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Understanding Conflict and Disputes (DR Context) - Coggle Diagram
Understanding Conflict and Disputes (DR Context)
Terminology & Elements
Key Terms: Conflict vs. Dispute
Conflict: Tension, stress, perceived threats (Low-intensity disharmony)
Dispute: Emerges from conflict, concrete action, greater specificity/intensity/legal relevance
High Conflict: Extreme emotions (anger, fear, desire for revenge), negative effects on relationship/partners/children
Complaint: Allegations of wrongdoing (e.g., bank fees, failed license application)
Grievance: Workplace allegations (e.g., victimisation, bullying)
Participants
Adversarial (Litigation): Litigants (plaintiffs, defendants), Opponents, Rivals
Less Formal DR: Disputants, Parties (widely used), Participant (advisers, witnesses), Client (used by lawyers, sometimes mediators)
Intervenors (Professionals)
Formal Litigation: Magistrates, Judges
Less Formal Systems: Conciliator, Arbitrators, Mediator (function follows function)
Generic Terms: Practitioner, Intervenor (umbrella term for non-partisan), Intermediary, Convenor
Lawyers: Partisan advisers/advocates, or independent intervenors (mediators, arbitrators)
DR Process Outcomes
Outcome: Generic term for result (Informal oral agreement to formal legal weight)
Settlement: Parties assent to specific outcomes (e.g., negotiation/mediation), may lack deep acceptance/resolution
Accommodation: Pragmatic commitment to discontinue conflict, keep peace (more than settlement, less than resolution)
Resolution: Deeper acceptance, underlying issues finalized, closure (e.g., counselling/mediation)
Adjudication/Determination: Final authoritative decisions imposed by intervenor (Courts/Tribunals: Judgments, Arbitrators: Awards)
Reconciliation: Deep resolution + understanding/tolerance (Counselling/Therapy, indirect outcome of DR)
Additional Conceptual Elements
Prevention: Strategies to avoid disputes emerging from conflict (e.g., pre-nuptial agreements, DR clauses)
Conflict Management (Two Meanings)
Generic: Embracing all forms of DR, prevention, accommodation
Specific: Developing protocols for enduring conflict situations (pragmatic accommodations)
Conflict Types
Intra-personal: Individual internally conflicted about decisions (Barrier to confident decision-making)
Interpersonal: Two or more individuals (Everyday occurrence)
Intra-organisational: Conflict within organizations
Inter-institutional: Conflict between corporations/organizations
International Conflict: Among nation states
Bilateral vs. Multi-party Conflicts
Perceptions & Subjectivity
Pseudo Conflict: Exists only in perception, based on incorrect information/fears (Correction resolves it)
False Conflicts: Based on stereotypes, accentuated by ignorance/rumors
Meta-conflicts: Conflicts about conflicts (e.g., tactics like threats/delays)
Escalation and De-Escalation
Escalation Definition: Changes in nature/scope/intensity, rendering conflict more complex, intense, and difficult to manage (less rational behavior)
Escalation Contributors (Examples)
Calling the police, sending legal letters, filing proceedings, social media
Ineffective communication, lack of independence in complaint investigation
Lawyers reframing language into legalistic concepts
De-Escalation Definition: Matters rendered less intense, acute, and complex
De-Escalation Contributors (Examples)
Acknowledgment, statements of regret, apologies, admissions of liability
Commitments to a DR process proposed by the other side
External Players: Can support de-escalation or ignite escalation (e.g., partisan supporters, non-partisan intervenors)
Dispute Diagnosis and Choice of Intervention
Diagnosis Function: Understanding history, circumstances, and complexities to choose appropriate interventions (Must precede action)
Causes and Sources (Macro-Level): Societal, political forces, evolutionary biology, human nature
Moore's Primary Sources (Opportunities for Collaboration): History/relationships, information, procedures, power/influence, structural factors, beliefs/values/attitudes, communications, emotions
Conflict Categories for Diagnosis
Goals/Objectives (Causes: Cannot achieve goals without agreement; Intervention: Focus on common goals)
Information/Data/Facts (Causes: Incomplete, incorrect, differently interpreted; Intervention: Find/correct data, use objective criteria)
Communication (Causes: Unclear, ambiguous, misunderstood; Intervention: Clarify past, adopt constructive techniques)
Resources (Causes: Competition over fixed amounts; Intervention: Expand resources, develop trade-offs)
Structural Issues (Causes: Unequal access to authority/resources/power; Intervention: Emphasize different sources of power, ensure fair process)
Relationship/Emotional (Causes: Negative feelings, untreated emotions, biases; Intervention: Validate emotions, external referrals, process control)
