The Handbook of Conflict Resolution (3rd ed)

by Peter T Coleman

  A growing area of challenge looks at the following question: As occupants of a single planet, how can we become more deeply aware of our cooperative interdependence with all other occupants? In order for us to survive as a species and allow for the dignity and rights of all inhabitants to flourish, it is critical to expand our understanding of identity to include that of a global identity: to behave in ways that not only fulfill our individual interests but maximize our interests as members of a cooperative global community. Too often these are pitted against one another and viewed as an either-or situation. This is captured well by the commons dilemma (Hardin, 1968), where continued pursuit of individual interests over long-term communal interests ultimately results in the failure to fulfill individual interests and communal interests.

  Clearly, much intellectual work is needed to better understand ways to resolve this dilemma and develop a strong global identity that connects us to an effective, cooperative, global community (Deutsch, Marcus, and Brazitis, 2012). As such, the scholarship and practice of understanding conflict becomes paramount to the enhancement of our interdependent, global community. More important, increased recognition of our interdependencies will contribute to more rather than less conflict. This calls for even greater efforts to develop and test theory that is informed by practice and, just as important, practice guided by theory.

  Encouraging Innovation

  Finally, How can we foster creative innovation in our thinking and our practice of resolving conflict constructively?

  Betty Reardon (private communication) a renowned peace educator, has stated that “the failure to achieve peace is in essence a failure of the imagination.” In addition to studying what we already do, it is essential that we develop new methods and ways of thinking about conflict that move beyond our current approaches. As the nature of the conflicts that we face changes, so must our thinking and our strategies for resolution. This often requires adopting a novel point of view (see chapter 20 on creativity in this volume). We must continuously view our current understanding of conflict and conflict resolution as a beginning—the first few steps toward the much needed means for finding “a better way” of improving and enhancing human conflict interaction.

  References

  Bush, R.A.B., and Folger, J. P. The Promise of Mediation: Responding to Conflict through Empowerment and Recognition. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1994.

  Deutsch, M., Marcus, E. C., and Brazitis, S. A. Framework for Thinking about Developing a Global Community. In M. Deutsch and P. Coleman (eds.), Psychological Components of a Sustainable Peace. New York: Springer, 2012.

  Fisher, G. Mindsets. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press, 1988.

  Hardin, G. “The Tragedy of the Commons.” Science, 1968, 162, 1243–1248.

  Hofstede, G. Culture’s Consequences: International Differences in Work-Related Values. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1980.

  Kolb, D., and Coolidge, G. G. “Her Place at the Table: A Consideration of Gender Issues in Negotiation.” In J. Z. Rubin and J. W. Breslin (eds.), Negotiation Theory and Practice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Program on Negotiation, 1991.

  Lederach, J. P. Preparing for Peace: Conflict Transformation Across Cultures. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, 1995.

  Markus, H. R., and Kitayama, S. “Culture and Self: Implications for Cognition, Emotion, and Motivation.” Psychological Review, 1991, 98, 224–253.

  National Urban League. The State of Black America 2012: Occupy the Vote to Educate, Employ and Empower. 2012. Retrieved from http://www.iamempowered.com/node/23900

  Roderick, T. “Evaluating the Resolving Conflict Creatively Program.” Fourth R, 1998, 82(3–4), 19–21.

  Segall, M. H., Lonner, W. J., and Berry, J. W. “Cross-Cultural Psychology as a Scholarly Discipline.” American Psychologist, 1998, 53, 1101–1110.

  Sidanius, J., and Pratto, F. Social Dominance. Cambridge University Press, 1999.

  ABOUT THE EDITORS

  Peter T. Coleman holds a PhD in social/organizational psychology from Columbia University. He is professor of psychology and education at Columbia, where he holds a joint appointment at Teachers College and the Earth Institute and teaches courses in conflict resolution, social psychology, and social science research. He is also the director of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University; chair of Columbia University’s Advanced Consortium on Cooperation, Conflict, and Complexity; and a research affiliate of the International Center for Complexity and Conflict at the Warsaw School for Social Psychology in Warsaw, Poland. He currently conducts research on the optimality of motivational dynamics in conflict, power asymmetries and conflict, intractable conflict, multicultural conflict, justice and conflict, environmental conflict, mediation dynamics, and sustainable peace. In 2003, he became the first recipient of the Early Career Award from the American Psychological Association, Division 48: Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence. He is the author of The Five Percent: Finding Solutions to Seemingly Impossible Conflicts (2011), Conflict, Justice, and Interdependence: The Legacy of Morton Deutsch (2011), Psychological Contributions to Sustainable Peace (2012), and Attracted to Conflict: Dynamics in the Emergence, Maintenance and Transformation of Destructive Social Relations (2013). He has also authored over seventy journal articles and chapters and is a member of the United Nations Mediation Support Unit’s Academic Advisory Council, a founding board member of the Leymah Gbowee Peace Foundation USA, and a New York State certified mediator and experienced consultant.

