Conflict Resolution (Recent Research 2000-2005)
Ludwig Lowenstein Ph. D. Southern England Psychological Services [2006]

An attempt to review research into the causes, types and areas of conflict and how it has been dealt with.

Conflict resolution has involved a large number of diverse areas where it occurs. There is even conflict within individuals themselves which frequently need to be modified through psychological help.

Such psychological help is rarely involved when dealing with other types of conflict, such as those involving cultural and ethnic groups, national and international disputes; conflicts within the school and home setting, and between partners in a relationship.

Among the most frustrating conflicts are those that people fight within their own heads, as they struggle with dilemmas and temptations they encounter and create. Mischel & DeSmet (2000) consider some of the main findings from psychology that address these internal battles in terms of self regulation and will power. Constructively negotiating and resolving conflict with others requires self-regulation to strategically modify one's own thoughts and actions so as to allow progress towards important shared goals.

An essential ingredient in attempting to resolve most conflicts is to cool hot impulses, emotions, and automatic fight or flight reactions that are easily triggered by the stress inherent in conflict. The cooling strategies that can help one to effectively manage internal conflict (as in goal-directed delays of gratification) through selective attention for example, have been identified to demystify the essentials of will-power. The same principles can also be harnessed for dealing strategically and rationally with diverse interpersonal inter-group dilemmas.

Most conflicts end with a loser and a winner but it is hoped that the most effective way of solving conflicts is by understanding them as well as finding win-win solutions. This involves training, mediation and developing approaches specific to the situation involved (Deutsch & Coleman, 2000). It has been realised increasingly that psychology has a role to play in promoting peace and non violent conflict resolution (Wessells, 2000). As already mentioned conflicts occur within individuals, in families, in communities, in societies, in ethnic warfare and international warfare. In seeking to solve conflict it is important to emphasise negotiation and co-operation instead of continuing with the conflict (Fuentes, 2004). A number of conflict resolution programmes have been cited in the literature but there is always a complexity of predicting how violence and other negative features can be resolved (Sexton-Radek, 2005) and how polarisation can be reduced (Collins, 2005).

Causes of Conflict

As already stated the causes of conflict occur in a variety of settings and there are many kinds of conflict. There are for example conflicts between genders. There are also differences in the way such conflicts are resolved depending on the agenda of the individual.

One study by Black (2000) indicated there were significant gender differences in the manner in which adolescents viewed conflicts. On conflict resolution tasks females were rated lower in withdrawal and high in communication skills and support-validation than were males. Conflicts also arose as a result of alcohol and substance abuse with the result being violence. In the cases of lesbian couples assessed it was noted that there was a relationship between testosterone levels and the use of violent and non-violent conflict resolution strategies. (Baker, Pearcey, & Dabbs, 2002). Alcohol it was noted worsened the situation of violent tendencies in lesbian women with low testosterone levels. Lesbian women with high testosterone levels used rough tactics (violence) equally when drinking as when not drinking. Those who identified very strongly with their ‘in-group' and also neglected the views of other groups were also likely to be involved in conflicts. Hence participants in one university study by Derlega, Cukur, Kuan, & Forsyth (2002) found respondents were more negatively involved with other groups and also this occurred in international conflicts where groups became polarised unable to view matters from the other side.

Conflict resolution studied in older African American women provided evidence that these women suffered disproportionately from hypertension and this was linked to anger inhibition (Weitzman et al. 2002). In the case of younger African American children who lived in inner city areas it was noted that such youngsters had fears of victimisation, identity conflicts and a lack of good core values (Scott, 2003).

Stemler (2004) sought social psychological theories in order to understand conflict and to facilitate its resolution. Pruitt (2004) in his book “ Conflict and Its Resolution: Theory and Methodology” surveys the various theories of the origin and dynamics of conflict and conflict resolution.

Intelligence as measured by IQ tests does not appear to be a way of necessarily being a good solver of conflicts. Much more important is emotional intelligence (Jordan & Troth, 2004). Conflicts frequently arise between cultures. It is vital to understand the causes of such conflict and ways of resolving them through mediation (Mosten, 2002) (to be discussed in the final section). Needless to say those involved in conflicts have difficulty in managing matters since the position they take are polarised so that they can only see their own arguments. Self-concept is also involved and counter arguments are often ignored (De Dreu & van Knippenberg, 2005).

