Some Key Lessons from Introduction to Conflict Transformation

Conflict is a natural part of human relationships. It can be negative or positive depending on our response, commitment, and creativity.

Social conflict is expressed in interdependent relationships, emerging when people perceive scarce resources, interference from others, and incompatible goals in meeting their needs.

Conflict analysis requires us to think about the overall picture of relationships and the specific aspects of a given dispute. Complexify before you simplify.

We can distinguish between the expression of conflict (fruit), the content and issues of the conflict (trunk and branches), and the relationship aspects of conflict (roots below the surface)…