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  Morton Deutsch is E. L. Thorndike Professor and director emeritus of the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution at Teachers College, Columbia University. He studied with Kurt Lewin at MIT’s Research Center for Group Dynamics, where he obtained his PhD in 1948. He is well known for his pioneering studies in intergroup relations, cooperation-competition, conflict resolution, social conformity, and the social psychology of justice. His books include Interracial Housing, Research Methods in Social Relations, Preventing World War III: Some Proposals, Theories in Social Psychology, The Resolution of Conflict, Applying Social Psychology, and Distributive Justice. His work has been widely honored by the Kurt Lewin Memorial Award, the G. W. Allport Prize, the Carl Hovland Memorial Award, the AAAS Socio-Psychological Prize, APA’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution Award, SESP’s Distinguished Research Scientist Award, and the Nevitt Sanford Award. He is a William James Fellow of Association for Psychological Science. He has also received lifetime achievement awards for his work on conflict management, cooperative learning, peace psychology, and applications of psychology to social issues. In addition, he has received the Teachers College Medal for his contributions to education, the Helsinki University medal for his contributions to psychology, and the doctorate of humane letters from the City University of New York. He has been president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Eastern Psychological Association, the New York State Psychological Association, and several divisions of the American Psychological Association. It is not widely known, but after postdoctoral training, Deutsch received a certificate in psychoanalysis in 1958 and conducted a limited practice of psychoanalytic psychotherapy for more than twenty-five years.

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  Eric C. Marcus is a principal of The Marcus Group, a firm specializing in building the capacity of individuals, groups, and organizations through strengthening skills in leadership and group development, feedback, productive conflict, change, and related areas. Based in New York City, he has been a consultant to domestic and international public, private, and nonprofit organizations since 1984. In addition to his consulting practice, he works as a community mediator, is recent past president of the Organization Development Network of Greater New York, and works with the Global Communities Forum at Columbia University. He teaches graduate-level courses in organization development and change, organizational consultation,
conflict resolution, and group development at several area universities, including Baruch College, Columbia University (School of Continuing Education, School of International and Public Affairs, and Teachers College). He received his PhD, MPhil, and MA degrees in social/organizational psychology from Columbia University and his BA from Binghamton University.

  ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS

  Eileen F. Babbitt is professor of the practice of international conflict analysis and resolution, director of the International Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program, and codirector of the Program on Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University. She is also a faculty associate of the Program on Negotiation at the Harvard Law School. Her more than twenty-five years of practice as a facilitator, mediator, and trainer has included work in the Middle East and the Balkans, and with the United Nations, US government agencies, regional intergovernmental organizations, and international and local nongovernmental organizations. Her latest publications include “Preventive Diplomacy by Intergovernmental Organizations: Learning from Practice” in International Negotiation (2012) and “Conflict Resolution as a Field of Inquiry: Practice Informing Theory,” with Fen Osler Hampson, in International Studies Review (2011). Babbitt holds a master’s degree in public policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and a PhD in policy and planning from MIT.

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  Andrea Bartoli is Drucie French Cumbie Chair and the dean of the School for Conflict Analysis and Resolution at George Mason University. He has been at the school since 2007. He works primarily on peacemaking and genocide prevention. He is also the founding director of Columbia University’s Center for International Conflict Resolution, a senior research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs, and a teaching fellow at Georgetown University and the University of Siena. He has taught in the United States since 1994. He is a member of the dynamical systems and conflict team and a board member of search for Common Ground. He has been involved in many conflict resolution activities as a member of the community of Sant’Egidio and has published books and articles on violence, migrations, and conflict resolution. The most recent books that he coedited are Peacemaking: From Practice to Theory (2011) and Attracted to Conflict (2013). His book Negotiating Peace: The Role of NGOs in Peace Processes is forthcoming.

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  Susan K. Boardman received her PhD in social psychology from Columbia University. A psychologist, she specializes in family mediation, particularly marital mediation, using mediation techniques to keep couples together and improve communication. She served on the board of the Connecticut Council for Non-Adversarial Divorce for five years. As an academic, she has taught both undergraduate and graduate students in conflict resolution, mediation, research methods, organizational behavior, and social psychology. Her research and teaching interests include conflict resolution, group dynamics, communication, gender differences, and the relationship between personality and conflict resolution style. Her recent publications include “Peacemaking in Marriage,” in the International Encyclopedia of Peace, and “Marital Mediation: A Psychological Perspective,” in Conflict Resolution Quarterly. She has been teaching, training, and conducting research in negotiation, mediation, and communication for over twenty years.

