Narrative Approaches to Conflict Resolution Across Technologically Mediated Landscapes

Young migrants across the globe increasingly interact and socialize with culturally diverse others across technologically mediated spaces. Bicultural and transnational development are becoming norms for contemporary youth as new media technology allows them to engage in interactions with diverse others across multiple cultural landscapes. What cultural tools do young migrants use to resolve conflicts with diverse peers across technologically mediated interpersonal interactions? To answer this question 44 individuals (ages 15-20) participated in a quasi-experimental workshop engaging them in the process of sense-making. During the workshop participants wrote projective narratives in response to a vignette depicting text-massage mediated interaction embedded among monocultural and bicultural groups of peers. Quantitative and qualitative data analyses focus on physical, psychological and communicative conflict resolution strategies used in narrative construction. The results indicate that immigrant youth are able to employ and coordinate varied strategies when approaching conflict resolution across culturally diverse landscapes of social interactions.