Article Summary of "The Dynamic of Identity in Personal
and Social Conflict" by Terrell A. Northrup
Citation:
Northrup, Terrell A. "The Dynamic of Identity in Personal and Social Conflict". In Intractable Conflicts and Their Transformation. Ed. Louis Kriesberg, Terrell A. Northrup and Stuart J. Thorson. Syracuse, New York: Syracuse University Press, 1989. Pp. 55-82.
This Article Summary written by: Conflict Research Consortium Staff
In this essay Terrell A. Northrup talks about "the role
of identity in the development, maintenance, and transformation
of intractable conflicts" (p. 55). She defines identity as a
psychological sense of self as well as self as it relates to the
world. Self-definition takes place on different levels:
interpersonal, community, organizational, cultural or
international. If conflict involves a threat to identity, it
becomes intractable. In this summary I will mainly concentrate on
describing Northrup's ideas about identity conflict
transformation. Before presenting this issue, I would like to
give a brief summary of the model that she uses in analyzing the
dynamics of conflicts. It consists of five components: (1)
conflicts unfold over time; (2) conflict is a multidimensional
phenomenon (intrapersonal aspects of the conflict interact with
social or relational ones, and both of them are influenced by
higher level political, economic and social changes); (3)
conflicts evolve around multiple issues; (4) conflicts contain
realistic and nonrealistic issues; (5) power distribution among
the parties plays an important role in conflict development.
Identity, according to Northrup, operates as a dynamic. It
evolves in a party's relationships with the surrounding world.
She defines the identity dynamic "as the tendency for human
beings, individually and in groups, to establish, maintain, and
protect a sense of self-meaning, predictability, and
purpose" (p. 63). The dynamic of identity provokes changes
toward escalation and rigidification of conflict. The author
divides the operation of identity in escalation into four stages:
threat, distortion, rigidification, and collusion. The process is
sequential, with a movement to the next stage increasing
intractability of the conflict and decreasing the possibility of
de-escalation.
The Transformation of Intractability
Based on the theoretical framework described above, the
transformation of intractable conflicts involving identity issues
is not likely to happen from within. In further discussions, the
author focuses on the distinction between the settlement of a
specific conflict and its transformation, and strategies of
transformation of a destructive identity dynamic.
Settlement versus Transformation
In order to understand the difference between settlement and
transformation, the author looks at different levels where change
in conflict can occur. Those levels are determined by how strong
the impact of the change is on the core identity. The first level
includes changes that are peripheral to the core identity, such
as those happening outside the original issue of confrontation.
Second level changes influence the dynamic of the parties'
relationships. Changes in the core identity belong to the third
level. The effect of the change will vary depending on what level
the change occurs. Peripheral changes can create settlements, but
they will not produce long-term transformation. Prospects for
transformation are better when the nature of the parties'
relationships is altered (second level). Identity changes (third
level) encourage changes in relationships and behavior. These
might not involve short-term peripheral settlements, but they
transform the conflict itself.
The second level transformation can be encouraged by a common
external threat to both parties, that would make them cooperate
and, as a result, change their perceptions about each other.
Another possible way is for a third party to intervene and force
the parties in conflict to redefine their relationships. The
third way might exist if a subgroup within a party is able to
establish some cooperation with the opponent. The final possible
way to alter the nature of parties' relationships is for
conditions to change unexpectedly. The author gives an example of
an ethnic conflict where a horrible accident happens like a bomb
killing schoolchildren. This accident can produce a change in the
way the two groups deal with their disagreements. The danger of
level two transformation is that it depends on the longevity and
institutionalization of the cooperative relationships. If the
time of cooperation was short and the new patterns of
relationships were not structuralized and ritualized, a real
transformation might not happen and the parties might get back on
the conflict track. Transformation is more likely when the
parties' self/other identities are changed. For example, they
might start seeing similarities between themselves and accept
differences. These are third level changes. They require
long-lasting efforts, but they transform intractable conflicts
more completely
Strategies for Change
Thinking of the implications of strategies for change, it
should be said that strategies that start from the second level
are the most effective. They do not produce as much pressure and
are not as threatening to the established identities as third
level strategies. In addition, they provide time to design action
plans that are directed at changing identities, without which
long-lasting transformation is unlikely. Examples of level three
strategies are psychotherapy, arresting abusers in the cases of
spouse abuse (it alters the perception of acceptability of abuse
on both sides); and dialogue groups. All these strategies start
with analyzing and changing the relationships and then move
toward identity transformation. In this article the author
establishes that identity plays a very significant role in
escalation, maintenance and transformation of conflicts.
|
