Healthy Expressions of Conflict in Group Settings

"Non-anxious presence is not detachment from emotions or issues, but engagement of them without retreat or attack."

A difficult time in the life of any group occurs when serious conflicts emerge between individuals and subgroups. Often in group life the meetings and events where these conflicts are publicly and overtly expressed create uneasiness at best and outright attack and counterattack at worst. The presence of the mediator creates a new and hopefully safer environment for exploring the differences and conflicts. Family systems theory suggests at least three essential elements, and we have added a fourth, for the healthy public expression of conflict. These are useful for mediators, and leaders in general, to keep in mind in group settings where emotions and anxiety are high…

Lederach, John Paul, and Alice M. Price. “Healthy Expressions of Conflict in Group Settings.” In Mediation and Facilitation Training Manual: Foundations and Skills for Constructive Conflict Transformation, edited by Carolyn Schrock-Shenk, 4th ed., 263. Akron, Pennsylvania: Mennonite Conciliation Service, 2000.

Published by and shared with the permission of the Mennonite Central Committee, previously called the Mennonite Conciliation Service.