Practicing Conflict Resolution and Cultural Responsiveness within Interdisciplinary Contexts: A Study of Community Service Practitioners

Published date01 April 2015
Date01 April 2015
DOIhttp://doi.org/10.1002/crq.21115
C R Q, vol. 32, no. 3, Spring 2015 325
© 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. and the Association for Confl ict Resolution
Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com) • DOI: 10.1002/crq.21115
Practicing Con ict Resolution and Cultural
Responsiveness within Interdisciplinary Contexts:
AStudy of Community Service Practitioners
Christina Parker
Workplace confl ict is a signifi cant issue for community service
professionals. As more professions work toward developing interdisci-
plinary teams and culturally responsive practices, the potential for the
escalation of confl ict may increase as diff erent professional value systems
and confl ict management strategies converge. However, although they
are often expected to respond profi ciently to confl icts, many community
service professionals may not have had suffi cient training in policies,
practices, and structures that can provide alternative and transforma-
tive approaches to confl ict management in diverse contexts.  is article
presents results of an exploratory study with interdisciplinary commu-
nity service students who took part in a confl ict resolution course at a
diverse university in a metropolitan city in southern Ontario, Can-
ada.  e ndings show that most of these community service–related
professionals dealt with confl ict on a daily basis, much of which was
escalated by cultural confl ict, lack of professional resources and develop-
ment, and limited training in transformative peacebuilding practices.
Most participants found that cultural diversity and gender infl uenced
how they responded to confl icts in their various settings.  e ndings
have important implications for how issues of culture and diversity are
addressed and included in confl ict resolution training programs.
Professionals in the human services are bound to confront confl ict,
which is inevitably over resources, diff erent professional value systems,
and internal and ethical issues. But confl ict can also be seen in a positive
light—as signifying the need for change. If approached constructively, it
326 PARKER
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can often produce positive results, resulting in equitable access, inclusion
of marginalized perspectives, and healthier relationships. Nevertheless, the
normalized avoidance of confl ict often trumps any possibility of restoring
and rebuilding relationships and communities.
Skillful confl ict resolution practices have signifi cant ramifi cations
for community building and promoting dialogue in relationships across
interpersonal, community, and systems levels. Ultimately, proactive con-
ict resolution practices depend on the issue, context, and relationships of
those involved in the confl ict. In community-based contexts, the choices
of service providers and professionals have a direct impact on community
members.  us, healthy and peaceful communities rely on their skilled
leaders’ ability to work within an interdependent system with various pro-
fessionals. For instance, students expect that their teachers will model the
best ways for addressing confl icts (Bickmore 2005; Jenkins, Ritblatt, and
McDonald 2008), and social workers often assume a mediator role so that
they can be neutral and equitable in helping people solve their confl icts
(Kruk 1997).
Community services comprise disciplines that provide services to the
public.  ey include early childhood educators, social workers, nurses,
urban planners, child and youth care workers, psychologists, sociologists,
nutritionists, and criminal justice specialists. According to Kruk (1997),
such “human service professionals are routinely called upon to deal with
confl ict” (1). Community service professionals (CSPs) in the human devel-
opment and service fi elds (e.g., nurses, social workers, and early childhood
educators) play a vital role in helping stakeholders (students, patients, cli-
ents, and community members) resolve confl ict and develop their sense of
self and acceptance of the cultural diff erences around them.  is goal can-
not be achieved without recognizing and addressing diff erences (Kahane
2003; Kumashiro 2004; Parker and Bickmore 2012). How CSPs work
together in interdisciplinary teams is equally vital for managing complex
social issues.
Cultural and social confl icts are pervasive in our cosmopolitan society.
e roots of these confl icts can be found in competing interests and pat-
terns of access that are intangibly connected to culturally shaped beliefs,
fears, and values (Ross 1993, 2007). Responses to cultural confl ict can
reinforce (or mitigate) ethnic and social confl ict (Bekerman 2009; Funk
and Said 2004; Ross 1993, 2007). Confl ict resolution practices may
address social confl icts related to ethnic identities in diverse ways (Bush
and Saltarelli 2000; Harris 2004; Tawil and Harley 2004).
Practicing Con ict Resolution 327
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In their student years in typical professional development education,
many CSPs have had little opportunity to gain confi dence or skills for
handling social, political, and moral subject matter, especially in relation to
diversity (Bickmore 2005). For example, many teachers, both novice and
seasoned, feel uncomfortable or unprepared in addressing confl ict; thus,
they often avoid dealing with it and instead refer students to administra-
tors, or else they may step back from addressing it at all (Jenkins et al. 2008;
Parker and Bickmore 2012). Professional support that addresses the roots
of this problem, such as confl ict resolution and peacebuilding education,
may help to prepare CSPs for culturally sensitive and dialogic practices
that are centered on the client, patient, or student. However, developing
confi dence for implementing such complex resolution strategies seems to
require practice and support to engage in dissent and dialogue among peers
(Keefe and Koch 1999; Little 1993).
is article draws on the results of an exploratory study using an online
questionnaire designed to explore the types of confl ict that interdisciplin-
ary students and practitioners experience, the resolution styles they prac-
tice, and their perceptions of the infl uence of culture and gender on how
confl ict escalates.  e questionnaire also explored the participants’ experi-
ence in interdisciplinary teams and access to professional development and
resources to support peacebuilding practices in their workplaces.
e participants took part in a confl ict resolution course I led that was
tailored toward CSPs. In the course, they participated in various demo-
cratic and inclusive dialogic pedagogies that encouraged interdisciplinary
dialogue about confl ict and diversity. Pedagogies that encouraged dialogue
about social confl icts included classroom discussions, circle processes,
cooperative learning, role-play exercises, and interdisciplinary group work.
e use of dialogic and discussion-based pedagogies encouraged diverse
and alternative viewpoints and off ered greater possibilities for students’
inclusion. Course work on issues of power and diversity were designed
to help deepen participants’ awareness of their practice and contributed
to their shared knowledge in responding to the postcourse questionnaire.
As researcher, I was specifi cally interested in asking about what kinds
of confl ict CSPs in interdisciplinary contexts experienced on a day-to-day
basis and the diff erent types of confl ict management practices they used
in their diverse school and workplace settings. I also wanted to know how
practitioners’ responses to confl ict were shaped by issues of cultural diver-
sity, gender, and social location. Finally, I wanted to examine how work-
ing in an interdisciplinary team would infl uence practitioners’ responses to

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