Types and Areas of Conflict

There are a large number of areas and types of conflict. We may begin with the internal conflict within an individual, followed by international conflicts, family and children conflicts, conflicts within the school setting, relationship problems between partners, ethnic and cultural conflict, business and industrial conflicts, and specific conflicts such as hostage negotiations.

Internal Conflicts Within Individuals

Psychologists are involved to a large degree with conflicts that arise within individuals. This often involves constructive versus destructive strategies adopted by an individual in order to solve conflicts within their own psychological makeup (Kramer, 1989).

International Conflict Resolution

Recent research has shown that the role of national identity is very much involved in conflict resolution. As evidence of this are the experiences from the Israeli-Palestinian viewpoint and the conflicts that arise between these two bodies (Kelman, 2001). Conflict resolution is based on issues of national identity and it is for this reason that inter-communal contact in that area occurs and despite considerable effort by outside bodies it apparently continues. It is a struggle over the national identity between the two peoples, which has led them to perceive their conflict in zero-sum terms with respect to not only territory and resources but also national identity and national existence. It is argued that long-term resolutions of this type of problem, because it is so deep-rooted, requires changes in the groups national identities, such that affirmation of one group's identity is no longer predicated on negation of the other's identity. There are many other examples of conflicts between national bodies. Indigenous Polynesian cultural themes are connected to the development of powerful, culturally appropriate tools to address the long-standing conflict between indigenous peoples and modern governments (Barnes, 2002). A later study be Bekerman & Horenczyk (2004) offered insight into a new educational venture in Israel that attempted to overcome inter-ethnic conflict through bilingual co-education. This would seem to be a good way forward. The authors gathered research evidence of two recently established Arab-Jewish bilingual schools. This involved promoting socio-cultural interaction in 4 major areas: language, cultural and religious identity as well as national identity, and social interactions between the members of the school. The study showed the potential benefits of one type of inter-group contact, namely, bilingual long-term co-education, but also sheds light on the complexity and difficulties faced by all parties involved in such an adventurous enterprise.

Bargal (2004) reviewed the book evidence of “Mobilising for peace: conflict resolution in Northern Ireland , Israel/Palestine and South Africa ” authored by Benjamin Gidron, Stanley M. Katz, and Yeheskel Hasenfeld (2002). The three societies whose organisations for conflict resolutions which were studied represented cases of intractable conflicts which at least in the case of South Africa and to a lesser degree Northern Ireland appeared to be improving. The reviewer was overly optimistic in considering these to be examples of historical breakthroughs in these three societies.

Family and Children Conflict Resolution

Needless to say there is considerable conflict within families involving children and their parents. Children's perception of interpersonal conflicts was examined by Joshi (2001). This study examined the concordance between parent' assessment of their interpersonal conflict resolution with each other and their 9-11 year olds children's perception of this. 61 parent dyads responded to the 1984 Communication Patterns Questionnaire, while their children completed the 1992 Children's Perception of Interparental Conflict Scale. Mothers' and fathers' perceptions of their conflict resolution were significantly correlated. Analysis indicated that overall, childrens' perception of interparental conflict was related to their mothers' perception of the communication patterns between themselves and their partner.

An investigation of factors associated with intra-family violence towards children in Italy , showed that physical punishment to be a general behaviour in Italy . The incidence of minor violence was very high (77%) while severe violence was about 8% (Bardi, Borgognini-Tarli, & Silvana, 2001).

Colsman & Wulfert (2002) investigated how adolescents resolved conflict among themselves. Findings indicated that adolescents were less co-operative and more contented in conflict situations with other peers. Maladaptive conflict resolution styles were associated with a range of external behaviours such as fighting, cigarette smoking, drinking, and marijuana use as well as academic underachievement. Recommendations were made to design a school-based prevention programme.

It might be expected that there is considerable conflict, although not always the case, between adolescents and their parents. Smetana, Daddis, & Chuang, (2003) investigated middle-class African American adolescents' and parent' every day conflicts (n==82 families). These were examined longitudinally over 2 years. The number and frequency of conflicts did not change from early to middle adolescence, mothers rated conflicts as less intense and adolescents rated conflicts as more intense over time. Conflicts involved over homework, increased, and conflicts over the adolescent's rooms declined from early to middle adolescence. African American adolescents primarily justified conflicts on the basis of personal jurisdiction, and personal reasoning increased significantly with age. Compromise was relatively infrequent but increased with age, whereas reported use of punishment decreased. Paternal involvement appeared to be limited (Ricaud-Droisy, & Zaouche-Gaudron, 2003) especially with younger children such as those aged 3-4 years.

