Tools in Network: an E-Net Approach to Sharing Mediation Competences.

Forms of conflict

Each conflict is different, but they all have some common features:

a) each conflict has it own background, i.e. what we see from the outside is usually only the climax of previously emerged tensions;

b) the tension or intensity level of a conflict is not static, but can increase or decrease in time or even within a single argument. If a conflict grows, any action contributes to increase tension in the other party too. If, on the contrary, a conflict is reduced, the tension between the parties slackens too;

c) in a conflict each party has a different perception of things seen or heard: there is often a discrepancy between reality and what the parties see as reality.

Conflict can be constructive when deep communication arises, when important issues are voiced, when repressed fears and anxiety are released. Conflict can therefore be a vital and positive event and lead to a greater understanding of reality, determine and promote creative solutions, stimulate individual and social change, allow the creation of new relationships and renovate old ones. Conflict is destructive when it causes the loss of trust and confidentiality, of self-confidence and personal safety, or when it becomes a mere energy expenditure and diverts the attention from the important aspects of the issue at stake. It can also be destructive when it thwarts creativity and productivity, when it stiffens positions and attitudes due to aggressive or violent behaviours (Rubin, 1994).

An investigation into the interests and problems at the basis of conflicts does not necessarily result in the fact that behind every "manifest" conflict lie different interests or different needs. Hurt feelings or emotional interests can also be at play (as for instance the need for satisfaction and acknowledgement). Moreover, a conflict can hide disturbed relationships (for instance a patriarchal and dependent power relation) or personal problems (for instance inhibition) Different values (freedom vs. order) can also generate conflictual situations. A quarrel can be originated by misunderstandings, i.e. communication problems, or there may be some important information missing which in turn influenced the position in a conflict. Also structural conditions, as spatial closeness or distance, environmental elements, economical injustice or political oppression, can create conflict.

The list of background problems could be longer. Most conflict causes overlap and in a way multiply their force (for instance emotional feelings-interests, personal problems-values-opinions). In principle, any problem area can emerge as an actual conflict. Other areas shift automatically to the potential background conflict area. The background conflict "pyramid" can also be illustrated by a "revolving disc" whose upper section is the actual conflict in that moment.

Levels and forms of conflicts vary a lot. A possible conflict classification according to the social reality in which it occurs identifies three levels:

- a micro-level of face-to-face relations;

- a meso-level of intermediate social size and complexity;

- a macro-level where conflicts concern large political and social aggregates such as societies, states and ethnical communities.

Each of these areas can show internal conflicts and conflicts between same sized units. For instance, there can be intrapersonal conflicts or conflicts between individuals at a micro-level, organization inner conflicts but also conflicts between different organizations. Complexity increases inevitably from the micro- to the macro-level as to the number of people involved and the interests at play: this means that conflicts at micro- meso- and macro-level require different strategies.