Christopher versus the Policemen
spoken language. What the policeman says to Christopher makes Christopher stressful and he does not know what to say to the policeman because he needs a
lot of time to understand what the policeman says. Bryna Siegel explains that most autistic children have “selective hearing”
which means an autistic child responds to some thing like a jingle but no to others. For autistic children, words or phrases once heard may not reappear increasingly
or ever again. This is why they have difficulties in understanding spoken language 94-95. Christopher can not quickly understand what the policeman says. It is
because he has difficulty in understanding spoken language. Then, it can be seen that Christopher’s difficulty in understanding spoken language leads him into a
conflict with a policeman. The policeman took hold of my arm and lifted me onto my feet.
I didn’t like him touching me like this And this is when I hit him. 8
Because Christopher can not answer the question, the policeman decides to grasp Christopher and it makes Christopher angry and hit him. The policeman
decides to arrest Christopher for assaulting him. In this case, it is obviously seen that Christopher can not control himself. So, he hits the policeman and it makes
the tension between them is getting worse. According to Moore there is a conflict resolution that is called non-violence
approach. This approach is applied when there are people or a group of people who do not behave as they should. This approach forces them to behave in a
desired manner. This approach involves social norms disobedience and it does not use any kind of physical coercion 37-38.
The policeman looked at me for a while without speaking and then he said,” I am arresting you for assaulting a police officer.”
This made me fell a lot calmer because it is what policemen say on television and films.
Then he said I strongly advised you to get into the back of the police car, because if you try any of that monkey business again, I will seriously loose
my rag. Is it understood?” I walked over to the police car, he opened the back door and I got inside. 9
We know that policeman has an authority to arrest Christopher for assaulting him. He decides to arrest Christopher. Christopher realizes that he must accept
this decision because it is guilty for assaulting the police. Christopher must behave in desired manner. So it can be said that in this case, the conflict between
Christopher and the policeman is solved by applying non- violence approach. Christopher is arrested in the police office for a while before his father comes
to the police office. His father tells the policeman that Christopher is an autistic boy and he does not like being touched.
He said,” I have spoken to your father and he says that you didn’t mean to hit the policeman.
I did not say anything because this was not a question he said,” Did you mean hit he policeman?”
I said,” yes” He squeezed his face and said,” but you didn’t mean to hurt the
policeman?” I thought about this and said,” no. I didn’t mean to hurt the policeman. I
just wanted to stop him touching me.” 17
Finally the policeman lets Christopher leave the police office because Christopher does not mean to hurt the policeman. He just tries to stop the
policeman touching him. Based on the quotation above, it can be concluded that mediation approach is applied to solve the conflict between Christopher and the
policeman in the police office. PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
Mediation is another option for the resolution of a conflict. In mediation, a volunteer is needed to help the parties to find the resolution. The volunteer acts as
a source that provides information needed which is helpful for the resolution. The decision is made by the parties not by the volunteer. The mediation is only needed
when the parties find that they cannot resolve the conflicts on their own Moore 26 -27.
In this case, Christopher’s father is the volunteer who gives information to the policeman about Christopher personality. Christopher does not ask his father to
come and to help him. However, his father logically will not let his child get into trouble or in another word it can be said as a form of a responsibility of a father
towards his son. The policeman can understand why Christopher hits him. The mediation process is among Christopher, the Policeman, and Christopher’s father
as the volunteer. Another conflict between Christopher and another policeman happens when
Christopher decides to leave his father and to go to London by train. He meets a policeman in the railway station. The policeman is trying to stop Christopher to
go. It is because Christopher’s father has called the police station and he asked help from the policemen to find Christopher.
And then I thought he was going to take me back to father and that was frightening because he was policeman and policemen are meant to be
good, so I started to run away, but he grabbed me and I screamed. And then he let go.
and he said,” OK, lets not get overexcited here.” and then he said,” I’m going to take you back to the police station and you and me and your dad
can sit down and have a little chat about who’s going where.” And I said I’m going to live with my mother, in London.”
and he said,” not just yet, you’re not.” PLAGIAT MERUPAKAN TINDAKAN TIDAK TERPUJI
and he said,” well, we can talk about that as well.” and then he said,” Right young man, I think you have done enough adventuring for one
day.”159
There is a different desire between Christopher and the policeman which creates a conflict between them. Christopher wants to leave his father whereas the
policeman tries to take Christopher back to his father. In this conflict, informal problem-solving is applied by Christopher and the policeman to reduce the
tension of the conflict between them. Informal problem-solving happens when avoidance is no longer possible and
the pressure of the conflict grows stronger that the parties cannot let the disagreement continue, Christopher and the policeman use the informal problem-
solving discussion to resolve their differences. The results of this discussion are either the conflicts are resolved more or less to the satisfaction of the people
involved Moore 24. Even though Christopher and the policeman do not find the best solution for the conflict between them, the discussion between them can
reduce the tension between them.