When a third party is engaged to intervene in a conflict, the first step he or she must take is the completion of an information-gathering assessment. This assessment step is conducted before any formal attempt to intervene in the conflict is made, and serves several purposes. It may build rapport between disputants and the intervener, clarify initial mutual (mis)understanding of interests and positions, provide the history of the conflict, and provide clues about the planning needed and intervention strategies that might be most successful in resolving the conflict (Shmueli, 2003).
For this Final Project, you will conduct your own information-gathering conflict assessment of a recent real conflict in your own community or region and use it to develop strategies, procedures, and goals for successfully resolving the conflict. You present your findings in an essay analysis.
To Prepare:
Select a real conflict from your own community or region. The conflict can be within an organization, between two groups, or within the community as a whole. It must contain cross-cultural variables. It should not, however, be a personal conflict within your family or group of friends.
Conduct research into the stakeholders involved and history and sources of the conflict. In a real-life conflict scenario, you would have the opportunity to meet at least one party to the conflict during this stage. This may not be possible; utilize news outlets, community message boards, or other resources as necessary to aid your fact finding.
Consider which forms of conflict resolution would be most effective in this conflict.
In a 8- to 10-page paper, address the following:
Briefly describe the conflict and stakeholders involved. Include a brief history of the conflict from its inception to its current status.
Describe the sources of the conflict.
Identify and analyze cultural aspects of the conflict, and propose strategies for addressing cultural barriers to effective communication or resolution.
Evaluate the ethical implications of intervening in this conflict, and propose strategies for avoiding or addressing any potential ethical pitfalls.
Identify what form of conflict resolution (negotiation, mediation, arbitration) would be (or would have been) most effective for resolving this conflict, and explain why. Explain what conflict theories, dynamics, or frameworks apply to this conflict.
Create procedures for dealing with future conflicts with this same party(ies), concerning the same or a similar issue/subject matter.
Your paper should be 810 pages
