7 - Deliberative Spoilers

Summary

Deliberative spoilers frequently transform a discussion from a high to a low level of deliberation and often keep it at a low level. At the same time, they are rarely responsible that the discussion is transformed from a low to a high level of deliberation, and they also rarely keep it at a high level. In all groups, we could identify such deliberative spoilers. An example comes from a group in a Brazilian favela with three police officers and seven local inhabitants, four of whom teenagers. Police officer Suzana emerged as a deliberative spoiler. Six times the discussion was transformed from a high to a low level of deliberation, five times by Suzana. There were 40 speech acts at a low level of deliberation, 21 due to Suzana. Six times the discussion was transformed from a low to a high level of dliberation, not a single time by Suzana. There were 26 speech acts at a high level of deliberation, only one by Suzana. Thus, she was a clear deliberative spoiler. Actors like Suzana are a real problem for the deliberative atmosphere in a group. The best hope is deliberative education from early on in childhood in families and schools.