Peacebuilding &conflict transformation A ... - Peaceworkafrica

e to acquire and practice methods on how to deal nonviolently with anger, frustrationand fear.Cost-benefit analysis of violenceThis indicates that the result of a violent act is a personal gain, a benefit for the oneacting violently, for instance: material things, hierarchical promotion, increase inpower, having fun — sometimes acting violently is just a ‘fun distraction’. A way outcould be to try to make the person acting violently realize that violence is avoidableas whatever can be gained by applying violence can also be achieved nonviolently.Do not moralize! If your moral means something to the person applying violence,this person would not have engaged in violence in the first place.The difference of the otherThis means perceiving the other as not having the same value as a human beingas me (the violent person). Dehumanizing the victim (thinking of the person asless valuable) is often used as a tactical tool to manipulate people to apply violence.For instance, the manipulation of people in Europe towards perceiving migrants aseconomic parasites, culturally incompatible, racially inferior, etc., makes many Europeansready to apply violence against migrants. An alternative to deal with the conflictsat hand might be to work on the necessity of empathy and recognizing humanity,and to deal with the real causes of the conflict which led to the manipulation.The use of cultureCulture is often used as a reason or excuse for applying violence, but everything — in -cluding culture moves and changes! Yet cultures tend to be held frozen and unchangingeven if these practices harm people. Only in particular circumstances and sometimesdue to conflicts shifts may occur. Keep in mind to be careful when it comes tojudging cultural issues because:▶ Many people give absolute primacy of human rights to culture, but oneneeds to keep in mind that the construct of human rights results from a particularhistorical constellation after the experiences of World Wars and other violentconflicts.▶ Within every culture and cultural group there are agreed and shared values,needs and politics. One has to balance carefully what is acceptable and whatcould be changed to ban of violent practices.8 . J u s t i f i c a t i o n o f v i o l e n c e 185