The effects of family conflict resolution on children's classroom behaviour was noted by Dykemen (2003). He examined the effects of a pre-refferal intervention programme in reducing acting-out behaviours of students (mean age 13.1 years) referred for special educational assessment due to behavioural difficulties and whose parents were recently divorced or separated. Before treatment and approximately 6 months post treatment, the children completed the Conflict Tactics Scale, a measurement of the use of reasoning, verbal aggression, and violence to resolve conflict between family members. This showed as reported by participating students, there to have been a reduction in the use of verbal aggression (from pretest to 6 month follow-up) and significantly reduced use of verbal aggression when resolving family conflicts. No significant reduction in physical aggression was noted. Teacher observations indicated significant improvement in classroom behaviour from the time of the initial referral to completion of intervention.

Conflict resolution among late adolescents was studied by Reese-Weber & Kahn (2005). They rated adolescents resolution of behaviour in five dyadic relationships: interparental, mother-adolescent, father-adolescent, sibling, and romantic partnership adolescent and father-adolescent conflict resolution. The results were discussed in the context of social learning theories and support for conflict resolution behaviours within the family which then spread out elsewhere.

Conflict Resolution in School Involving Children

Cunningham et al. (1998) examined the effects of a student-mediated conflict resolution programme on primary schools, (junior kindergarten to grade 5) to deal with playground aggression. Mediation teams of grade 5 students who were approximately 10 years of age participated in 15 hours of training. Following baseline observations, mediation was introduced into the playground of 3 schools according to a multiple baseline design. Mediators successfully resolved approximately 90% of the playground conflicts in which they intervened. Direct observations suggested that the student mediation programme reduced physically aggressive playground behaviour by 51-65% and this was sustained at one year follow-up observations.

Sometimes conflicts within the school setting arise due to ethnic and racial diversity (Arnow, 2001). With the ever growing diversity that is occurring in the ethnic and racial makeup of American and British schools it is urged that there is a need for teaching tolerance and conflict resolution. Some parents in fact avoid sending their children to school where they are likely to have problems due to youth violence. Multi-cultural societies however, need to pay attention to diversity and creating tolerance between individuals in those settings. This is an essential task in order to prepare children for life in such a divers, complex and inter-dependent world.

Families and school are the two most important institutions influencing the development of children's predisposition to hate and to love. Although the influence of the family comes earlier and is often more profound, there is good reason to believe that the child's subsequent experiences in school can modify or strengthen the child's earlier acquired dispositions. It is therefore vital for schools to encourage the development of the values, attitudes, knowledge and skills that foster constructive rather than destructive relations which again prepare children to live in the world of the future (Coleman & Deutsch, 2001).

At the higher level of education in a study of the Ottawa Medical School , Zweibel & Goldstein (2001) adopted a conflict resolution policy for informally dealing with complaints of abuse, harassment and intimidation, sexual harassment, and scientific misconduct or misappropriation of intellectual property. In collaboration with the University Faculty of Law, general conflict resolution workshops were provided for faculty, and mediation training was provided to this faculty designated “complaint officers” under the policy. The authors describe the policy or training and then analysing the first major incident arising after the policy's implementation: the publication of disrespectful, misogynist material in The Pelican, a medical student society newsletter.

Currently there is considerable interest in terrorism. Sexton-Radek (2002) states that focus on violence prevention amongst school age children addresses terrorism in as much as violence in their lives often involves a private terror. Terrorism-like issues of fear, intimidation, abuse are experienced by adolescent students and subsequent conflict resolution programming needed to be presented and evaluated.

