Conflict Resolution Issues and Concepts

Conflict Resolution Issues and Concepts

What are the three best pieces of advice about handling conflict and preventing crime you picked up at the NCPC site? Any other useful ideas or approaches?

The three best pieces of advice about handling conflict were: (1) the manner in which we communicate with other in times of anger can make the difference between successful conflict resolution and violence; (2) it is important to recognize and avoid the potential "trigger points" of others in times of conflict or anger; and (3) we have a certain measure of control over the way we express frustration or anger and over the way we choose to communicate in productive and unproductive ways in different situations.

Most situations of conflict offer substantial opportunity to help minimize frustration and to resolve the conflict successfully or, in the alternative, to worsen the frustration and anger of the other people involved. The way we communicate plays a tremendous role in whether we help resolve situations or contribute to making them worse. One of the most important tools in learning how to avoid contributing negatively to conflict resolution scenarios is that most people have specific areas of personal sensitivity (called "trigger points") and that pressing those trigger points is a sure way of making conflicts worse.

Finally, we tend to make choices about what things anger us and about how we express anger in very different ways in different situations and company. We can reduce our contribution to conflict by recognizing that we can control the way we express anger and making the effort to change patterns that are unproductive in that regard. In that regard, it is very useful to be able to imagine how we would feel if different people from our lives could hear us at all times, or at specific times of conflict. For example, imagining that an elder who you respect is present to hear the way you express yourself with peers might help you conduct yourself at the higher standard that you are capable of doing in the presence of the individual you respect.

2. How important is it to "walk in the other person's shoes" when trying to avoid or resolve a conflict? Explain.

It would seem to be extremely important to be able to "walk in the shoes" of other people in any situation where the individuals involved might be prone to frustration or anger. In fact, the ability to appreciate the perspective of others in this way would help imagining the possible trigger points of the other person. Aside from getting a better view about the way we should communicate our anger, stepping into the shoes of another also allows us to consider more fairly the expectations or frustrations that anybody might feel in the same circumstances. We are less likely to experience anger if we believe that the other person is only responding in the same way we might if the situation were reversed.

3. How do you tend to handle/avoid conflict?