Conflict resolution & mediation

TRAINING MODULE

Samir Calakovic | Portection Officer | 18.June.2018

 I. Introduction: What is Conflict?

Cambridge dictionary definition:

1. Conflict noun [ C or U ]

UK /ˈkɒn.flɪkt/ US /ˈkɑːn.flɪkt/

B2 an active disagreement between people with opposing opinions or principles:

There was a lot of conflict between him and his father.
It was an unpopular policy and caused a number of conflicts within the party.
His outspoken views would frequently bring him into conflict with the president.

B2 fighting between two or more groups of people or countries:

We wish to avoid conflict between our countries if at all possible

Conflict is a difference of ideas or opinions, and different needs of different people.

In a group consisting of people from different backgrounds and with different

cultural background, it is likely that you will experience some form of conflict.
Conflict can be either a positive or negative process.

Positive Conflict: A difference of ideas or opinions can be very productive in a

team environment. It can encourage creative solutions to problems and generate
innovation, variety and increased communication.

Negative Conflict: In some instances varied opinions are not productive. This is
generally because the conflict is not communicated and dealt with appropriately.
Negative conflict often leads to physical confrontation. This is usually a result of
incorrect belief that by using force, one individual or a group of individuals can
change the outcome or get what they want. Force does not change anything, in fact
it almost always makes things even worse.

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Example 1:

A group of boys is playing football, when one of them, Jacob, who is younger, pushes
unintentionally the other older boy named David, who falls on the ground. When David
stood up, he went to push Jacob threatening that he will beat him because he is stronger.

What was the conflict about? (question for the group) Possible answers: Jacob’s action;
David’s need to punish Jacob; David’s feeling that he was offended and that Jacob did this
intentionally

What did David want to accomplish by wanting to fight Jacob? (question for the group)
Answer: David’s objective was to a) make sure that in the future he prevents something
like that from happening to him and b) to defend his honor in the eyes of other boys

Example 2:

A group of people, adult and young, are using a nearby borehole to fetch water. The
borehole is located some one mile from village Narnia, and two miles from village
Hobbiton. The residents of Narnia and Hobbiton are from two different tribes, and they
use the water borehole together, until one dry season the water from the borehole was too
little for everyone. At that time, the residents of Narnia, who were lager in numbers,
started attacking residents of Hobbiton and chasing them away. They claimed that
borehole belongs to them because it is closer to their village Narnia than to Hobbiton.
After some time, residents of Hobbiton gathered in large number and took weapons in
order to go and fight Narnians, so that they can claim back the borehole.

What was the conflict about? (question for the group) Answer: natural resource (water);
the claim of one tribe that it is only their borehole

If the tribe from Hobbiton attacked the tribe from Narnia, what would be the
consequence? (question for the group) Answers: The conflict would deepen the problem,
because if there is a fight than nobody will be safe to use the borehole.

Example 3:

One day, a group of 10 young men from Mojo tribe were playing in the field, when they
saw a group of 3 young boys whom they knew are from Hutu tribe, approaching nearby
and watching them play. Young men from Mojo tribe started to discuss this, and decided
to attack Hutu boys. They did this because they know, as they were told by their elders,
that Hutu people are bad, and in the past they were killing Mojo people without any

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reason. They thought that Hutu boys should not be staying close to them, and they
thought that if they beat them, their elders will be proud of them.

What was the conflict about? (question for the group) Answer: perceived stereotype that
Hutu people are bad; past conflict between the two tribes

Did Hutu boys showed any signs of threat? Do we know for sure that someone is bad just
because in the past different people committed crimes? (discussion)

II. CAUSES OF THE CONFLICT

As identified earlier, the cause of every conflict is different need or difference in opinion
of different individuals and groups. It is important to understand these different needs.
They can be placed in several groups;

Conflict can be about natural resources (as in example 2), hate towards other tribes,
politics, difference in cultural tradition, cultural practices such as dowry, revenge and
other.

What is important to note is that conflict is a about difference, but the resolution of the
conflict is about getting something from it. The other side of the conflict is peace. All
human beings have one need in common, the need for peace.

In examples 1 and 2, which can be applied in almost any conflict, different individuals
and group entered into conflict because they wanted something to change, or in other
words that wanted their need to be fulfilled.

This is true as well in example 3, however the only difference is that in this example the
conflict was about perceived threat and dehumanization of the other tribe. Sometimes,
people hear lots of bad stories about other groups, and they think that everyone from that
group is the same, which is wrong.

III. CONFLICT RESOLUTION

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Conflict resolution is all about finding a common ground for all parties of the conflict. It
requires to understand what the conflict is about, and this can be helped by analyzing of
facts which can be named as peace drivers and peace dividers.

Peace drivers are some things that can contribute to finding of the solution of the conflict.

What can be peace drivers in example 1? (question for the group) Answers: Jacobs
apology, team spirit; both Jacob and David are from the same tribe/family; bigger need to
enjoy the game than fight; prevention of further conflict

What about peace drivers in example 2? (question for the group)

Peace dividers are some things that may deepen the conflict and differences.

What can be peace dividers in example 1? (question for the group) Answer: feeling of
humiliation; other boys laughing at David; different tribe membership of David and Jacob;
the need for “revenge”; David’s team was already losing;

IV. CONFLICT MEDIATION

In conflict mediation, there are some principles that need to be followed:

a) Identify the problem: have very clear understanding what is the cause of conflict,
what are peace drivers and peace dividers, and come with a conclusion on what
can both sides agree on.

b) Neutrality. Mediator cannot be someone who is directly involved in conflict and

who cannot be neutral.

c) Avoid the Blame Game. Generally speaking, figuring out whose fault something
is does not do any good if the goal is to fix a problem. If you tell any party of the
conflict that it is their fault, chances are you will never reach an agreement.

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 d) Accentuate the positive. It is important to find some commonalities, or create
them, between you and the person on the other end. It is helpful and empathetic
to say, "Oh boy, I know what you are going through. I've had a similar situation
just recently. Let me see what I can do about this."

e) Be very clear in communication.

Group exercise:
Example 1:

A group of boys is playing football, when one of them, Jacob, who is younger, pushes
unintentionally the other older boy named David, who falls on the ground. When David
stood up, he went to push Jacob threatening that he will beat him because he is stronger.

What was the conflict about? (question for the group) Possible answers: Jacob’s action;
David’s need to punish Jacob; David’s feeling that he was offended and that Jacob did this
intentionally

What did David want to accomplish by wanting to fight Jacob? (question for the group)
Answer: David’s objective was to a) make sure that in the future he prevents something
like that from happening to him and b) to defend his honor in the eyes of other boys

Exercise:

 Select one individual from the group who can be the mediator, and select two others
who can represent Jacob and David.

Let the mediator think about is the cause of the conflict, what are possible peace drivers
and dividers, and what can be a solution

Engage people representing David and Jacob, as well as others, in discussion. Let them
try and define what are the causes and possible solution

Discuss the possible solution that was offered.

Do the same for other two exercise. For exercise number 3, discuss what are stereotypes
and why people judge others so easily.

Stress out that PEACE is the common interest of all.

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