Ch. 1. Peace and Conflict Res.

Peace and CONFLICT
RESOLUTION
UNIT ONE: Introduction
1
Introduction
 Conflict Resolution as a field of study is
relatively recent. The need for co-operative
behavior in our homes, schools, work places,
warranted an in depth study for the processes
that would assist in bringing about a
harmonious environment for everyday living.
This is why it is necessary at this point to
understand how this discipline evolved before
we can attempt its definition.
2
The Evolution of Conflict Resolution
 Michael E. Salla (2000) in a scholarly work
“Conflict Resolution,
 Genetics and Alchemy: The Evolution of
Conflict Transmutation”, gives an in depth

account of the evolution of conflict resolution
as a field of study.
 According to him, conflict resolution is
simultaneously an ancient and a new field of

academic study..
3
The Evolution of Conflict Resolution…..
 It is ancient insofar as humans have always

attempted to regulate and settle conflicts by
recourse to a variety of strategies.
 These include rule of law, political agreements,
religious authority, and of course brute military

force. All of these strategies have, to varying
degrees, emphasized the role of abstract
principles of justice, morality, and divine
guidance in ending conflict.
4
The Evolution of Conflict
Resolution….
 The theoretical breakthrough that was to
usher in conflict resolution as a social science
in the modern era was the insight that
'cooperative conflict behavior' would
eventually elicit favorable responses by other
parties in a conflict. Competitive conflict
behavior, on the other hand, would perpetuate
itself and could result in destructive behavior.
 Such an insight is by no means an original one
and can be found in virtually all societies.
5
Conceptual Breakthrough in Conflict
Resolution
 The conceptual breakthrough in discovering the
practical benefits of cooperative conflict behavior was
a key departure from the ancient set of tools that were
based on the assumption that cooperation, while
morally desirable, was in many cases politically naive.
 The conceptual insight that cooperation would elicit
cooperative behavior by both sides in a conflict was
mathematically supported in game theory where
conflict resolution practitioners examined a variety of
models to understand how parties negotiated in
conflicts.
6
Conceptual Breakthrough in Conflict
Resolution…
 It was argued that cooperation showed itself

to be the most desirable means of behaving
in conflict situations insofar as all sides in a
conflict would eventually learn they could
optimize their interests by cooperating.
 During the Cold War era, advocates of conflict
resolution argued that the nuclear arms race

could be diminished by applying the
theoretical insight provided by game theory.
7
Burton Vs Dollards
Frustration/Aggression Theory
 Burton applied John Dollard's theoretical
insight that frustration aggression formed an
important causal chain in the emergence of
violent conflict. Like Dollard, Burton believed
that frustrated needs led to aggressive
behavior and were the underlying source of
all conflict and violence. In contrast, interests
were negotiable, and unsatisfied interests
would not necessarily result in aggression
and violence.
8
Burton Vs Dollards
Frustration/Aggression Theory..
 Despite clear differences in terms of the
underlying value system that underscored
Burton's 'needs based' and Fisher and Ury's
'interest based‘ models of conflict resolution,
both models were oriented toward generating
cooperative outcomes to a conflict. Both
aimed to equip practitioner's parties with the
conceptual skills to become problem solvers
in the sense of cooperative conflict behavior.
9
Burton Vs Dollards
Frustration/Aggression Theory..
 Conflict transformation is concerned primarily

with changing the attitudes and perceptions of
the parties to one another. The insight here is
that merely cooperating to generate 'win-win
solutions' to conflict does not change underlying
attitudes, which may easily resurface and fuel
other conflicts. For example, if we return to the
above dispute between two countries over
fishing quotas, a solution could be reached that
satisfied each country's interests and needs.
10 10
The Rosenberg Model
 Rosenberg's model is relatively new, but it
promises to play a revolutionary role in changing
the way in which children are educated to resolve
conflicts and can play a major role in more
conventional arenas of conflict resolution.
11
The Rosenberg Model…
 Conflict transformation seeks to work at a
much deeper level of the human psyche (mind)
than the previous models of conflict resolution.
For the cooperative model of conflict
resolution, stress was on improving the basic
communication and negotiation tactics of the
parties in order to encourage cooperative
conflict behavior that integrates the parties‘
positions and to achieve a suitable outcome.
12
The Rosenberg Model…
 For the interest-based model, one had to
penetrate the surface level of positions and
dive into the deeper waters of underlying
interests behind the positions to generate
win-win outcomes. For the needs-based
model, one had to go even deeper into the
basic needs that underlie all interests and
form the ultimate motivating forces of a
conflict in order to achieve just and durable
outcomes.
13
Violent Conflict as a Problem
 If we want to understand conflict solution, the
logic of the problem solving-approach requires
that we think of violent conflict as a problem.
 Most often we tend to think of, for instance, a
particular country that commits “an act of
untoward aggression”. We also view with
disdain the actions of a terrorist or focus our
attention on the boundary that is in dispute or
an economic arrangement that causes injustice
and unrest.
14
Violent Conflict as a Problem…
 We may also think of the separate aspects of
the overall problem---the violent behavior
involved, the nature of the parties that
participate or the incompatible objectives
sought. As expected, one of these must be
causing the trouble, and has to be dealt with.
 When our mental frame is conditioned in this
manner, three things are possible;

 1. The inevitability (predict) of the violence,
 2. The intransigence (inflexibility )of the
parties to the dispute, and

 3. The intractability of the issues. 15
CONCLUSION
 It can therefore be seen from our
discussions that conflict resolution
studies has become relevant in
practice and as a field of study.
 The various approaches assist us to
understand the way and manner to

handle the various conflict situations
in our affairs and daily activities.
16
TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
 TUTOR-MARKED ASSIGNMENT
 1. How can the conflict resolution process be
studied?
 2. Discuss violent conflict as a problem.
 3. Discuss the evolution of conflict resolution.
17
Lecturer: Dr. Abdulkadir Ahmed
END
THANK YOU FOR
LISNING.
ANY QUESTION
18

Ch. 1. Peace and Conflict Res.

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Ch. 1. Peace and Conflict Res.

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Peace and CONFLICT

UNIT ONE: Introduction

Conflict Transmutation”, gives an in depth

simultaneously an ancient and a new field of

 It is ancient insofar as humans have always

religious authority, and of course brute military

 It was argued that cooperation showed itself

resolution argued that the nuclear arms race

 Conflict transformation is concerned primarily

manner, three things are possible;

parties to the dispute, and

understand the way and manner to

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