‘Poisonous caterpillar fire should not burn a person twice’: Cultural orientations in Nigerian alternative dispute resolution encounters

Abstract

Extant studies on alternative dispute resolution (ARD) have focused on the language use, benefits, importance, linguistic parameters and contextual features of ADR but have yet to pay attention to participants’ strict orientation to culture despite the positive implications of these orientations for sustainable harmony in the Nigerian society. This study, therefore, examines participants’ orientation to cultural values and their contribution(s) to the dispute resolution process. The study adopted Levinson’s notion of activity types and functionalism theory of culture. Data comprises purposively selected taped hearing sessions and documented cases between 2010 and 2017 in three southwestern Nigerian universities: the University of Ibadan, Adekunle and Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), where alternative dispute resolution is practised. The findings reveal that Nigerian alternative resolution encounters are punctuated with conservative-traditional, liberal and noncompromising cultural orientations. Conservative-traditional cultural orientation is expressed through male, sexual and children ownership supremacy cultural scripts; liberal cultural orientation is articulated through fatherhood, marked female support position and patience cultural scripts, while non-compromising cultural orientation is voiced through (dis)respect, (dis)obedience, (im)patience, non-submission and caution cultural scripts. The study concludes that culture plays a vital role in restoring societal peace.