Conflict Resolution Education - National Criminal Justice Reference ...

that help resolve conflicts between children and
parents, couples, and tenants and landlords. Program
staff also developed a mediation curriculum
for use in Head Start classrooms. Advocates who
regularly work with Head Start families report
that the concepts and skills learned in the program
become part of family conflict management. The
consistent use of negotiation skills helps families
resolve problems without third-party intervention
and without violence.
Community Programs
Some youth-centered conflict resolution programs
have originated in the community rather than in
schools. Both community-to-school and school-tocommunity
programs make critical linkages that
enhance the quality of life in each arena. Community
programs provide a common conflict resolution
vocabulary. The focus of many of these programs
Figure 5: C.H.O.I.C.E.S. for Managing Conflict
♦ C ommand: Give clear directions and specifically state what you want the child to do in a nonhumiliating
manner—“Clean up your room before visiting your friend.”
♦ H umor or surprise: Use nonsarcastic humor or do the unexpected to defuse an explosive situation.
For example, channel kids who are bickering over a toy into a different activity—“Let’s pretend
we’re robots and clean up the family room.”
♦ Offer choices: Give a choice between two options—“You can ______ or ______,” or “When you
______, then you can ________.”
♦ I gnore: Choose not to address the conflict or unacceptable behavior by withholding attention.
♦ C ompromise: Seek a middle ground by finding a solution that partially satisfies both parties—
“If you ____, then I’ll _____.”
♦ E ncourage problem solving: Work together to explore the disagreement, generate alternatives,
and find a solution that satisfies the needs of both parties—“What can we do to meet everyone’s
needs?”
♦ S tructure the environment: Rearrange people, room structure, or objects to reduce conflict. For
example, separate kids who are fighting in the car by moving them to different seats.
Source: Beekman, S., and J. Holmes. 1993. Battles, Hassles, Tantrums & Tears: Strategies for Coping with Conflict and
Making Peace at Home. New York, NY: Hearst Books, William Morrow & Company, Inc., Publishers, p. 90. Reprinted with
permission of the authors and William Morrow & Company, Inc.
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is to provide youth with conflict resolution training
through youth clubs, churches, court referral services,
and other youth-service organizations, and
to reinforce the lessons learned through followup
training at school.
The advantages of community-based conflict resolution
programs linked with a school program are
access to common trainers and volunteers such as
youth, parents, and teachers; increased cooperation
between schools and communities; and an institutional
base for long-term conflict resolution training
in a given area. Additionally, community-to-school
cooperation provides an ongoing laboratory for
refining conflict resolution theory and for finding
a balance between theory and practice that encourages
youth to apply their training in the local living
environment. Profiles of a variety of communitybased
programs are presented in the following
sections.