Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking paper
Conflict is a situation whereby two or more parties disagree because of the clash views, values that each cherish differently and direction that each of the party wants to take differently. Conflict is the vivid existences of the clash between the two parties that makes them either to fight or have a misunderstanding that makes them unable to share anything in common (Petic, 2005). Generally, conflicts in the society are caused by the selfish nature of the people since they only want their needs to be satisfied not putting in mind the feelings of the other party in concern. Before a conflict even gets really into a bad state, it can be settled by the two people involved in a much friendlier manner. This can be by the two parties deciding to have a friendly negotiation and reach a friendly conclusion that will favor the two of them without hard feelings afterwards. In most of the states that conflict might occur because of the difference in political or resource interests especially between the political leaders, the end result is normally wars between the diverse supporters of the government leaders. Conflicts that are caused because of such disagreements in any given state if not corrected in a faster manner can lead to numerous of various citizens of the specified nation. This is always a major blow to the nation thus must in some ways be urgently dealt with by involving international negotiators who are specialists in dealing with such situations. The international negotiators are very vital in solving conflicts that involves different nations that would otherwise lead to loss of life (Davidson & Wood, 2004).
According to the article Conflict Resolution across the Lifespan which was compiled by the authors Coleman and Fisher-Yoshida it is vivid to state that conflicts are categorized into three main states in which the conflicts can be solved appropriately. The article illustrates that conflicts is sub-divided into three main divisions which are party to party conflict, party to group conflict and nation or country to nation conflict. The party to party conflict involves the conflict between two individuals thus it is very simple to be solved and settled by the people involved in the conflict themselves while the party to group conflict refers to the conflict that involves a single person against a group or another group. This is a more advanced type of conflict and can also be very furious if not corrected and settled at an earlier state since it involves more than one individual who are in a rival.
The third category of the conflict is the most difficult of all the three categories and must be dealt with appropriately before it can come to an end. The nation to nation conflict involves the disagreement between two major nations because of an aspect that majorly makes the two parties involved to reach an extreme end of indulging into war. In most of the well know nation to nation wars, numerous people have been killed because of the fighting over of the available resources that actually cannot be shared between the two states. For instance, the conflict between the United States and the Afghanistan that lead to the loss of life and made even other neighboring countries to also suffer the consciousness that actually they never were not involved at all. Nation to nation conflicts is very difficult to be stopped and to make the two parties to come into a common agreement since the interests of the two nations are very difficult to be achieved even if the mediator in involved to solve the conflict (Coleman, & Fisher-Yoshida 2004).
There are various elements of conflict resolution and peacemaking which can be carefully followed so as to achieve a successful end of conflict without any of the party being hurt or any cases of loss of life being incurred in the people between the two parties. The fists and most essential elements of conflict resolution and peacemaking is identifying the cause of the conflict between the two parties that have the disagreement of the values or ideas. This is usually undertaken by a mediator who is actually does not know any of the two parties who are indulgencing in the conflict. The mediator can listen carefully to each of the parties carefully and separately. This is to ensure that the mediator gets the major cause of the conflict between the two parties. After listening to the first party, the mediator then also listens to the views provided by the second party without concerning or comparing with those provided earlier by the first party. After getting the main cause of the conflict, the mediator can then also involve the witnesses who were there before the conflict between the two parties broke out. This is very vital since it will enable the mediator to verify the documents and the information that were earlier given by the two parties.
The second elements of conflict resolution and peacemaking is making the two parties that are involved in the conflict realize the impact of the conflict to their lives or to the lives of the other people who are found in their surroundings. This is done by the mediator analyzing the information given by the two parties and calling for a meeting with the two parties but differently. This is to ensure that the parties involved get to know the real cause of the conflict and also to identify the possible way in which the conflict between the two parties can be stopped (Timothy, 1992). The mediator identifies the consequences of that can be caused by the conflict directly from the parties differently and asks for their own views. The mediator then can ask the two parties of the possible steps that the two parties can take for the conflict to come to a stop since by this moment, the mediator would have indentified the end results of the conflict.
The third elements of conflict resolution and peacemaking which is the final step in resolving a conflict is by the mediator involving the two parties into one general meeting. This is for the main purpose of getting the final views of the two parties and getting to know the stand of each of the parties differently but with a common stand. At this stage, the mediator gets the views from each of the parties and asks the parties to give the final step that should be done to end the conflict in the presence of the rival. The mediator then finally gives the final views of what the two parties should strictly follow to the latter to ensure that the conflict between them is settled. The two parties can then reach into a common agreement in which all of them will be comfortable with the decision that is made (Adkins, 2005).
References
Coleman, T & Fisher-Yoshida B. (2004). Conflict Resolution across the Lifespan: The Work of the ICCCR. Full Text Available By: Coleman, Peter T.; Fisher-Yoshida, Beth. Theory Into Practice, Winter2004, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p31-38, 8p
Petic, H. (2005). Conflict resolution taught early. Human Ecology, Winter90, Vol. 18 Issue 2, p31, 1/2p
Timothy, K. (1992). Review of “From conflict to resolution: Strategies for diagnosis and treatment of distressed individuals, couples, and families”. Psychotherapy: Theory, Research, Practice, Training, Vol 29(2), Sum, 1992. pp. 327
Davidson, J & Wood, C. (2004). A Conflict Resolution Model. Theory Into Practice, Winter2004, Vol. 43 Issue 1, p6-13, 8p.
Adkins, B. (2005). Effective conflict resolution should be initiated by the boss. Fort Worth Business Press, 9/26/2005, Vol. 18 Issue 39, p32-32, 1/4p
