I present this PPT during the training for conflict resoluation in natural resource management for North Maluku Non-Government Agencies

1. Conflict resolution
Practical tools and techniques
November 13, 2013
Omar Pidani (opidani@gmail.com)
Haluoleo University, Indonesia

2. Goal of this session
Practical strategies for analysing and then responding to conflict
If you are asked to act on/in a conflict, consider carefully:
- Should you be the person trying to resolve the conflict?
- Should an independent mediator/negotiator be brought in?
Knowing good tools and techniques for understanding conflict can help you
act more constructively in a conflict situation – whether as a participant or a
mediator/negotiator
Note: this applies to many participatory processes which often involve
some conflict between participants

3. Responding to conflict
n If wanting to address conflict based on functional conflict
theory (ie use negotiation/mediation/ADR instead of courts,
power struggles) we need tools to help negotiate/mediate
n Whether a neutral third party used or not, need to:
n Be aware of common conflict behaviours
n Be able to analyse conflict and understand it
n Have strategies for working constructively to resolve conflict issues
n We will discuss application of each method/tool to Franklin
below Gordon river conflict

4. Conflict behaviours – when and why
do we act in the following ways?
n Avoidance: Ignore/withdraw from a conflict instead of facing it
n Accommodation: Give in to the will of others to appease/please them
n Passivity: Pretend nothing is wrong
n Compromise: Ensure each party gives something & gets something,
although no-one completely happy with outcome
n Aggression: Defend own position aggressively; sometimes associated with
threats, violence, war, or with little/no respect for other parties views
n Assertion: Address own and other parties issues with equal respect
n Collaboration: Want to satisfy all concerns of all parties, motivated to meet
both own needs and those of other people involved
n Problem solving: Person who seeks common ground and creative
solutions to conflict
Each can be an appropriate behaviour in certain circumstances eg if issue not
important, avoidance, compromise may be appropriate

5. Modifying conflict behaviour
n First step is understanding your normal conflict
behaviour
n Critically evaluate whether it is appropriate for
the situation
n Identify what behaviour is best
n Plan strategies for implementing that behaviour

6. Analysing and responding to conflict –
the ‘conflict models’ approach
n Different models explain conflict in different ways
n These explanations can be used to develop strategies for responding to
conflict
n We will look at the following models:
n Circle of conflict
n Triangle of satisfaction
n Boundary model
n Dynamics of trust
n Dimensions of conflict
Each is useful in different ways – it’s not a case of picking one, but using
each when it is most appropriate to the conflict you are involved in

7. Circle of conflict
n Goal: Analyse underlying causes/drivers of conflict
n Theorises five main underlying causes/drivers (values,
relationships, externals/moods, data, structure)

8. Circle of conflict
Relationships
n Negative past experience
n Stereotypes
n Poor/failed communication
n Repeated negative behaviour
Values
n Belief systems
n Right and wrong
n Good and evil
n Just and unjust
Externals/moods
n Factors unrelated to substance of
dispute
n Psychological or physiological
n “Bad hair day”
Data
n Lack of information
n Misinformation
n Too much information
n Collection problems
Structure
n Limited resources (time, money)
n Geographic constraints
n Authority issues
n Organizational structures

9. Circle of conflict – strategies for resolving
conflict
n How do you deal with each issue?
n Difficult to directly solve values, relationship, mood/external issues
n Focus conflict on data, structure, interests instead
n See strategy questions in handout

10. Circle of conflict – strategies for resolving
conflict
Data:
n Jointly assess data
n Each party explains, challenges, corrects data
n Identify & challenges assumptions people are making about
data
n Jointly gather data each party agrees to accept and rely on
Structure:
n Identify structural issues & jointly seek solutions
n Agree who needs to attend to ensure issues can be solved
at adequate authority level
n Agree on how best to use scarce resources

11. Circle of conflict – strategies for resolving
conflict
Interests:
n Identify full range of each party’s interests in the conflicts
(interest = what party is wanting/hoping/needing/fearing;
need to dig below surface claims to identify underlying
interests)
n Identify and focus on common interests
n Identify solutions that maximise each party’s interests
n Problem solve by trading low-priority interests for more
important ones

12. Circle of conflict – strategies for resolving
conflict
Values: If can’t get conflict past values issues
n Have parties share information about values
n Identify any common values
n Agree to disagree on incompatible values and shift discussion to interests
n Gently identify and encourage parties to face any conflicting values they
hold (both within and across parties)
Relationships: If can’t get conflict past relationship issues:
n Take a future focus on what needs to change
n Find out what would help each party change view of other and commit to
making those changes
n Focus on interests
n Identify small steps to build trust and start changing perceptions of
relationship

