Third Method Of Conflict Resolution example essay topic

By Katie Harms There are many different forms of conflict resolution but very few are effective and most leave a lack of respect for the parties involved. There are two main methods of conflict resolution which are authoritative methods and alternative methods. Authoritative methods are when an established authority figure, whether it is one person or many, decides the solution to the problem. When authoritative methods are used not everyone always agrees on the solution. Decisions of made by a court would be an example of an authoritative method.

Alternative methods are the use of agreement and talking out the problem. Usually the parties involved agree upon the solution and all parties involved in the conflict get a say in what will happen. In this paper I am going to focus on three ways of alternative conflict, they are facilitation, mediation, and conciliation. All of these are similar but they all vary in form and ways they are used. Also none of them require I licensed person though it is strongly recommended. I personally have used facilitation and conciliation and since I have not used mediation I will provide a scenario of a time when mediation is used.

I will provide personal insight to them all and the things that were better about all of them. First is facilitation. Facilitation is when a facilitator works as an unbiased third party that helps the two conflicting parties direct their discussion in a productive manner in search of a solution or agreement satisfactory to both parties. The facilitator is there to simply help people find a solution effectively and quickly without putting either parties needs at risk. The facilitator does not get involved unless things start to get off focus or become unproductive.

When I was younger my family and I went to a therapist, at this time my sister was having problems with her grades and our family was fighting a lot. The therapist acted as a facilitator by helping us take turns and helping us express ourselves effectively. She never got involved too much in the conversation, she more a less helped keep us on track. The conversations we had while we were there were definitely more affective then the ones we had at home but they still did not help the problems we had. Facilitation does not work for everyone or every conflict, which is why there are different kinds of conflict resolution. The second method is mediation.

Mediation is when a mediator, a unbiased third part, who helps each other party realize their interests and positions and use that found awareness to find and agreement that helps the conflicting parties. Mediation is more active and more structured then facilitation. The mediator will often say more, get more involved in conversation, and will discuss more with each other party then a facilitator will. An example of mediation is peer mediation.

In peer mediation a trained student, meaning someone who has undergone a course of learning about mediation and that other feel is competent, help their peers find a resolution to the conflict that brought them to the process of mediation. This process is not about establishing who is right and who is wrong in the conflict, it is about having them move past the immediate conflict and learn how to appreciate each other and get along in a healthy manner. Here is the outline for a mediation process that I got from and article from Teacher Talks at web Mediation Steps: o Agree upon the ground rules o Each student tells his / her story o Verify the stories o Discuss the stories o Generate solutions o Discuss solutions o Select a solution o Sign a contract Ground Rules Participants should be willing to: o Solve the problem o Tell the truth o Listen without interrupting o Be respectful o Take responsibility for carrying out the agreement o Keep the situation confidential An example of when peer mediation would and could be used is when two friends at school are fighting. A simple and quite common reason for an argument between friends is when one friend dates the guy the other likes.

If this were taken to a peer mediator they would sit down and discuss the feelings that both sides have and they would work out and agreement as to how the will get along. They will agree to treat each other civilly and be open and honest with each other. The third method of conflict resolution I am going to look at is conciliation. Conciliation is when a conciliator helps the different parties having the conflict find an understanding of the others side, side meaning attitudes, emotions, and needs.

After the parties understand those things the conciliator helps them find an agreement and a shared respect for both sides of the conflict. Conciliation helps restore or create the relationship between the conflicting parties; this is what makes it different from facilitation and mediation. When I was in Rancho Val mora, conciliation is what I believe my family and I used to resolve our problems in the family sessions we had. I believe that Chad, my therapist, was very involved and helped my parents and me understand each other better.

He didn't just focus entirely on the problem and what the results were he focused on us understanding when the others felt and thought about he things going on. One of the best examples of conciliation was when I was getting ready to discharge from the ranch. My family and I spent a lot of out family sessions talking with Chad about how we were going to work things. We agreed upon consequences for my action, how we as a family would handle high stress level situations, and most of all we agreed to listen to each other when we asked for space. I now understand how my parents feel a lot of the time and the often understand how I feel.

With in each of these methods there is a fourth one used which is negotiation. Negotiation is the word used for working out resolutions. Negotiation usually has the different parties giving up something in exchange for something else. These three methods are not the only methods out there for conflict resolution but I found that they are used quite frequently. In most of the other forms of conflict resolution there are variations of these methods. Most treatment felicities and counseling services use these.

They might call them other things or derive spin off of them but for the most part these three are the main methods used. Most conflict resolution is directed at understanding the other side and being willing to resolve it in a healthy manner.