Bill Warters has been studying and intervening in and teaching about conflict all his adult life. In this presentation he will share a few illustrative and sometimes humorous stories from the field. Along the way we’ll review some key concepts related to conflict, community- building and the development of local cultures of dispute resolution. Bill will draw on his social ecology and urban ethnography and symbolic interactionist training to Nerd things up a bit.

1. Working
with
and
Learning
from
Conflicts
Tales from the Field
Bill
Warters,
Ph.D.
Academic
Director,
MA
in
Dispute
Resolu:on,
Dept.
of
Communica:on,
Wayne
State
University

2. The
Plan
• Share
Some
Stories
about
my
journey
to
current
job
as
MADR
Director
• Review
Some
Theories
related
to
conflict
interven:on
• Try
an
Interac=ve
“Experiment”
with
willing
nerds
In
honor
of
Back
to
School
Theme,
I’ll
acknowledge
some
teachers
who
rocked!

3. I
was
warmed
by
a
Cauldron
of
Conflict
MY
DAD
WORKED
AT
U.S.
STEEL
HOMESTEAD
WORKS
PITTSBURGH,
PA

4. 1892
On
the
bank
of
the
Monongahela
River,
locked-­‐out
steelworkers
confronted
a
private
army
of
Pinkerton
agents
hired
by
CEO
Henry
Frick
as
they
aMempted
to
land
and
secure
the
mill.
The
baMle
was
soon
joined,
and
raged
throughout
the
day
with
gunfire,
burning
oil,
and
cannon.
At
day's
end,
the
Pinkertons
surrendered.
Seven
workers
and
three
Pinkerton
"detec=ves"
lay
dead,
with
others
wounded.
Effigy
of
a
Manager

5. Me
My
Big
Brother
At
Home,
Family
Harmony,
more
or
less

6. Me
The
Amazing
Mutable
Dad

7. Three
Inves=gators
Club!
“No
Case
Too
Small”

8. Listening
to
the
Neighbors
• “This
is
what
I
think
of
your
goddamn
dinner!”

9. I
was
a
Boy
Scout,
literally
Me,
First
Hipster
Scout?

10. The
Summer
Camp
from
Hell
Senior
Patrol
Leader
Training
with
an
ex-­‐Marine
Push-­‐ups
in
the
Mud
Forced
March
with
Packs
“Lifesaving”
with
a
Slippery
Bully
Silent
ORDEAL

11. There
Has
Got
to
Be
Something
BeMer…
Lis:ng
in
back
for
Social
Ecology
Ins:tute
in
Vermont

12. The
Summer
Camp
from
Heaven
The
Social
Ecology
Ins=tute
at
Goddard
College
Urban
Anthropologist
Dan
Chodorkoff
My
First
College
Professor!
Great
Young
Adult
Novel

13. Utopia
Class
My
First
College
Class!
What
About
When
Conflicts
Happen?
Illustra=on
from
Sir
Thomas
More’s
book
Utopia
(1516)

14. Murry
Bookchin,
Social
Anarchist
Source
of
a
Conflict

15. Solar
House
Model
Girl
Who
Wants
a
Dollhouse

16. Theorist
–
Jerold
S.
Auerbach
Historical
study
of
Conflict
Resolu:on
Prac:ces
in
Colonial
North
America
“Law
Begins
Where
Community
Ends”
Auerbach
says
that
the
community
is
usually
based
on
the
following
shared
elements
• geography
• ideology
• piety
• ethnicity
• commercial
pursuits
There
has
been
a
LONG
tradi8on
of
an8-­‐lawyer
sen8ment
in
U.S.

17. Go
West
Young
Man!
Sam
had
a
Volkswagen
Camper
Bus
and
Wanted
to
Travel

19. Berkeley,
California
• Needed
to
establish
residency
for
in-­‐state
tui:on
at
University
of
California,
Santa
Cruz
• Moved
into
a
Household
in
Berkeley
populated
by
street
ar:sts
• Dream
Story
tells
amazing
tales
of
the
mysterious
Rainbow
Gathering
• Clashes
and
Conflicts
Among
Street
Ar:sts
and
the
People’s
Park
LoMery
System

20. Rainbow
Gathering!

21. Onward
to
Kresge
College,
UCSC
As
West
as
You
Can
Get!

22. UCSC
Learning
Opportuni=es
• Introduc=on
to
Feminism
with
Be_na
Aptheker
• Women
Against
Rape
and
confronta:ons
(note
re
Nils
Chris:e,
Conflicts
as
Property)
• Men
Against
Rape
• Resource
Center
for
Nonviolence
(my
survey)
• Michael
Lowy
–
Anthropologist
turned
Lawyer
(worked
in
Ghana
-­‐
Moots
compared
with
Colonial
Courts)
• Community
Boards
Program