Values/Principles (Causes: Competing ideologies/beliefs; Intervention: Focus on tangible matters, agree to disagree)
Identifying Key Issues
Parties may not clearly perceive issues (Distorted by bias/assumptions)
Requires investigation to identify positional issues and underlying interests
Prioritization: Deal with 'easy' issues first to build positive foundation
Lawyers, Lawyering Conflict and Disputes
Transactional Lawyering (Conflict Management Element)
Core business: Promote certainty, regulate future conduct, mitigate risks (Contracts, agreements)
Strategies: Prevent occurrence of disputes, designate how disputes must be managed if they arise (e.g., DR clauses in treaties)
Lawyers and DR Processes
Roles: Counsel assisting commissions, providing legal advice/information, acting as legal representatives (mediations, arbitrations, tribunals)
Future Need: Enhance knowledge, skills, and ethics in DR due to its centrality to law and legal practice
Complex Nature of Conflict
Dimensions of Conflict
Cognitive: Perceptions, beliefs, understanding (Subjective perceptions of unmet needs)
Emotional: Subjective feelings (Anger, fear, injustice, linked to grieving process)
Behavioural: External, observable actions (Expressing feelings, pursuing concrete actions)
Dealing with Dimensions
Formal Processes (Litigation/Arbitration): Modify behaviors, focus on rights, obligations (substantive needs)
Informal Processes (Mediation/Facilitation): Deal with all three dimensions (psychological, emotional factors)
Positions and Interests
Positions: What people claim they want (Expressed objectives, often quantitative: What they want)
Interests: Reasons for positions (Underlying needs: Why a party wants something; e.g., security, reputation)
Focusing on Interests: Conducive to finding resolution options, satisfaction leads to enduring outcomes
Focusing only on Positions: Leads to entrenchment and stalemate
Cognitive and Social Biases (Unconscious)
Confirmation Bias: Selective construing of facts to reinforce pre-conceived views (Overlooking detrimental factors)
Fundamental Attribution Error: Attributing other's conduct to faulty character (Own conduct attributed to external circumstances)
Optimistic Over-confidence: Overestimating chances of success (Influenced by confirmation bias and attribution error)
Impact: Affects behaviors, emotions, decision-making; contributes to escalation
Managing Conflict and Disputes Constructively
Constructive View of Conflict: Fact of life, can offer benefits (reflection, renewal, positive social change, individual learning)
DR Processes Role: Provide structures for constructive management, allow expression of conflict/emotions (catharsis)
Conflict Coaching: Supportive professional industry for self-help approaches (Assist parties to evaluate circumstances, enhance competencies)
Criteria for Assessing Effectiveness (Qualitative Focus)
Disclosure and acknowledgment of concerns/interests
Opportunities to express stories and be heard
Supervised expression of feelings, lowering hostility
Accurate definition of disputed/undisputed issues
Agreement on agenda items and information exchange
Identification of external stakeholders
Agreement on experts/procedures (fact-finding, counselling)
Modeling of constructive problem-solving techniques
Adversarial vs. Non-Adversarial Approaches
Adversarial Behaviour: Competitive, positional, withholding information (Can occur in any setting)
Adversarial Structures: Encourage oppositional contest (Litigation, Arbitration)
Advantages: Allows presentation of case in most favourable light, public/reasoned/binding outcomes
Criticisms: Conflict-escalating tendencies, excessive costs/delays, damaged relationships, technicality
Non-Adversarial Structures: Mediation, Conciliation (Facilitate collaboration, though parties may still be competitive)
DR Practitioner Functions
Continuous diagnosis (analysis and evaluation)
Devise and refine intervention strategies
Assist parties in taking commensurate actions
Design DR blueprints for narrowing disputes
Power, Conflict and Disputes
DR Process Limitations: Cannot completely eradicate power differentials (Asymmetrical relations are a fact of life)
Challenges and Ethics
May impact just resolution, leading to unfair outcomes
Differentials challenge disputants' autonomy
Access to information (critical determinant)
Power Dynamics
Relative concept, impacted by perceptions (Stronger party may perceive disempowerment)
Assertion of power conditioned by non-power factors (e.g., reputational concerns)
All parties likely have some power resources
Sources of Power (Examples): Status, reputation, money/resources, institutional affiliations, legal merits, nuisance power
Definition: Ability to assert influence, interests, or rights in a dispute (Highly situational)