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Problem-Solving Workshops: Additional Resources
These references supplement the Knowledge Base Essay, Problem-Solving Workshops.
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Additional Explanations of the Underlying Concepts:
Online (Web) Sources
Conflict: Resolution and Provention--Book Summary. Centre for Conflict Resolution, Univ of Cape Town, South Africa. Available at: Link This summary of Conflict: Resolution and Provention, by John Burton, gives a good overview of the book. The book offers an historical and theoretical overview of approaches to conflict resolution, emphasizing a problem-solving approach to conflict resolution and the need for conflict prevention (provention). Analytical Problem Solving. Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/treatment/anps.htm [Backup Link] Analytical problem solving is an approach to difficult conflicts developed by conflict scholars John Burton, Herbert Kelman, and others which focuses upon systematically analyzing a conflict to determine the degree to which fundamental human needs of the parties are being met. In cases where there are significant unmet needs, analytical problem solving examines options for meeting those needs as a way of resolving the conflict. Glaser, Tanya and Conflict Research Consortium Staff. "From Confrontation to Cooperation: Resolving Ethnic and Regional Conflict--Book Summary." University of Colorado: Conflict Research Consortium. Available at: Link This summary of From Confrontation to Cooperation, by Jay Rothman, provides a good overview of the book, which presents a new conceptual framework for understanding and resolving protracted ethnic conflicts. Krueger, Cosima. "Informal Mediation by the Scholar/Practitioner--Summary." Conflict Research Consortium. Available at: Link This summary describes Herbert C. Kelman's interactive problem-solving appraoch to conflict resolution. This approach consists primarily of workshops which are intended to supplement and complement official negotiations. Creative Associates International. "Non-Official Conflict Management Methods: Non-Official Facilitation." , 2002 Available at: Primary Link [Backup Link] "Non-Official Facilitation (NOF) encompasses a range of methods of informal, non-directive workshops that bring members of conflicting parties together in face-to-face small-group problem-solving discussions moderated or facilitated by informal panels of outside consultants to help participants understand and resolve their conflicts." This page includes all the pertinent information regarding non-official facilitation as a tool in conflict prevention and resolution. Provides an example from a border dispute between Kenya, Somalia, and Ethiopia. Glaser, Tanya. "Reality Reconstruction Workshops--Summary." University of Colorado - Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado - Conflict Research Consortium. Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/peace/example/wehr7488.htm [Backup Link] This page is a summary of Paul Wehr's article, Reality Reconstruction Workshops. Wehr describes a number of individuals such as Herbert Kelman, who brought disputing parties together at workshops. Glaser, Tanya. "Structure: Lenses for the Big Picture -- Summary." University of Colorado: Conflict Research Consortium. Available at: Link This is a summary of a chapter in Building Peace by John Paul Lederach, entitled Structure: Lenses for the Big Picture. In this chapter Lederach presents a framework for understanding the structure of armed conflicts. The author analyzes the actors involved on a three level model, and explains a way of understanding the interrelationships between the many issues involved in typical armed conflicts. Burgess, Heidi, Guy M. Burgess and Tanya Glaser. Transformative Approaches to Conflict. Conflict Research Consortium. Available at: http://www.colorado.edu/conflict/transform/index.html [Backup Link] This site contains information about a variety of transformative approaches to conflict including transformative mediation, John Paul Lederach's conception of transformative peacemaking and conflict transformation, the analytical problem solving/human needs approach to conflict transformation, research on the transformation of conflicts from intractable to tractable (primarily done at Syracuse University), and other techniques for successfully dealing with intractable conflicts, particularly dialogue and constructive confrontation.
