Case Study
Have you ever heard the phrase, “the operation was successful, but the patient died”?
That is exactly what happened to the family that turned to Mosaica for intergenerational mediation after a legal proceeding regarding their inheritance had been completed. During the proceeding, one party emerged victorious, but family relationships were destroyed in the process: in effect, the “patient” died. This case, like so many others, demonstrates the high price, not only financial, paid by family members who take legal action against their kin.
However, in this case, one member of family refused to give up. Despite his grievances, he contacted Mosaica for mediation in order to restore the relationships destroyed by his legal “victory.” Additional family members agreed to join the process, saying that they had nothing left to lose, as the world’s most precious resource – that of family – had already been lost. The family was no longer what it used to be; it had collapsed.
Research
During 2019-2020, a qualitative study was conducted in collaboration with a research team from The Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
The study group revealed many previously unexamined details about family dynamics and the complex issues connected with aging for the person and their families. Participants affirmed the utility of various interventions offered during program mediations, specifically those designed to help manage family disputes, bridge rifts, and solve dilemmas that enabled them to reach agreements on previously unresolvable issues.
Participants reported a high degree of satisfaction with the process: some went so far as to say that the mediation “saved their lives,” while others reported that it vastly improved their quality of life, moderated family conflicts, and more generally improved relationships within the family.
Program Staff
Limor Aton earned a Bachelor’s degree in Social Sciences from The Open University and a Master’s in Conflict Resolution, Management and Negotiation from The Hebrew University.
She is also an experienced mediator who specializes in intergenerational mediation and organizational mediation. And is also an experienced facilitator of trainings, workshops and mediation courses and has gained expertise in content development.
She leads the department of Intergenerational Mediation at Mosaica and helped to develop the model for this type of mediation with the Mosaica team facilitating mediations as well as teaching the model nationwide. She also developed and teaches a model for training family caregivers dealing with disputes, fatigue, and overload. Additionally, she facilitates the Mosaica basic mediation course in which she trains new mediators.
Moriah Zackai entered the world of mediation following a B.A. in Psychology and M.A. in Conflict Resolution.
She has been working in welfare and education for almost a decade.
In her job as the Intergenerational Mediation Program Coordinator, she deals with mediation and consensus-building processes in a wide array of conflicts that arise with old age.
For more information, please contact:
gishur@mosaica.org.il