Case 6 – Gulin offspring support of parents
Location: The father’s house
Participants: The mediator (female, age around 40), the head of the village, the director of the local Committee of Politics and Law, the disputants — the father, the mother vs.the son.
The Case:(https://www.daowen.com)
The case is about an adult child’s financial support of his aged parents.The father is accusing his oldest son of refusing to support him.He requests that this son should pay for his recent medical fee and share the burden with the other two sons.The son argues that the parents failed to support him adequately while he was growing up, as both parents went away to work in the city,leaving him behind.Because he failed to get financial support growing up, he feels he is not obliged to support his parents now.The father, however, thinks that the son needs to support him until he dies.The case has been to mediation on ten occasions prior to the current presentation.
The Mediation Session:
The female mediator briefly introduces the case and the participants.Then she asks the father to talk first.When the father finishes speaking, the mediator asks the son to air his view.However, the son refuses to participate.The mediator, the head of the village and the director of the local committee of politics all try to push him to speak out the reason why he does not want to support his parents.It is apparent that all three officials(mediator, village head and local committee directory) all agree with the father’s position, and try to persuade the son to admit his guilt in the matter and agree to support his parents.The three support their position by presenting examples of bad influence,traditions and norms.The son is trying to use his wife as an excuse to defend himself but finally vents his anger towards his father.The mediation ends with no resolution or agreement.