Socratic Maieutics: Conflict Management

Course 7 - Maïeutique de Socrate: Addressing Controversy and Conflict Management

Socrates and the Group - Pacifist Debate

• Socrates was the son of Phenarete, a renowned midwife, and chose to become a "spiritual midwife".
• The term "maieutics" comes from Maia, meaning "little mother" in Greek, a term for midwives
• The idea is to bring forth another's truth while guiding the questions toward a specific end.

Definition of Maieutics (Caccamo, 2022, p. 101)

• Maieutics involves Socrates questioning a student by feigning ignorance, to help the student discover knowledge independently.
• It is a method of "not knowing" or feigning ignorance, similar to the "not knowing" of Gestalt therapy, but Socrates directs the student toward a specific truth.
• It strategically uses the withholding of knowledge or discretion, contrasting with therapists who lack a specific agenda for their patients.

The Art of Questioning

• Questioning helps demonstrate to the seemingly ignorant individual that they are, in fact, knowledgeable.
• It originates from beliefs about the eternal existence of the person and their capacity to recall knowledge from before birth.
• The approach is excellent for decentering and empowering individuals.
• It aligns with the values and priorities of TSG beyond spiritual considerations, valuing the voice of the other.

Using Maieutics: When and How

• Maieutics can be criticized when employed for malicious purposes or manipulation.
• People tend to be more convinced when they arrive at conclusions themselves.
• Asking questions and being interested in the other's response can facilitate significant discoveries, instead of phrasing questions to force a non-authentic conclusion.
• Consider the types of questions asked and when to stop.
• Humiliation may result if the person lacks the answer or has not adequately considered the topic.
• Maieutics is less frequently used in favor of therapeutic questioning that has no pre-set goal.
• The end goal can be transformative and merits consideration.
• Therapists should be discreet about their own knowledge to allow the individual space.

Demonstration of Maieutics

• Émilie has low self-esteem due to her physical appearance
• The goal is to make realize her that her self-esteem stems from societal influences and beauty standards.
• By reflecting on who decided what is beautiful, where these idea originated, and if beauty standards are consistent, she realizes she can no longer relate to current norms

Addressing Controversy: Expertise

• The challenge of quality expertise in controversial situations involves constructing critical distance.
• Impartiality is key
• Experts/companies/opinions should not dominate others, especially subtly.
• Neutrality is a factor
• Arbiters in controversies should be representative citizens without conflicts of interest.
• Focus on Objectivity
• Present key knowledge, options, and implications without distortion; include diverse perspectives, including those outside scientific circles.

Animation for Confronting Ideas/Taboos (Flipo, 2023: 48-49)

Balanced Approach (Exposing a Wide Range of Perspectives)

• Strengths of the balanced approach:
  • Helps show that questions are not always black and white
  • Necessary when learners' opinions are polarized.
  • Useful when there is contradictory information
  • The teacher can introduce other viewpoints if learners do not
• Weaknesses of the balanced approach:
  • How to fairly balance opinions
  • Limited strategic utility, ignores the main focus, implies truth lies between differing opinions
  • Balance has different meanings to each person
  • It could lead to very directed courses, balance involves choices and constant work

Procedural Neutrality (Facilitating Debate)

• Strengths of procedural neutrality:
  • Lowers teacher's undue influence
  • It enables everyone to take part freely
  • Allows for open discussion of previously unthought questions
  • Provides a good opportunity to practice communication skills
  • Works as long as there is lots of source material
• Weaknesses of procedural neutrality:
  • Learners may find it artificial
  • Could be detrimental to the class/teacher
  • If learners are not familiar, teaching the concept may take some time
  • May simply strengthen learners existing prejudices
  • Challenging for those less at ease
  • Is not always compatible with the role of the teacher who won't share knowledge

Devil's Advocate (Systematically Defending Opposing Views)

• Strengths of the devil's advocate approach:
  • Can be fun to encourage discussion
  • Essential to a group sharing the same ideas
  • Can revive flagging discussions
• Weaknesses of the devil's approache:
  • Learner identifiers teacher with the opposing views, this raise parental concerns
  • Could strenghten prejudices
  • Reserve only for when 25 minutes remain in a discussion

Declared Engagement (Expressing Personal Opinion Each Time)

• Strengths of the declares engagement approache:
  • The learner wants to know the position of the teacher, this can clarify the situation
  • Knowing the position lets the students disregard those prejedices
  • Expressing opinion after debate is preferable
  • Only use if learners divergent opions need to treat with respect
  • Maintains the teacher's credibility, as learners don't expect them to be neutral
• Weaknesses of the declares engagement approache:
  • Might stifle class discussion and prevent learning a difference
  • Learners might defend a cause they don't know/believe in because it is opposite the teacher
  • Learning/values will be difficult to distinguish if they the teacher promotes both