13. Circle of conflict – strategies for resolving
conflict
Externals/moods: If can’t get conflict past external issues:
n Acknowledge external issues that can’t be controlled and their
impacts
n Bring people who control external factors into the discussions
n Help each party make a plan for dealing with external issues
n Focus on interests

14. Triangle of satisfaction
n Related to circle of conflict
n Analyses ‘interests’ (wants,
needs, fears, hopes, concerns)
in more depth
n Triangle suggests these
interests can be classified into
three types:
n Result (substantive) interests
n Process (procedural) interests
n Emotion (psychological) interests
n We should work with each type
of interest in different ways

15. Triangle of satisfaction
n Result (substantive) interests
n What outcomes does each party want to achieve?
n Process (procedural) interests
n How do different parties perceive the process used to achieve a result? Is it
fair, inclusive, transparent? What are preferred processes?
n Emotion (psychological) interests
n What are the emotional goals of each party? (e.g. to win, to save face,
wanting to be heard, wanting to achieve status, wanting to feel self worth,
wanting revenge, wanting an apology…)
n Interests shift over time
n Which type of interest is most important for each party at different points in
time as the conflict progresses?

16. Triangle of satisfaction – strategies
for resolving conflict
n Focus on common interests
n People in conflict tend to ignore common interests and focus on competing
ones
n Focusing on common interests can prevent conflict escalation
n Explore competing interests to see if any common interest exist below the
surface
n Work with three types of interests differently
n Results – tangible issues, can be negotiated directly through collaborative
problem solving eg reframing, BATNA, win-win
n Process – negotiated agreed processes all accept on an ongoing basis. Ensure
all parties satisfied with process being used
n Emotion – These interests cannot be bargained or compromised; are as
important to address as other types of interests. Must be ‘expressed, listened
to, acknowledged, processed and finally let go when they are
satisfied’ (Furlong 2005: 69).

17. Triangle of satisfaction –
strategies for resolving conflict
n Move parties ‘around the triangle’ to avoid impasse
n Result impasse: get parties to agree on process they will use
to determine the result (eg letting third party arbitrator
decide). All agree to accept result of this process
n Psychological impasse: Try to convince one party to give
another a small aspect of desired result, as a means of
improving confidence & trust between parties (emotions).
Alternatively, change process to one which reduces contact
between parties eg parties communicating through third
party, to reduce emotional impact of dialogue
n Result or process impasse: Get parties to share emotional
impact of conflict to try to improve understanding of how
conflict is impacting on others involved. May lead to parties
being willing to re-engage on result or process issues

18. Boundary model
n Argues that disagreements over boundaries (laws, agreements,
contracts, rules, procedures, conventions etc) cause conflict
n Another label for this concept of boundaries?
n Behaviours have four key elements:
n Defined standards (eg speed limit)
n Jurisdiction/legitimacy (legal act setting speed limit)
n Authority/enforcement (police)
n Norms - degree of tolerance/latitude/variance (you won’t get fined unless
speeding more than 5km above limit)
Conflict caused when boundary and its norms are challenged
(eg people start speeding consistently much more and refusing to pay
fines)

19. Boundary model

20. Boundary model
n What causes conflict over boundaries?
n Lack of clarity over what the boundary is
n Lack of acceptance of who has authority to
enforce boundary
n Lack of acceptance of who has jurisdiction
over a boundary
n Deliberate expansion of boundary beyond
current norms

21. Boundary model - strategies
n Clarify and establish
n agreed boundaries
n jurisdiction
n authority
n norms allowed
Requires negotiation using the appropriate ADR
style techniques, until all parties agree on the
boundaries

22. Dynamics of trust
n Trust between parties a key issue
n Lack of trust cause of conflict
n Increasing trust can help address conflict
n Trust is complex, has many dimensions:
n Risk – we have to take risk to trust. How
much risk are we will to take
n Motives and intentions – our perceptions of
these affect whether and how much we trust
others.