Offline (Print) Sources
Burton, John W. Conflict: Resolution and Provention. New York, NY: St. Martin's Press, Inc., July 1990. The author suggests that protracted conflict often arises out of unmet human needs. Conflict provention seeks to address the underlying systemic causes of conflict rather than merely dealing with its symptoms. It suggests that the best way to deal with serious social problems is to alter the structures of the social environments that give rise to these problems. Primary Link [Backup Link] Burton, John W. "Conflict Resolution as a political philosophy." In Conflict Resolution Theory and Practice: Integration and Application. Edited by der Merwe, Hugo van and Dennis J.D. Sandole, eds. Manchester and New York: Manchester University Press, 1993. The author looks at new techniques have that been developed in dispute managment in recent years. Conflict resolution has not received as much attention though. It is capable of dealing with both domestic and international conflicts, as well as in operating in different economic and political systems. But these are not the main tasks of conflict resolution. The major promise of it is conflict provention. Both goals promote conditions for peaceful transformation of the societies toward social harmony. Primary Link Rothman, Jay. From Confrontation to Cooperation: Resolving Ethnic and Regional Conflict. London: Sage Publications, November 1992. From Confrontation to Cooperation presents a new conceptual framework for understanding and resolving protracted ethnic conflicts. Primary Link Mitchell, Christopher R. and Michael A. Banks. Handbook of Conflict Resolution: The Analytical Problem-Solving Approach. London: Printer Pub. Ltd., 1996. This book seeks to to bridge the gap between the theory and the practice of intervening in violent conflict. The authors describe analytical problem-solving and outline its major goals and benefits. They also describe how to arrange and conduct a problem-solving workshop. Problem-solving workshops are meetings that take place between unofficial representatives of conflicting parties and a third party panel. The overall aim of workshops is to analyze the sources of conflict and invent new solutions. Fisher, Ronald J. Interactive Conflict Resolution. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press, June 1997. This book examines a number of issues, techniques, and processes connected to the field of conflict resolution. This includes human rights workshops for conflict resolution, the third party consultation model, and interactive problem solving. Fisher, Ronald J. "Interactive Conflict Resolution." In Peacemaking in International Conflict: Methods and Techniques. Edited by Zartman, I. William and J. Lewis Rasmussen, eds. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press, 1997. Interactive conflict resolution involves problem-solving discussions between unofficial representatives of parties to violent conflict. This chapter outlines the central goals of problem-solving workshops and gives an overview of significant contributions to the theory and practice of analytical problem-solving. It also features an extensive bibliography. Kelman, Herbert C. "Interactive Problem-solving: A Social-Psychological Approach to Conflict Resolution." In Conflict: Readings in Management and Resolution. Edited by Dukes, E. Frank and John W. Burton, eds. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990. The author describes problem-solving workshops as a forum for social-psychological analysis of conflict. Such an analysis focuses on the way interactions between the parties contribute to escalation. It also attempts to generate new knowledge and innovative proposals for conflict resolution. This piece describes both the educational and political purposes of problem-solving workshops and outlines the role of third party facilitators. Primary Link Stiefel, Matthias. "Participatory Action Research as a Tool for Peacebuilding: The WSP Experience." In Peacebuilding: A Field Guide. Edited by Reychler, Luc and Thania Paffenholz, eds. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, Inc., 2001. The author suggests that postwar development must be based on a holistic and in-depth understanding of the community's problems, the available resources, and the respective agendas of the various actors. If external assistance is to contribute effectively to peacebuilding efforts, the operational practice of aid must change. Mattias argues that participatory action research, in which researchers and social actors join forces in collective research, might be used as a rebuilding tool. This strategy promotes better understanding of post-conflict situations, allows for more integrated policy responses, and promotes a democracy in societies emerging from conflict. Kelman, Herbert C. "The Interactive Problem-Solving Approach." Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict , September 1, 1996. This piece describes the problem-solving approach, which brings together representatives of conflicting parties to analyze their joint problem and discuss solutions. de Reuck, Anthony. "Theory of Conflict Resolution by Problem-solving, A." In Conflict: Readings in Management and Resolution. Edited by Dukes, E. Frank and John W. Burton, eds. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1990. The problem-solving approach suggests that representatives of the parties in a dispute should meet in the presence of a small panel of skilled consultants to analyze their conflict and move toward resolution. The author outlines the theory behind this approach and suggests that the reframing and redefining of conflict is central to problem-solving and resolution.
