribution that is, a Gaussian distribution. The main tests for the assessment of normality Kolmogorov– Smirnov (K-S) was used to investigate it. According to the available literature, nonparametric statistical tests were considered. Considering this assumption, we applied the Wilcoxon test. We found significant differences between *Pre* and *Post* "MediaMente Bullo" project in *physical bullying (p < .005); verbal bullying (p < .001); indirect bullying (p < .01); prosocial behavior (p < .05);* 

Descriptive results of percentages and data analysis indicate significant decrease in bullying scales (*physical bullying; verbal bullying; indirect bullying)* and increase prosocial scores and

These results indicate that this path, in which students have experienced empathy and mediation, can contribute to decrease phenomenon of prejudice, bullying, social exclusion for a

These results indicate that educational approach proposed in this project can represent a new cultural paradigm in the educational approach to conflicts because the attention is not on the balance that to be re-established after the dispute (resolution of conflict), but the central focus becomes the conflict itself and the goal is not to find a solution but possible solutions about it, to rediscover the relationship that has deteriorated and then to reach a shared (nonimposed)
