Conflict and Dispute Resolution Program Theses and Dissertations

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Between Law and Public Policy: A Scalable Corporate Social Responsibility Model
(University of Oregon, 2024-01-10) Salehin, Shiri; Addae, Angela
This thesis looks at corporate social responsibility (CSR) at the intersection between law and public policy while using an alternative dispute resolution (ADR) framework. With more than 99.9% of businesses in the United States being small businesses and not large corporations, there is a major market for implementing strategic changes that can have far-reaching impacts. If small businesses really can build positive momentum, how could encouraging small businesses to invest in CSR also yield a substantial positive impact? This thesis will analyze the public policy and legal landscape of CSR before providing a practical framework that small businesses can apply when seeking to implement CSR principles.
Open Access
Jefferson County, Oregon: A Historical Case Study of Conflict, Community, and a Peculiar Confluence of Watersheds
(University of Oregon, 2023-03-24) Anderson, Ian; Jarvis, Todd
Jefferson County, between 2011 and 2016, is an excellent case study of emergent water resource and environmental conflict. Three major waterways – the Middle Deschutes, Crooked, and Metolius Rivers – are examined through a Four Worlds Framework, reinforced by transdisciplinary sources and theories. Tributary creeks and adjacent interests are identified, and waterway developments are subjected to thorough analysis. The role of the Pelton Round Butte Dam Project – specifically the SWW Tower – in water conflict in Jefferson County is demonstrated as clearly focal. Similar conflicts across the watershed are addressed and shown to be linked to this central conflict. An Events Database, coded from open-source reporting, and a detailed Mind Map demonstrate the utility of the adopted transdisciplinary synthesis of methodologies; in this case, providing quantitative data for analysis, visual cues for wider communication, and raw data for simulation- or game-creation by conflict resolution practitioners. Through a synthesis of environmental conflict resolution theories, pertinent environmental science research, and energy systems analysis, a recommendation has been posited for resolving the conflict. Wetland and riparian corridor development could provide communities in Jefferson the ability to re-negotiate land and water management strategies, insulate local citizens and their interests from the effects of climate change, provide a means of resilient resource availability, and a platform to self-mediate moving forward. It is an ambitious proposition yet should be considered with all seriousness. While the environmental conflict may be emergent during the period in question, there is no doubt that it will amplify if unremedied.
Open Access
International Mobility: Perceptions on Identity and Conflict
(University of Oregon, 2022-10-26) Alboszta, Agnieszka; Girvan, Erik
This thesis presents a comparative mixed methods study that addressed the broad question: Do internationally mobile individuals, often considered global citizens, identify differently with the dominant culture and possess unique conflict styles and perspectives on global conflict? The study set side by side five college-aged individuals who had grown up in one place in the United States and five college-aged US-born third culture individuals (TCIs), who had spent at least one year growing up abroad. Quantitative measures consisted of the Inclusion of Other in Self scale (Aron, 1992) coupled with the PolVan Cultural Identity Model (Van Reken, 1996), Rahim’s ROCI-II measure (1983), and the Automated Integrative Complexity tool (Conway, 2014; Houck et al., 2014). Semi-structured interviews constituted the qualitative measure. Findings showed that TCIs do not differ markedly in their identification with the surrounding culture from domestically brought up persons, and though interview responses revealed distinctive “distance creating elements,” these all pointed to an underlying sense of not understanding and/or not being understood by members of the dominant culture, a sentiment shared by individuals in both groups. Additionally, it was shown that TCIs and domestic individuals differed little on their preferred conflict style, with the exception of an elevated tendency of TCIs toward obliging, and an inclination to adjust conflict behavior when dealing with foreigners. Setting identity results from the Inclusion of Other in Self (Aron, 1992) measure next to preferred conflict style results (Rahim, 1983) yielded a very loose, similar pattern across groups. Further, there were similar perspectives on the US conflict style and actions it has taken/is taking in two particular world conflicts. A noteworthy distinction was uncovered in the higher average integral complexity scores of TCIs, supporting earlier research findings that integrative complexity is elevated in persons who have experienced unfamiliar environments and cultures. Overall, this study suggests that identification with the dominant culture, conflict styles, and perspectives on conflict are not delineating factors in the TCI population, and anyone from either population interested in solving problems peaceably could benefit from conflict resolution theory and practice.