23. Dynamics of trust
Dynamics of trust model examines:
n Risk tolerance – affected by
n tendency to like/dislike risk
n past experience of similar situations
n Causes and blame: attribution theory and self-serving bias
n Attribution theory: when negative event happens, we attribute cause to
someone or something
n Attribution to self: When we are involved in negative event, we assume we have
done right and outside circumstances are to blame eg other’s orders, lack of
information, lack of support
n Attribution to others: if other people involved in the negative event, we tend to
blame them instead of the situation – we blame others for causing the problems
n These characteristics result in ‘self serving bias’ which affects trust

24. Dynamics of trust
n People may make many attributions in a given situation
n Three are highlighted in the model
n Situation attribution – we assume conflict occurred due to factors
outside our own or other’s direct control
n Intrinsic nature attribution – we attribute conflict to intrinsic
nature of the other people involved (eg their personality traits).
Saying they may not consciously want to harm us, but they are
due to their nature
n Intentional/hostile attribution – we believe others are intentionally
causing us harm
n Attribution and blame

25. Dynamics of trust

26. Dynamics of trust
n How do we form attributions?
n Information/data about other groups we have
access to (bias, misinformation etc)
n Preconceptions – our values, beliefs,
stereotypes about others

27. Dynamics of trust – strategies for
resolving conflict
1) Focus on types of trust you can affect
n Interpersonal trust – often difficult to influence
n Procedural trust – you can work to improve trust in process
n Create safe environment for negotiation
n Often involves initially focussing on getting agreement on process, not outcomes
n This can build confidence
n Encourage unilateral measures to build trust eg one party gives up something in
a show of good faith
2) Attributional retraining
n If lots of intrinsic/intentional attributions occurring in the conflict, directly
challenge each party’s assumptions about other parties
n Encourage reframing of their understanding of each other
n Can help shift to less blaming, more constructive attribution

28. Dimensions of conflict
n Examines dynamics of conflict – how it develops and changes
along different dimensions
n Three dimensions:
n Cognitive/perceptual
n How people perceive conflict, themselves, and other parties. Both objective
and subjective.
n Emotional
n How people react emotionally to conflict and overlay feelings on
perceptions. We can have many unresolved emotions even if we have
notionally ‘settled’ a dispute.
n Behavioural
n How we behave in a conflict and how this behaviour contributes to the
conflict, e.g. all the conflict behaviours discussed earlier (avoid, aggressive,
assertive…)

29. Dimensions of conflict
n First, identify characteristics along each dimension

30. Dimensions of conflict – strategies for
resolving conflict
Cognitive dimension strategies:
n Gather data
n Question interpretation of data and move towards shared
interpretation
n Understand how parties define conflict
n Identify and encourage parties to challenge assumptions they are
making
n Identify data that doesn’t fit with current thinking about the situation
These strategies can help shift perceptions of conflict, help identify
what each party needs to change their definition of the problem.

31. Dimensions of conflict – strategies for
resolving conflict
Emotional dimension strategies - help parties process and express emotions
constructively:
n Listen
n Acknowledge
n Validate and legitimise feelings
n Allow venting
n Build confidence
n Remove ‘triggers’ for outbursts
n Reframing – once people feel validated and acknowledged
These strategies can help parties deal with their emotions, recognise them, and
see that other parties recognise them. Be careful – should people vent in front
of other parties, or to a neutral third party? Wrong approach can deepen
conflict.

32. Dimensions of conflict – strategies for
resolving conflict
Behavioural dimension strategies - help parties identify the following types of
behaviour:
n Aggression
n Avoidance
n Conciliatory gestures
n “Triggers” of particular behaviours
n Other behaviours that escalate or descalate conflict
n Ground rules for behaviour – establish
n Agreements – include specific sections on behaviour
By identifying and understanding behaviour, parties can work on changing
them. Achieving jointly agreed rules for behaviour particularly helpful.

33. Other models…
n Social Style – looks at how personality of
participants influences conflict, and how to
address different personality conflicts
n Moving Beyond – ‘looks at emotional
process people go through when trying to
let go of conflict and move on, a critical
process for achieving resolution’ (Furlong
2005: 21)

34. Is trying to resolve conflict always
the best thing to do?
n Bernard Mayer argues conflict resolution is not
always the best way
n Says there is too much emphasis on being a ‘neutral’
conflict facilitator
n Sometimes it may be better to:
n Help one or all parties gain power so they have equal standing
and can negotiate effectively – early resolution might
n Ensure that each party is heard – give them voices (conflict
resolution may sometimes reduce ‘voice’)
n If you think the cause is right – help them win through
strategies for improving their voice, power, effectiveness and
advocating other parties change their minds

35. More information?
Models drawn from:
Furlong, G.T. 2005. The conflict resolution toolbox: Models
and maps for analyzing, diagnosing and resolving
conflict. John Wiley, Mississauga
Reference to Mayer: Mayer, B.S. 2004. Beyond neutrality:
confronting the crisis in conflict resolution. Jossey Bass,
San Francisco.
Handouts:
Practitioner’s worksheet/strategy for each model, from
Furlong (2005)