Bullock & Foegen, (2002) discussed conflict resolution and common strategies used to teach conflict resolution skills with behavioural disorders. There was a heavy use of mediation, negotiation, constructive approaches to controversy and meetings. In this study, 18 students aged 12-14 years participated in the constructive conflict resolution instruction. Initial efforts to explore the impact of this programme on students were described as useful. Peer mediation was particularly valuable as noted by Stevahn, Johnson, Johnson, & Schulz (2002). These students were trained in California in the 9 th Grade of High School. The authors randomly assigned 2 of 4 classes to receive 5 weeks of conflict resolution and peer mediation training integrated into the required social studies curriculum. The remaining two classes studied the same social studies curriculum for an identical amount of time (105 mins every other day) without conflict resolution and peer mediation training. The authors investigated two issues. The first issue was the effectiveness of the conflict resolution and peer mediation training. The trained students compared with the untrained students, learned the integrative negotiations and a peer mediation procedure better applied the procedures more completely, chose an integrative over a distributive approach to negotiation, and developed more positive attitudes towards conflict. The second issue was the impact of training on academic achievement. Integrating conflict resolution and peer mediation training into an academic course promoted higher achievement, greater long-term retention of the academic learning, and greater transfer of academic learning in social studies to language arts.

Such methods appeared to increase the capacity of children themselves to solve their problems. A context for understanding the increase in school violence as a function of poor conflict resolution skills (Brinson, Kottler, & Fisher, 2004). Finally, a large study consisting of 591 adolescents by Owens, Daly & Slee, (2005) investigated experiences of victimisation and conflict resolution of boys and girls enrolled in grades 8, 9, and 10 in a metropolitan secondary school in Adelaide , South Australia . Boys reported more physical and verbal but less indirect victimisation than girls. Girls reported greater use of compromise, obliging, and avoidance than boys but similar amounts of overt anger. More highly victimised students reported less use of compromise but more use of anger and avoidance than their less victimised peers.

Relationship Problems in an Adolescent Context

The continual rise in separation and divorce can be related to problems with children, and relationships and conflict resolution is therefore of particular importance. Conflict tactics within relationships and coercive sexual behaviour are noted to be separate in phenomena (Hogben & Waterman, 2000). It was hypothesised that the severity of the individual's coercive sexual behaviour in the relationships would be related to the violence level of conflict tactics in relationships and also to a pattern of generalised psychological abuse within the relationship. It was also hypothesised that men, compared to women, would engage in more physical coercive sexual behaviour and use more violence in the conflict tactics. The study consisted of 353 university students. In the case of couples in dispute there may be from time to time be a number of psychological problems for either or for both individuals. A study by Marchand & Hock, (2000) examined the relation of depressive symptoms of and marital satisfaction to conflict-resolution strategies such as avoidance and attacking. This was carried out in a sample of 40 married couples aged 20-49 years. Depressive symptoms and marital satisfaction were powerful predictors of conflict resolution strategies. Different predictors were noted for avoidance and attacking conflict resolution strategies. Gender differences were also revealed. Conflicts on the whole produced tension and resolutions led to the relief of tensions and resumption of well-being as noted by Heitler (2000). The characteristics and behaviours of dysfunctional versus emotionally skilful individuals and couples, relating to conflict resolution patterns were discussed. The skills and attributes of the therapist using conflict resolution theory in couple therapy are also discussed.

Prayer as a conflict resolution ritual was considered of value by Butler , Stout & Gardner (2002). They noted that spirituality and spiritual practices loomed large as a predictor of individual and relationship outcomes. For religious couples, Deity's influence in their marriage was often invoked and experienced through prayer and the Deity also was regularly and significantly influenced in religious couples. Prayer was considered an important aspect of marital conflict resolution. A number of programmes have been set up to deal with high conflict cases between partners in marriage or otherwise (Neff & Cooper). Their programme, funded by a grant from Health and Human Services, is a one-time 4 hour programme which had a considerable success in reducing conflicts.

In many cases of marital conflict ultimately there is a necessity for forgiveness which if possible, is associated with better conflict resolution. This is the opposite of retaliation-type approaches where one partner or the other seeks to get back at the other partner instead of using more benevolent motivation techniques (Fincham, Beach & Davila, 2004). The comparison between husband's and wives' dysphoria in marital conflict resolution was carried out by Du Rocher Schudlich, Papp, & Cummings (2004). 267 couples were observed interacting and displaying their marital conflict. Both husband's and wives' dysphoria levels were related to particular negative marital conflict expressions and the absence of positive strategies. In comparison with wives' dysphoria, husband's dysphoria was associated with more pervasive impairment in couples' conflict strategies and its resolution. Here again, frequently depression occurred associated with marital dysfunctions.