Open Access
PARTISANSHIP AS SOCIAL IDENTITY: USING METHODS OF CONFLICT RESOLUTION TO REDUCE AFFECTIVE POLARIZATION BETWEEN OPPOSING PARTISANS
(University of Oregon, 2022-10-04) Couch, Tiffany; Girvan, Erik
Levels of affective polarization in the U.S. have risen significantly in recent decades. Affective polarization, a form of political polarization by which partisans show high levels of antipathy towards opposing partisans because of their membership in that party, can be viewed as a form of social identity, whereby membership in a party is guided by feelings of belonging rather than agreement with ideological stances. Following the established research on Social Identity Theory (SIT), this study hypothesizes that affective polarization can be lowered using dialogic-type processes to recenter the individual identity over the social one in political discussions. Using the online platform Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), the hypothesis was tested using a sample of 60 American partisans who engaged in a short process to simulate these conditions. The results of the study were inconclusive, though methods for expanding and revising the methodology for future studies on the topic are discussed.
Open Access
Beyond Resolution: The Invitation for Self-Growth Inherent in Conflicts
(University of Oregon, 2022-10-04) TURJEMAN, EYTAN; Temam, Edgar
This thesis examines self-growth as a predominant process inherent in disputes and whether exploration of this aspect by disputants in private sessions may contribute to a more intentional growth and effective conflict management. This approach draws from spiritual and therapeutic concepts that view interpersonal conflicts as mirroring internal disharmony of the disputants emanating from the conditioned mind and inviting us to connect to our innate inner guidance of the un-conflicted core (‘Self’) to balance the disharmony. While any conflict resolution process is likely to foster some level of awareness, addressing the tension between the mind and un-conflicted Self may contribute to a shift in the perspective on the conflict from mainly an external crisis to an internal invitation to a growth process mirrored by the disruptive relationship. This can then loop back to the relationship to support more awareness of the goals and conflict management process, open the door for more self-growth, and sometimes even transcend the conflict altogether. The Self-explorative process suggested in this thesis involves finding opportunities in private sessions to connect to the Self and receive inner insights and guidance. The process uses elicitive questions, guided meditations and teaching to establish conscious communication with the Self and bring harmony to the Self-mind tension. This process can be an addition to private sessions such as conflict coaching that can provide additional skills to manage the conflict. It offers individuals who are willing and ready another dimension of exploration not offered within mainstream conflict resolution practices and can benefit people who are interested not just in resolutions but also in exploring their opportunity to transform through conflicts and establishing communication with their Self for further growth.
Open Access
Anonymity, Technology, and Conflict in the 2020-21 Portland Protests
(University of Oregon, 2022-05-10) Francis, Elise; Newell, Bryce
The murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis ignited protests around the world. Portland, OR quickly emerged as a vanguard for leftist organizing, based on principles of anti-racism, antifascism, and anarchism, leading to nightly demonstrations against law enforcement. The incentives to remain anonymous to thwart identification by police and right-wing opponents play out in-person and in online spaces, prompting new modes of organizing. Monitoring group boundaries, calling out wrongdoings, and limiting information to trusted comrades may estrange others who seek involvement in the rejuvenated Black Lives Matter movement. Social technologies create new dynamics in how activist networks can organize effectively, resolve conflicts, and endure hardship. This thesis proposes that mutual aid offers an inclusive and coalitional approach to addressing inequalities in the Portland community. It does so by leveraging the affordances of digital technologies to benefit the collective without requiring as robust a security culture as protests do and without foreclosing confrontational dissent against institutions of the state.
