By Michelle Brenner
Conflict resolution values human dignity over material exploitation, and is a field whose practice focuses on reconstructing dignity in the midst of conflict.
Do you remember that in those days blaming and finding fault was the normative practice of management? Even humour has its downside, remember those mother-in-law jokes, those blonde jokes and Jewish jokes? Being a mother-in-law, a woman and a Jew certainly makes those jokes personal to me!
The field of conflict resolution came into our world-view after the WW2. This was the war that should never have been because we had discovered technology, because WW1 was said to be the war to end all wars, and we had great leaders in England and America.
The holocaust, which murdered over 6,000,000 Jews and millions more in other minority groups, should never have been because culture was educated, sophisticated and democratic. Nevertheless it happened and in our lifetime.
These happenings took the attention of thinking people from across the spectrum of law, sociology, science, anthropology, psychology, religion, politics, counselling, business and art, to name a few. People from all walks of life put their attention on the question 'why are we not living in peace?' as well as 'what are the ways of peaceful living'.
Academics came up with all sorts of research projects; searching for the aggressive gene, identifying cultural reasons, and looking for alternative pathways. I wonder how far we have come in practicing peaceful living? Despite the field of peace studies and conflict resolution, there are still wars, genocides and indignities that are part of democratic societies. How far have we really come?
Popular conflict resolution is so much a part of management and law in modern society, so here are some of the understandings that lie behind mediation and conflict resolution.
The theories that underlie conflict resolution are theories that relate to the human condition. This is not limited to psychology, philosophy, sociology or religion, although these are developed specialist areas of study.
The underlying premise of the human condition suggests that when human needs are met there is satisfaction and peace and when human needs are not met, there is a high risk for frustration and conflict.
What are human needs? Inherent human needs are internal drives that are universal:
Cultures, personality types and society have differed in the way they have traditionally supported and met these needs. Diversity has existed from society to society even from person to person. For example, books, schools, television, radio and story telling satisfies the need for meaning.
However, this may conflict with the need for a good identity. There is also diversity in the degrees of satisfaction; what may satisfy one person's need for meaning may only whet the appetite for another. By understanding that human needs come with life, but that the satisfier may vary from person to person or group to group, a pragmatic framework is created for analysing conflict and working towards resolution.
We then begin our problem solving by exploring two themes:
With this framework there are skills and intentional strategies that create a circuit breaker to conflict. These interventions are aimed towards widening perspectives and broadening reflective thinking in order to satisfy the underlying needs of all involved.
Moving from 'Isn't it awful' to 'Isn't it awesome' is not an easy step. It is often a frightening chasm that is filled with mistrust, misfortune and mistakes.
Good skills alone however are not enough to transform conflict or awful situations. Good will is just as important. How do you encourage good will in troubling times?
Good will is about putting aside the earnest attempt to get what you want, until understanding and mutual understanding has been reached. Good skills can be of great use, but without the good will, there is little chance that the insight understanding offers will be sustained.
Insight may be revealed with good skills, but it may disappear just as quickly if there is nothing to hook it onto. The hook is the good will. The good will is warmth, caring and goodness. That is why there is often a need for a third party, to facilitate movement and be the conduit of good will.
When we put our attention on presenting conflicts that reappear, it can give rise to trends and possibilities. Some of these can be captured in statistical analysis but this leaves out the subjective nature of the uniqueness of each person. Both the objective and subjective components are critical to grasp a clear, holistic multi-dimensional picture of reality.
Conflict resolution in the widest possible sense aims at promoting social, cultural and political conditions that are conducive for collaborative relationships and hence peaceful living.
This engages people in thinking beyond the known, beyond the conventional towards the imaginative spectrum of investigation, innervation and possibilities. Here the focus is in creating environments that mitigate conflict. When we look around us and accept that we have still much to do to create conditions that are sustainable for all to participate in a good life, we notice that our work is cut out for us.
There are three elements that when combined make up conflict resolution; awareness, analysis and action:
1. Awareness – of the context that surrounds the conflict, culture/ social/ personal, awareness of feelings, hopes and dreams, and awareness of the past history.
2. Analysis – means thinking, exploring, reflecting. This is often the hardest for people in distress and the most likely to be constricted.
3. Action – without action, there is no resolution or movement towards resolution.
Conflict is very practical; it always has impact and consequences. For conflict to be lessened, mitigated, dissolved or resolved, there needs to be counteraction.
Clearly there is a distinctive difference to approach conflict from a conflict resolution approach and a traditional conformist approach. The traditional approach searches for fault – finding fault in the human being caused from disobedience to rules, policies or a defined sickness in being.
The conflict resolution approach looks for sources that open up thinking, understanding and preventing conflict as well as promotion of values and means that offer human needs satisfaction, specific to the reality of the uniqueness of the human beings involved in the analysis.
Human beings are resilient and adaptable, to a degree. Fortunately or unfortunately we discover our limits by being stretched and expected to adjust to conformity.
It is the premise of a conflict resolution approach that society and conformity should be the result of conventional wisdom that takes into account the human reality and the environment. In this view individuals do not exist to serve social or institutional goals, rather the other way around: society and institutions are to serve the individuals they cater for.
Acknowledging the multiple roles that underlie a person's life and the privileging of the unique circumstances of the individual are contributions towards a peace building society. In the end, the choice between ideals and bread is an ethical or moral dilemma.
Making those choices, supporting those choices, and discerning those choices is what the conflict resolution consultant provides with processes, tools and ethical landscape maps.
Creating a culture that supports dignity includes surviving, but a culture that supports survival does not necessarily keep dignity alive. The choice is what our life is all about.
As a pioneer in the field of conflict resolution, Michelle have been teaching, mediating and consulting for around 20 years. Post Graduatein Conflict Resolution Macquarie University.