Much as with adolescents, adult males said to rely more frequently on physical aggression whereas females relied upon verbal assertions and less on aggressiveness. This may be predicted by the early behaviour of adolescents (Vera et al., 2004). Some support was provided for mediation in order to provide better marital satisfaction by Marchand (2004). In such cases it was vital to consider the importance of wives' and husband's attributes separately and suggest directions for future research in this area. Again, there was a need to deal with individual psychological difficulties such as husbands suffering from depression and wives suffering from anxiety and depression. Brahman et al. (2005) also considered the difference between the genders in the need for conflict resolution satisfactory to both. Different styles apparently needed to be adopted. When compared with their male counterparts, women were more likely to utilise a collaborative conflict resolution style and men were more likely to avoid conflict. As collaboration was generally considered more productive and avoidance more disruptive in the conflict resolution process the study suggested that women might possess more effective conflict resolution attributes than their male counterpart.

Ethnic and Cultural Conflict Resolution Procedures

With current concern about terrorism in many parts of the world minority ethnic groups are particularly under scrutiny by the majority population. Isajiw (2000) emphasised that better techniques needed to be developed to deal with ethnic conflict and its resolution through negotiation. Psychologists have also noted that several approaches to modelling how culture influences the ways individuals negotiate interpersonal conflict. The authors Morris & Fu (2001) advocated extending their constructivist approach by incorporating principles from social cognition research on knowledge activation to consider the influence of cultures on the way negotiations are carried out. There has been a considerable emphasis on developing graduate curriculi to deal with war trauma and ethno-political conflict and its resolution (Fisher, 2003). Techniques and conflict resolution would require basic training of psychologists and other professionals in the area of mental health according to a Japanese study by Kagami, & Ohbuchi (2004). This study concerned itself with conflicts that arose between language teachers and foreign students in Japanese language instruction settings. The questionnaire was administered to 84 Japanese teachers and 214 Chinese students as well as 154 Korean students. The results indicated that when students attributed the conflict to the teachers, they chose assertive strategies, and that when attributed to themselves, compromising strategies. Also, while Chinese students tended to use such compromising strategies as co-operation and obedience when they attributed the conflict to cultural differences, Korean students did not tend to use such confrontational strategies. The teachers did not expect the students to use assertive strategies and the large gap between teacher and student perception of assertive strategies could be one of the reasons for difficulties that arose in such intercultural conflict resolution situations. The Ellison Unitary Model in conflict resolution training was advocated by Rice & Hunt (2004). The objective was to initiatel and implement inclusive community building projects using executives and professionals from a variety of fields and industries to mentor university and pre-college students. The model sought to promote ethical values and inclusion in community development. It also sought to improve the relationship in management and develop cultural sensitivity using interactive and dramatic techniques.

Conflict Resolution in Business and Industry

A considerable amount of work has been done to reduce conflict in business and industry. Only a few pieces of research however, have been cited in recent years. Imazi & Ohbuchi (2002) emphasised the importance of developing long-term fairness within organisations. This is in order to avoid conflict between employees and supervisors in Japan . It was found in this study that both perception of procedural and distributive fairness produced short-term effects (satisfaction with outcome of conflicts) and long-term effects (a positive organisational attitude). Perceived procedural fairness was increased by appropriate treatment of the supervisors, but the predictions of the authors of the study was that this effect would be moderated by the employees' identification with organisations. Unfortunately this view was not supported by the evidence.

Other Conflict Resolution Examples

Conflict between nature or the environment and human behaviour was considered by d'Estree et al., (2002). It was noted that environmental conflict arose when a party perceived that its goals regarding either the protection, maintenance, or the use of natural resources ran counter to the goals of another party. These parties included residents, industry, government agencies, environmentalists and others. Various aspects of environmental conflict were discussed, including their types, characteristics, and sources.

One recent study of hostage negotiation which is a form of conflict resolution was considered by Vecchi, Van Hasselt, & Romano (2005). “Crisis” “hostage” negotiations were described as the most significant development used by the police in recent times. They involved the importance of crisis management intervention and the promoting of peaceful non-lethal resolution of hostage type conflicts.  

Dealing With and Resolving Conflict Situations

In this section we will consider some of the strategies used to combat conflicts which will arise in a variety of areas. We will consider the role of mediation, sometimes involving the legal profession, ways of dealing with conflict relating to children and adolescents, cultural and ethnic resolutions when problems occur, and the relationship of conflict resolution and marital therapy. With the current situation of terrorism we will consider this area and hostage taking as well as other methods for resolving conflicts in society.