Stages of Group Engagement in Controversy (Flipo, 2023: 52)

• Stage 1: Listening
  • Facilitate decentralization in Fear, Limits, Values, Antagonisms, Blockages etc.
• Stage 2: Facilitation
  • Inspires collected orientations through listening and dialogue
• Stage 3: Leadership
  • Emerging decisions via transformation in moderately or significantly controversial situations
• Stage 4: Vision
  • Transform hard situations and engage towards a trajectory in service of a difficult vision
• Each stage involves four steps: dogmatic certitudes, problematization, conceptualize, change the situation

Capsules de Chesnay: Problematic Dynamic and Conflict: Group Dynamics

• Dynamics includes:
  • Excessive caution - repeating samel models
  • Endless discussions - more talk than action
  • Social events - groups take many "coffee breaks"
  • Affective Overinvestment - energy channelled into social and affective dimension
  • Dependence - everything is given to the coordinator
  • Group break-up - development of sub-groups
• Role of facilitator involves:
  • Encourage healthy risks
  • Evaluate discussion
  • Remind group of goal/explore group issues
  • Allocate spaces to work and social lives
  • Share responsibilities
  • Move people

Roles (Not on the Quiz)

• "Set of behaviors that define a person's participation in a group"
• Includes:
  • Roles towards the task help the realization
  • Roles towards solidarity keep the bond in the group
  • Roles towards personal satisfaction that pertube the group
• This is a "Behavior that defines a person's participation" (Lindsay & Turcotte, p. 42)
• Includes formal and informal roles
• A role of fluidity may be present

Dysfunctional Roles

• Socially disturbed conduct from personal characteristics and the needs of the group" (Turcote & Lindsay, 2014, page 75)
• Systemic Approach:
  • Constructs role on the interaction (adaptation of self-imagine)
  • Member behavior affects others
  • Fluid is available
• Dysfunctional role: A member plays a challenge

Conflict

• "A process that begins when a person estimates that they have been thwarted in their objectives" (Turcotte & Lindsay, page 79)
• Has three features
  • At least two parties
  • Some sort of frustration
  • There is interaction between them

Stages of Group Engagement in Controversy (Flipo, 2023: 52)

• Conflict plays a very important tool
  • It can be a open door, not a dead end
  • The loss of the conflict does not make a good relations
• A conflict needs to vary based on the stage
  • It should reinforce relations between the members
• There are five principales
  • Confront directly
  • Priority is no one is hurt
  • Clarify situations
  • View as part of the whole plan
  • Have rules
• There are three steps
  • Recognize
  • Analyze
  • Birth
• The group has the:
  • Healthy debate of listening etc
  • Unhealthy debate of interrupting etc

Course 8 - Intervention: Beginning, Work and End

Start-up phase

Start-up phase objectives

• Utilizes the existing initial contract
• Includes initial moments after initial contract
• Consists of three objectivies:
  • Try to motivate members
  • Format to work the whole group
  • To get to the work that benefits the whole form

Initial Phase Essential Activities

• Consists of member presentations and a description of realities
• A negotiation
• Clarifications of the facilitator-e
• Establishment of rules
• Formalization of the contract

The Working Phase

Main Task of the pl

• Utilize the target on the city.
• Defines their direction to help members
• Has up to 4 processes
  • Support the process
  • Favor their skills
  • Catalyze on the group
  • Document their steps

To Guide a Process

• To insure continued relation ship and support
  • Check they need members
• Support their concerns
  • Verbals
• There are models to help with communications
  • Bavardagle

Support the Development

• Favor the autonomy
  • Recognize
  • Devise
  • Induce
  • Encourage
  • Support
• Habilitator
• Mediator
• Courtier

Steps to Change

• Help the integration
• Support the group like no bodies business

Report on the Route

• To evaluate along the steps is a must
• Check their progress
• There are methods
  • Observation
  • Journal

The End Zone

Zones to finish

• Check for 5 groups
  • Reactions to the solution
  • Transfer of items
  • How the group will progress
  • Evaluate
  • What has worked

Reactions to the Solution

• Check everything goes smooth
  • A sense of control
  • Sense of independence
  • Sense of joy
  • Hopeful

How to Transfer Skill

• Come back and revisit
• Accentuate Positives
• Improve their talent

What Happens After the Course

Is the Interventor Evaluated

Interventions Are Done

• How to transit the group
• Stay on course