Examples Illustrating this Topic:
Online (Web) Sources
Tillet, Gregory. Conflict Resolution Training for Military Peacekeepers. Available at: http://www.ciaonet.org/conf/tig01/ [Backup Link] Originally presented at the INCORE Conference on the Training and Preparation of Military and Civilian Peacekeepers, this paper is based on the author's experiences of working with Australian Defense Forces prior to their deployment on peacekeeping operations. He argues that all soldiers embarking on peacekeeping missions should be equipped with a knowledge of basic conflict resolution techniques, and should understand the roles which modern peacekeeping operations expect them to perform. Tillet goes on to outline a standard framework for training in conflict resolution. The conflict resolution training framework introduces participants to the basic principles and practices of conflict resolution, analytical problem solving and application of conflict resolution. Hicks, Donna and William Weisberg. "PICAR Sri Lanka Problem-Solving Project." Peaceworks, No. 20 , May 1998 Available at: http://www.usip.org/pubs/peaceworks/smock20/chap5-20.html [Backup Link] This brief article describes Harvard University's Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution (PICAR) that has been working to foster problem-solving dialogue in an unofficial effort to contribute to peace in Sri Lanka.
Offline (Print) Sources
Babbitt, Eileen F. and Tamra Pearson d'Estrée. "An Israeli-Palestinian Women's Workshop: Application of the Interactive Problem-Solving Approach." In Managing Global Chaos: Sources of and Responses to International Conflict. Edited by Hampson, Fen Osler and Pamela Aall, eds. Washington, D.C.: USIP Press, 1996. Interactive problem-solving workshops bring together unofficial representatives of the conflicting parties for informal meetings to analyze the conflict and generate new approaches to its resolution. This essay describes a workshop, conducted in 1987, that involved politically active women from the Israeli and Palestinian communities. It outlines the development and objectives of this workshop, as well as its agenda and accomplishments. Broome, Benjamin J. "Designing a Collective Approach to Peace: Interactive Design and Problem-Solving Workshops with Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot Communities in Cyprus." International Negotiation 2:3, 1997. A series of problem-solving workshops, facilitated by the author utilizing the "interactive management" design process, was held in Cyprus over a nine-month period with a bi-communal group of Greek Cypriots and Turkish Cypriots. Participants addressed peacebuilding efforts in Cyprus during three phases of group work in which they (a) explored the current situation surrounding such efforts, (b) developed a collective vision for the future, and (c) created an integrated set of activities that they would lead over the next two to three years. The process and the products from the group work are described, and personal reflections are offered about the context for the training, cultural considerations, political and practical difficulties, the impact of the workshops, and an evaluation of the training. Kelman, Herbert C. "Informal Mediation by the Scholar/Practitioner." Mediation in International Relations: Multiple Approaches to Conflict Management , 1992. Kelman describes his interactive problem solving approach to conflict resolution. This approach consists primarily of workshops which, "try to contribute to creating a political environment conducive to conflict resolution and to transformation of the relationship between the conflicting parties."[65] Such workshops are intended to supplement and complement official negotiations. [online abstract] Primary Link Kelman, Herbert C. "Interactive Problem Solving: An Approach to Conflict Resolution and its Application in the Middle East." PS: Political Science and Politics 31:2, 1998. This piece describes efforts to apply the interactive problem-solving approach to the conflict in the Middle East. It hightlights the social-psychological assumptions of the approach and the central components of problem-solving workshops. It then goes on to describe the contributions the ongoing series of workshops have made in the context of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The author suggests that these efforts have made a substantial contribution to the peace process. |