Strategies of a General Nature in Resolving Conflict Situations

Raider, Coleman & Gerson (2000) considered teaching conflict resolution skills in a workshop. This entailed: a) an overview of conflict; b) the elements of negotiation; c) communication behaviours; d) stages of the negotiation; e) culture and conflict; f) dealing with anger and other emotions; g) introduction of mediation. Other investigators also considered the importance of involving negotiation this being the overwhelming strategy for those presenting with disputes (Laursen. Finkelstein, & Townsend (2001) sought to eliminate the need for coercion.

There are those who favoured that conflicts instead of being confronted were actually to be avoided (Cramer, 2002). A 23-item questionnaire was completed by 63 women and 34 men using the Hendrick relationship assessment scale. This scale measured a number of indices related to conflict: conflict frequency, conflict avoidance, negative conflict handling, unresolved conflict and negative conflict outcome. Relationship satisfaction was significantly negatively correlated with all five indices apart from conflict frequency. Satisfaction was most strongly correlated to negative conflict handling, unresolved conflict and negative conflict outcome. Relationship satisfaction was independently related to both negative conflict handling and unresolved conflict.

In a political sense the single identity to conflict resolution in Northern Ireland was considered by Church et al, 2004. The hypothesis was that contact between groups reduced prejudice and hence it was considered to resolve the sectarian conflict that divided society in Northern Ireland . In recent years, “single identity”, or inter-group work has emerged as an alternative community relations approach when inter-group contact between Catholics and Protestants appeared to be untenable.

War and reconciliation or reasons to solve conflicts through reason as well as emotion was considered by Farnham (2004). She advocated rethinking the roles of reason and emotion in social theory. Focusing on the concept of reconciliation events which constituted turning points in international and civil conflicts she felt improved relations could be developed and the elimination of violence. Of particular importance was considered to be the forgiveness model and the promotion thereafter of a new relationship.

What was frequently lacking in conflict was that there was no trust between those in opposition. It was for this reason that Davidson, McElwee, & Hannan (2004) induced participants to choose more co-operative strategies and to attain more satisfactory outcomes than low trust or unequal power situations. It was of course important to aim for long-term effects of reconciliation rather than short-term ones (Baenninger, 2004).

Mediation in the Legal Profession

The courts have increasingly considered the importance of mediation and attempting to solve what appear to be insoluble problems. Such mediation is likely to approach matters differently than mere court procedures as underlying reasons for conflict are established (Welsh & Coleman (2002). This has led to an increase in training for the helping professions to work within the concept of mediation rather than confrontation. Conflicts in the family courts are particularly likely to be targets of this (Coates, 2002; Ross, 2003).

It must be noted however when mediation does not have any effect there is still a need to settle within the court system by means of imposing sanctions when necessary (Liebe, 2004). A number of investigators have stressed the importance of empathy or the understanding of the other side (Goldring, 2004). It is also looking at the needs and interests of all sides. Those who carry out mediation must maintain their neutrality and not become to involved and avoid the pitfalls of accepting one sides versions of events (Strasser & Randolph, 2004).

Conflict Resolution Involving Children and Adolescents

It is vital to teach children early the importance of co-operation and therefore the preventing of conflicts (Alexander & McConnell, 1993). Young children aged 7-9 can benefit from some form or training of conflict resolution especially in the importance of fighting fair if in fact there needs to be any fighting at all (Graham & Pulvino, 2000).

Sandy & Cochran discuss the role of developing social and emotional skills in childhood, middle childhood and adolescence with the purpose of preventing or resolving conflicts when they occur. Children need to be taught age-appropriate skills which help them to influence others and to develop empathy, co-operation and self-control. Specific skills can be taught to young children when conflict appears to be imminent such as, making an apology, telling the other person to stop, walking away and other similar approaches (Browning, Davis, & Resta, 2000). Rather than aggression the importance of assertiveness should be taught with the emphasis on self-expression within a good relationship type framework (Fodor, & Collier, 2001).

In the classroom and outside of the classroom quite young children need to develop skills to solve their problems with the peer group with emphasis on negotiation rather than power assertion (Arcaro-McPhee, Doppler, & Harkins, 2002). This way suspensions from school and violent behaviour may be prevented (Breunlin et al., 2002).

