CONFLICT RESOLUTION

Social Work and Conflict Resolution

Social Work and Conflict Resolution

Introduction

Sometimes it seems like there is a real need for better administration in both the non profit and regular business section for the aging people of this country. For this purpose there is a need to teach an understanding of "the common good" to which the concept of social responsibility is applied. Our hope is that members of the agency community would learn how to actualize this notion in their personal and professional lives.

Hence? this paper focuses on what Etzioni (1993) calls "The Spirit of Community" and on what is termed in Habits of the Heart (Bellah et al.? 1985) as "social ecology"; the fact that "human beings and their societies are deeply interrelated? and the actions we take will have enormous ramifications for the lives of others" (p. 284). Mounting a wide range of programs? our goal would be to provide opportunities for people to practice co-operation and collaboration? and to experience a sense of the common good within the classroom and on agency. We wants to teach the skills of responsible leadership and active participation which lie at the core of citizenship (Barber? 1992; Chrislip and Larson? 1994). We could then apply these skills to social settings ranging from the family? to the workplace and other arenas of public life (Fisher et al.? 1994; Fisher and Ury? 1981; Lawyer and Katz? 1985).

One of the programs initiated would be conflict resolution and mediation. We believe that as we learn to cope with conflict and to live and work more harmoniously with each other? we would gain an increased sense of control over our own lives and the confidence to assume responsibility for the common good. The program would be designed to facilitate a climate of collaborative learning and problem solving. Instead of establishing a highly structured bureaucratic model? an informally-based organization would be created. The intent would be to orient people? connect them with each other? and teach them to internalize and apply conflict resolution skills.

This model can enable us to approach the process of teaching conflict resolution in a number of informal and experimental ways. These include studying the conflict resolution and mediation fields? offering orientation and training workshops to generate awareness of conflict and conflict management? and experimenting with several approaches to mediation. Ultimately? conflict resolution education at interfaith based agency invites people to learn how to surface and understand each other's values and belief systems. It encourages the development of a cultural ethic which perceives the conflict resolution process as a natural way of coping with daily life. We came to understand that conflict resolution is nothing other than a form of collaborative learning. As Weeks (1992? pp. 69 234) writes? reaching agreement has to recognize each party's hidden perceptions of the conflict? discover the shared needs of the relationship? focus on a plan for the future? and agree on "doubles" - actions which can be taken immediately and used as stepping-stones to ...