Sociology 4025
Conflict Intervention Guide


     In Paper I you learned about the conflict process by mapping
a conflict case. In the second paper, you design a strategy for
intervening to help the disputants get out of it.. You might
choose to act as mediator, facilitating a negotiated agreement
between the disputants and insuring that it was carried out. As a
mediator, your strategy would use certain tactics, such as
preparing for the mediation, reframing by the disputants, setting
rules for behavior during the mediation, and drawing up the
agreement. You might instead choose another third-party role,
such as communication facilitator, training the disputants in how
better to communicate with one another. Or you might decide that
working with the disputants separately on improving their
negotiator skills might be more fruitful. You could also combine
elements of all three roles and others.

     If your conflict is in the past, or one not involving you
personally, your intervention would be hypothetical..."I could do
(or could have done) this and that." Scenarios are a good
technique for illustrating the hypothetical if the author does
not actually intervene. Describe in some detail how it would have
happened, the possible behavior of participants, how you would
have responded and so on. If you are personally involved and the
conflict is ongoing, you can actually try out at least some of
the strategy and tactics you propose, and describe the results in
the paper.

     The paper should begin with a short recap(itulation) of the
conflict; a short paragraph summarizing your map. It is important
that the paper give enough information about both the
intervention strategy and the tactics(techniques) you use. For
example, if the intervenor acts as mediator, she or he would need
to describe how they would prepare for, conduct and follow up the
mediation session. In fact that three phase structure--preparing,
conducting, following up-- is appropriate for any intervention
strategy, and for writing it up as well. 

     You can get just about all of the ideas from the assigned
materials but an imaginative intervention might go further afield
for some additional information.