Harrison (2002) studied conflict resolution styles among African American children and youth. He found that ethnicity was relevant to styles of conflict resolution among African American children because it shaped influences in interpersonal communications, beliefs about causes of problems, and problem-solving approaches. Conflicts between peers generally were sought to respond well to mediation and thereby supported positive behaviour. Peers themselves can act in this capacity and help reduce the time teachers and administrators spend dealing with daily conflicts (Smith & Daunic, 2002; Chen, 2003; Jones, 20004). Even in the case of pre-school children many conflicts are capable of being resolved leading to pro-social solutions for very young children (Vestal & Jones, 2004). In the case of older children such as adolescents, assertiveness was also associated with effective conflict resolution in combination with parents. It was also found that nervousness was unexpectedly found to facilitate conflict resolution in vignettes with parents. In the case of conflicts with peers it was often due to disagreement over activities while with parents it was connected with pocket money. With teachers low grades given to children also led to conflict (Bobely et all, 2005).

Cultural and Ethnic Problems Requiring Conflict Resolution

In recent times there has been an increase in conflict as nations become more multicultural. Sensitivity by governments to different cultural entities is crucial in providing a dignified and respectful treatment which accepted cultural values during disputes (Tyler, Lind, & Huo, 2000). Tan (2002) illustrates multiple cultures living in harmony when he studies community mediation in Singapore . This small country contains numerous ethnicities and nationalities and is apparently able to solve most conflicts through community mediation.

Different countries however, and different ethnic groups possible require different conflict resolution procedures (Yarn, 2002). Some models of conflict resolution are noted to be replicable but others are not. It depends on the specific cultural context.

Relationship Problems

There are many pieces of research in relation to conflicts between couples within a relationship. There is only time to provide examples of a few of these.

Heitler (2001) considered 3 goals to be imperative in conflict resolution between partners: relieving symptoms, facilitating resolution of the couple's conflicts and building communication and conflict resolution skills. As in the case with other conflict situations between cultures and organisations conflict resolution involved balancing the desire to meet individual goals with the goals of the organisation such as a marital one. The importance of compromise and problem-solving were considered to be important whether it be within couples of organisations (Holt & DeVore, 2005).

Conflict Resolution in Acts of Terror and Hostage Taking

After the terrible tragedy of 9/11 more and more efforts have been made to seek to resolve conflicts based on terrorism preferable before it occurs (Weitzman, & Kew , 2002). The purpose of this is to prevent heavy civilian casualties. It is thought vital that the response to terror attacks should not lead to a degenerative cycle of violence that further destabilises countries including those in the Middle East and undermines long-term gratification and safety. In the case of hostage-taking, Cheldelin et al., (2002) when studying hostage taking in New York City found that the focus needed to be on improving race relations and reducing ethnic conflicts. The use of hostage negotiators was particularly of value in the case of hostage situations.

There is a need to understand why terrorists function as they do. It needs to be understood that terrorists predicated their actions on a moral certitude that justifies their actions, no matter what the costs are. Hence, suicide bombing is still continuing. Dingwall (2002) emphasises the importance of changing the environment wherein the dispute occurs so that conflicts had a chance of being solved. The emphasis needs to be on prevention (Schneewind & Gerhard, (2002). This is especially the case in conflicts of a serious nature between couples in a relationship. Mediation appears to be the best way forward.

Other Methods of Conflict Resolution

A method of solving conflict using a two-chair dialogue between client and therapist was considered of particular value by Greenberg (1992) with an ultimate emphasis on forgiveness, especially in personal relationships and workplace conflicts (Butler & Mullis, 2001).

A novel way of reducing the tension and conflicts between individuals and groups is that of music therapy. This should be used before the commencement of efforts to solve personal and other problems via conflict resolution (Honeycutt & Eidenmuller, 2001).

It cannot be emphasised too much that while intelligence is important in conflict resolution, emotional intelligence is particularly of value. It is shown that individuals of high emotional intelligence prefer to seek collaborative solutions when confronted with conflict (Jordan & Troth, 2002).

It is vital when solving problems or conflicts to make the aggrieved and worrying partners feel safe and secure. This is emphasised by Martin (2004), using transactional analysis in the mediation process.

Conflict-free conflict resolution (CFCR) is an emerging theory and practice of conflict resolution. CFCR aims to be unity-centred and both the method and outcomes of CFCR are attempts to reflect the possibilities of helping to create conditions of unity between individuals and communities.

References

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