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  Sarah J. Brazaitis is a senior lecturer and the MA program coordinator in the Social-Organizational Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University, where she teaches courses on group dynamics and improving team performance to master’s- and doctoral-level students. As part of her group dynamics course, she runs an experiential group relations conference (based on the Tavistock model of human relations training) that provides students with opportunities to learn about covert processes affecting leadership and power in groups and organizations. She has written on conducting groups in education and health care settings and the interplay of social identity and group dynamics. She maintains a private practice of organizational consulting with a focus on improving group and team performance, executive coaching, and leadership development. Clients have included for-profit and nonprofit organizations, universities, and medical centers. She received her BA degree in psychology from the University of Pennsylvania and her master’s and doctorate in counseling psychology from Teachers College. She is a member of the American Psychological Association, a fellow of the A. K. Rice Institute for the Study of Social Systems, and a licensed psychologist in the state of New York.

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  Barbara Benedict Bunker is an organizational social psychologist and professor of psychology emeritus at the University at Buffalo. Her research and writing interests are diverse but focus on organizational change and organizational effectiveness. With her colleague Billie Alban, she has become nationally and internationally known for her work systematizing a number of new methods of organization and community change that work at the systems level. She has written about them, used them in her own practice, and written two books and edited two journals about the work that is being done in this area of practice. Her books include Conflict, Cooperation, and Justice (with Jeffery Rubin, 1995) and Large Group Interventions: Engaging the Whole System for Rapid Change (1997) and The Handbook of Large Group Methods: Creating Systemic Change in Organizations and Communities (2006), the latter two with Billie Alban. She received her PhD from Columbia University.

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  W. Warner Burke is the Edward Lee Thorndike Professor of Psychology and Education and coordinator for the graduate programs in social organizational psychology in the Department of Organization and Leadership at Teachers College, Columbia University. He is also codirector of the master of arts program in organizational psychology at the US Military Academy, West Point. A diplomate in industrial/organizational psychology and organizational and business consulting from the American Board of Professional Psychology, he is also a fellow of the Academy of Management, the Association of Psychological Science, and the Society of Industrial and Organizational Psychology and was editor of both Organizational Dynamics and Academy of Management Executive. Currently he is an associate editor of the Journal of Applied Behavioral Science. He has written more than two hundred articles and book chapters in organizational psychology, organization change, and leadership and has written, collaborated on, or edited nineteen books. He has received numerous awards, including the Distinguished Contribution to Practice award from the Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology, the Scholar-Practitioner Award from the Academy of Management, and the National Public Service Medal from NASA. His most recent book is the fourth edition of Organization Change: Theory and Practice (forthcoming).

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  Shannon P. Callahan is a doctoral candidate in social psychology at the University of California, Davis. She completed her bachelor’s degree in peace and conflict studies and psychology at Juniata College and received a master’s of science from Seton Hall University in experimental psychology. In her research, she explores how the identities, attitudes, and goals of different groups contribute to intergroup relations and group perception. Her research has been funded by the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues, and has been published by the Society for Terrorism Research.

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  Peter J. Carnevale is professor in the Department of Management and Organization at the Marshall School of Business, University of Southern California (USC). He also is a senior fellow at the University of California at Los Angeles Law School, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program. His research focuses on negotiation, mediation, and decision making in organizations. His current work on affective computing and negotiation is funded by the Social-Computational Systems (SoCS) program of the National Science Foundation. He teaches negotiation classes for undergraduate, MBA, and PhD students and in various executive programs. He has a PhD in social psychology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and prior to joining USC in 2007 was on the faculty in psychology at New York Universit
y and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He has been a visiting professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and, recently, INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France.

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  Mekayla K. Castro is a social-organizational psychology scholar and practitioner. She received her PhD from Teachers College, Columbia University, and conducts research in the area of social identity threat and diversity climate in organizations. In a consulting capacity, she partners with clients to promote effective organizational development and change, diversity and inclusion initiatives, groups and teams, leaders, and individuals. She is also an adjunct professor at Teachers College, teaching courses in executive coaching, intercultural communication, and other topics.

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  Shelly Chaiken received her PhD in social psychology from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst in 1978. She held professorial appointments at Vanderbilt University, University of Toronto, and New York University and was a visiting professor at the University of Minnesota before retiring. Her seminal research on dual processes in persuasion substantially contributed to the field’s advancing understanding of social cognition and attitude change, and she received the Society for Experimental Social Psychology’s Scientific Impact Award in 2009 in recognition of her outstanding theoretical and empirical work in this area. Her dual-process model has also proven to be a particularly powerful tool for understanding and influencing information processing in ways that can help effect positive social change in a range of contexts, including negotiation and conflict, health and substance abuse, environmental behavior, and juror decision making.

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  Christine T. Chung is a doctoral student in the Social-Organizational Psychology Program at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her research is devoted to the study of conflict and culture, examined through the lens of dynamical systems. In particular, her work aims to understand what cultural parameters are fundamental to the development and resolution of conflicts and what approaches practitioners may employ to overcome cultural differences in the field and bring about integrative solutions for the parties. She is an associate in the Negotiation and Conflict Resolution Program at the School of Continuing Education, Columbia University, and she is also the recipient of the International Association for Conflict Management Scholarship and the Teachers College Dean’s Fellowship for Teaching and Diversity.