23. Raymond
Shonholtz

24. Community
Boards
in
Ac=on

25. UCSC
Family
Student
Housing
Media:on
Project
Bill
Future
director
of
county-­‐
wide
CRC

26. Conflict
Theory
Time
Educators
for
Social
Responsibility

27. Some
Theories
About
Conflict
Interven:on
Roles
A
Con=nuum
of
“=ons”

28. Ron
and
Roxanne
Claassen’s
Model
from
A
Discipline
that
Restores
Circled
element
indicates
who
has
the
power
to
decide
in
this
Context
X
=
outsider
to
conflict,
maybe
teacher
or
mediator

29. Dispute
Systems
Design

30. DS
Design
Principles
• 1.
Put
the
focus
on
interests.
• 2.
Provide
low-­‐cost
rights
and
power
backups.
• 3.
Build
in
"loop-­‐backs"
to
nego:a:on.
• 4.
Build
in
consulta:on
before,
feedback
ajer.
• 5.
Arrange
procedures
in
a
low-­‐to-­‐high-­‐cost
sequence.
• 6.
Provide
the
necessary
mo:va:on,
skills,
and
resources.

31. Jennifer
Lynch’s
elaborated
example
Uses
different
shapes
to
indicate
primary
focus
of
approach

32. 33
Lynch
Spectrum
of
Conflict
Management
Op:ons™
No outcome
prediction
Outcome
prediction
• Complaint
investigation
• Fact-finding
Joint Stakeholder
decision
• peer panel
© 1998+2002 Jennifer Lynch, Q.C. (adapted from Costantino/Merchant)
Prevention
Problem-solving Facilitation
Fact-finding
Advisory
Hybrids
Med/Arb
Power decisions
• Manager
• Enforcement officer
• Arbitration
• Peer/stakeholder
adjudication
• Tribunal/Agency
• Court
• Conflict coaching
• Interest based negotiation
• Ombudsperson/internal neutral
• Options development
• Conciliation
• Facilitation
(ex: partnering,
workshops for key
decision-makers;
group processes)
• Mediation
• Process
convening
• Process mediation
• ADR/CM practice manual
• ADR/CM pledges
• Alignment initiatives
• Central co-ordination of conflict management
• Communication strategy organization-wide
• Communications tools, web
• Conflict assessment at commencement of project/contract
• Conflict behavior assessment and coaching
• Contract co-development
• Conflict management core competency
• Conflict management system governance
• Contract clauses re: CM or DR
• Data base tracking system
• Flexible iterative system
• Industry/customer communications/interface
• Listening
• Management style: relationship management
• Mission / vision / values consistent with CM philosophy
• Ombudsperson / internal neutral
• Open door practice
• Organization-wide CM policy
• Partnering / team-building workshops
• Performance measurement of conflict competence
• Project/contract governance
• Referring
• Rewards
• Senior level championship
• Support: centres; individuals
• System monitoring and evaluation
• Training - interest based / critical mass / just in time
• Early neutral
evaluation
• Mini-trial
• Neutral evaluation
• Non-binding
arbitration
• Ombudsperson
Rights based

33. Donald
Black
on
3rd
Par=es
in
Conflict
Power
of
Law
tends
to
flow
downhill,
power
and
status
maMers
in
dispute
resolu:on
Typology of Third Parties!

34. Social
Conflict
Roles
-­‐
James
Laue

35. James
Laue’s
3rd
Party
Roles
• Activist (:ed
to
dispute)!
• Advocate (lawyer
or
manager)!
• Mediator (concerned
with
par:es)!
• Researcher (journalist
or
social
scien:st)!
• Enforcer (Arbitrator/Judge/Police)
Laue, J. H. (1982), Ethical Considerations in Choosing Intervention Roles. Peace & Change, 8: 29–41

36. The
Third
Side
–
Bill
Ury
Third Side!
• as per William Ury in The Third Side: Why We Fight and How
We Can Stop
see
hMp://www.thirdside.org

37. 3rd
Side
Roles
• Provider - Enabling People to Meet Their Needs
• Teacher - Giving People Skills to Handle Conflict
• Bridge-Builder - Forging Relationships Across Lines of
Conflict
• Mediator - Reconciling Conflicting Interests
• Arbiter - Determining Disputed Rights
• Equalizer - Democratizing Power
• Healer - Repairing Injured Relationships
• Witness - Paying Attention to Escalation
• Referee - Setting Limits to Fighting
• Peacekeeper - Providing Protection

38. ESCRO
Project
• East
Side
Conflict
Resolu:on
Outreach
project
• Unity
in
the
Community
Resource
Fair
– Saturday,
October
4th,
1-­‐3:30
pm
at
Harper
Woods
High
School

39. Stages
of
Change
-­‐
Adam
Curle

41. hdp://madr.comm.wayne.edu

42. Interac:ve
Ac:vity
Untangling
the
Human
Knot

43. w.warters@wayne.edu
@bwarters
Thank
You!