Intergenerational mediation: its potential for contributing to the prevention of elder abuse

This article considers intergenerational mediation in the context of the contribution it can make to a holistic approach to the prevention of some Kinds of elder abuse, where unresolved conflicts can be perceived as threatening events. An outline is given of the key principles of mediation and the types of problems it can be used to address. The next section describes some typical mediation processes with examples from the work of the Elder Mediation Project (EMP). There are supportive references from the psychogerontological literature focusing on concepts of personhood, the self as process in a life course of continuing development, the value of communication skills in old age, and those from mediation theory. The article is introduced by showing its relevance for social workers.