Mediation as mutual influence: Reexamining the use of framing and reframing

Previous conceptualizations of the mediation process have largely focused on the role that mediators play in guiding disputants through the mediation process and facilitating a settlement amenable to both. Part and parcel of mediator efforts has been the use of framing and reframing, whereby the view or perspective of the conflict is modified in one or both disputants so as to produce understanding between them in order to facilitate agreement. We contend that such a focus is unnecessarily limited and neither accurately represents the complexity inherent in mediation transactions nor illuminates alternative creative options available to the mediator. Specifically, the influence of the disputants in the process has been all but overlooked. Utilizing a communication perspective, this article attempts to address these oversights by first offering a transactional view of framing and then discussing the reframing process. Issues related to framing and reframing are addressed in some depth, culminating with implications for further exploration.