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Constructive Conflict Guide >
Civic Knowledge and Skills That We Can Use to Help Ourselves and Our Society More Constructively Handle Intractable Conflict >
Stripping Away "Overlay" Problems That Make Conflicts Appear More Intractable Than They Really Are
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Intermediaries
One of the principal insights of the conflict resolution field is that intermediaries who attempt to approach conflict from an independent, fair, and neutral perspective can help parties work through their difficulties in ways that would be impossible for them to do alone.
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Formal Intermediaries
Formal intermediaries are ones who act as professional third parties: mediators, arbitrators, facilitators and judges. They are contrasted with informal intermediaries who play the same roles on an informal basis.
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Informal Intermediaries
It is not necessary to be formally trained to have a positive effect on conflict. Ordinary people can act as facilitators, mediators, or even arbitrators (ask parents!) to help resolve disputes.
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William Ury's Third Side
While Ury's Getting to Yes was very linear in its approach, his later book The Third Side illustrates a much more systemic/complex approach.
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Third Siders
Third siders act in a community threatened with destructive conflict as an immune system acts in a body threatened by disease. Average citizens such as teachers, journalists, artists and police officers can play key roles in preventing, de-escalating and resolving conflict. Bill Ury has labeled these people "third siders."
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Play a "Third Side Role"
William Ury describes ten roles that everyone can play to help conflicts get resolved or transformed. This introductory posts lists all ten roles; following posts describe each...
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Convening Processes
Conflict interventions usually begin with a convening process, in which disputants come together with a third party to discuss the conflict and decide on a course of action. This essay outlines strategies for doing a conflict assessment, identifying and recruiting participants, obtaining resources, and designing the process.
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Larry Susskind in the Negotiation Journal: Initiating Collaboration in the Midst of a Standoff
Breakthrough Collaboration is a strategy developed by the Consensus Building Institute to create "ripeness" for negotiation when none exists.
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Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a term generally used to refer to informal dispute resolution processes in which the parties meet with a professional third party who helps them resolve their dispute.
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Intervenors Coming to the US? A Role-Switch Thought Exercise
This exercise is intended to help people understand how recipients of conflict resolution services might feel when outsiders come in to help them solve their conflicts.
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Intermediary Roles: Ombudsing
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Neutrality and Impartiality
These are closely aligned concepts, but they are not the same. Neutrality means not taking a side in a conflict, while impartiality is about treating all parties fairly. Some mediators argue that neutrality is impossible, as we all have a side on most issues, but they can still act with impartiality--treating all parties fairly.
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Facilitation
Facilitation is a process in which a person helps a group communicate and work together more effectively. Good facilitators can create agendas, help groups communicate effectively, better understand each other and the issues, stay on task and be more creative, efficient, and productive.
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Mediation, Conciliation, and Related Processes
Mediation (sometimes called "conciliation") is a conflict resolution process in which a third party assists the disputants to communicate better, analyze their conflicts and their options and to develop a mutually satisfactory solution.
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Deliberation
Deliberation is an approach to public problem analysis and resolution that brings people together to collaboratively analyze the nature and sources of a particular problem, identify alternative options and trade-offs that would satisfy as many stakeholders as possible, and then make recommendations about the best way to address the problem.
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Trust Earning / Guarantees
Our trust in another individual is grounded in our evaluation of his/her ability, integrity, and benevolence. That's what we need to demonstrate to earn another's trust.
Colleague Activities
Practitioner Mobilization For Democracy - Launch Event Recap
A summary of (with videos from) NCDD's launch of their Practitioner Mobilization effort, seeking to get mediators and other third parties involved in the effort to encourage constructive democratic engagement.