Understanding & Strategies in Addressing Conflict

Objectives

To reflect on one’s understanding of conflict

To know why people differ and how this leads to conflict

To develop a mindset and behavior that promotes understanding and peace among different people

To realize the importance of the youth’s role peace building

What is your perceived image of the picture?

When we open our eyes do we see the world as it is?

Why do people experience conflicts?

◦What do you see?◦Difference in perspectives can lead us

to conflict.◦In order to make sense out of the

conflict, we have to make sense of peoples different perceptions.

◦We can only see the other image if we are to give up the first image we have.

◦Difference of perceptions is brought about by different values, background, interest, needs and methods/ways.

In looking at a conflict situation different people will have different perspectives

Solving a conflict entails that people should try to look at the issue from different perspectives.

What do you see?

And when you look again,

do you something different?

Making Sense of Conflict

Perceptions

•We each have our own unique history and character

•Each of us is born either male or female

•Each one of us is born into a particular way of life

•Each one of us has our own values

X CONFLICT IS NEGATIVE

Conflict is neither positive nor negative; it just IS.

It is not whether or not we have conflict that matters but how we deal with them

Some Myths about ConflictSome Myths about Conflict

Conflict can be

◦an opportunity to build better relationship and to improve our lives. In a sense conflict is necessary to bring forth a better condition.

◦It does have to lead to violence

◦What is crucial is how we handle conflict

Because of these natural and acquired differences, we discover that we have different perspectives or wants from the same situation or issue.

PERCEPTION ISSUECONFLICT

But conflict and disagreement can be resolved without violence and may even lead to an improved situation for the conflicting parties. As noted by Rubin, et. al. (1990), conflict brings good news:

1. Conflict is the seedbed that nourishes social change.

2. Conflict facilitates the reconciliation of people’s legitimate interest. Most conflict end up in fostering the mutual benefits of parties involved, and

3. By virtue of the first two functions, conflict foster group unity.

The other beneficial effects of conflict listed by Tjosvold (1992), includes making people aware of problems, promoting necessary change, improving solutions, raising morale, fostering personal development, increasing self-awareness, enhancing psychological maturity and fun.

Known conflict resolution approaches

1. FacilitationRelatively informal, private process in

which the parties, with the assistance of an impartial third party (facilitator) identify problems to be solved, tasks to be accomplished or disputed issues to be resolved.

Facilitation may end there, or it may continue in order to assist the parties to develop options, consider alternatives and endeavor to reach an agreement

2. Negotiation

Most prevalent conflict resolution process

An exchange between people for the purpose of fulfilling their needs

It focuses on gaining the favor of people from whom they want something

It is analyzing and using information, time and power to effect behavior (meeting of needs) to make things happen the way they want them to be

The objective is to create a “win-win situation”

3. Conciliation

Involves preparing and sustaining the groundwork for parties to engage in constructive communication relating to divisive issues and broken relationship.

It requires:

◦ Befriending – building trust with the conciliator and subsequently taking steps to rebuild trust with the opponent.

◦ Changing Perceptions – the process of removing psychological barriers that block mutual understanding especially anxieties and fears accumulated from years of history in the conflict.

◦ Changing Communication style – the process of creating a new flow of information and messages that provide more accurate presentation of people’s understandings, concerns and intentions.

4. Mediation

Relatively voluntary, informal, private, democratic, collaborative approach to resolving conflict, with the third party (mediator) in charge of the process but the disputants are in charge of the content (what is to be discussed) and the outcomes (what is to be agreed upon).

5. Arbitration

◦Relatively public, formal, coercive and adversarial process of resolving dispute between two parties by a third party or committee to which the matter is referred to by the disputants as a means of avoiding war, a strike, a lawsuit, etc.

◦The arbitrator determines what is a fair solution to the conflict based on the merits of the opposing positions and imposes a solution

6. Adjudication

◦A public, formal, coercive and adversarial process to determine judicially a case between two parties

◦The third party, usually a judge, decides the case and enforces the decision

Thank you and

WASSALAM