Open Access
A History of Roger Fisher’s Single Negotiating Text and its Application by President Jimmy Carter to the Egyptian Israeli Conflict
(University of Oregon, 2022-05-10) Simmons, Chloe; Frank, David
Single negotiating text, also known as the one text method, is a method of mediation created by Roger Fisher which allows a mediator to easily bring parties involved in complex and contentious issues toward a solution. This method has been described most famously in Fisher and William Ury’s book, Getting to Yes, and was used in 1978 by President Jimmy Carter at Camp David to broker the lasting successful peace treaty between Israel and Egypt. In this paper, I will trace the history of the method itself through an in-depth analysis of Fisher and others’ texts about international conflict resolution as well as interviews from various colleagues of Fisher himself who have also used the single negotiating text method in their own work in international conflict resolution. All of these sources have pointed to how successful the one text method might be for complex negotiations, demonstrating that it should be used as a prominent tool in international mediation.
Open Access
Solved cases and conflict resolution: Analyzing the Need for ADR techniques in intergroup communication in the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women Crisis
(University of Oregon, 2022-02-18) Mccourt, Samantha; Girvan, Erik
This project focuses on analyzing language through Critical Incident Analysis to discern whether or not miscommunication, and lack of trust, could be contributing to the staggering number of missing indigenous women’s cases that remain unsolved by analyzing the difference of experiences between those with solved and unsolved cases. The goal is to explore whether ADR techniques potentially could help by changing the communication, and trust, established with information shared through intergroup communication. This exploratory research hopes to look at whether intergroup communication factors could be connected to positive or negative outcomes.
Open Access
Proactive Versus Reactive Resolution Mechanisms for Sexual Harassment: An Argument to Extend OSHA Protection
(University of Oregon, 2022-02-18) Osborn, Sarah; Tippett, Elizabeth
Sexual harassment in the workplace is ultimately connected to the overall health and safety of workers. Thousands of workers file sexual harassment charges each year under Title VII, the federal anti-discrimination law with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. These claims include conduct such as verbal threats, confinement, coercion, and assault, either categorized as quid pro quo or as creating a hostile work environment. There are currently no specific federal workplace safety and health standards to address problems of sexual harassment, despite OSHA’s precedent. If OSHA recognized sexual harassment as an explicit workplace safety issue where the risk of violence or injury are significant, its General Duty Clause would require the employer to take feasible steps to minimize those risks. Social science supports this proposal as growing research demonstrates the connections between sexual harassment and worker safety and health.
Open Access
Designing for Equity in Collaborative Environmental Governance: A Case Study of Regional Climate Change Collaboratives
(University of Oregon, 2021-09-13) Renirie, Alexandra; Margerum, Richard
Collaborative governance is an increasingly popular method for managing complex socio-ecological problems such as climate change. While collaboration seeks to involve diverse stakeholders in the decisions that affect their lives, little research addresses how structural power dynamics impact marginalized groups’ ability to exert influence within these processes. Practitioners and scholars commonly assume that inclusive participation will advance equitable participation without critically considering the fundamentally unequal systems in which collaboratives operate. This research expands on Jill Purdy’s framework for assessing power in collaborative settings and applies it to six regional climate collaboratives. Using a comparative case study model, interviews were conducted with coordinators and community-based organizations in each case. Their responses illuminated how power is wielded and managed in these groups and how process designers can help balance structural power. The resulting list of strategies are intended to support facilitators to actively promote equitable participation in this emergent form of governance.
Open Access
Conflicts of Residential Landscaping
(University of Oregon, 2021-09-13) Rymph, Dustin; Jarvis, Todd
Residential landscaping is a focal point of academic observation regarding design, ecology, sociology, and geography. Previous studies often have conflictual dimensions, yet rarely is the focus of studies regarding residential landscaping centered around conflict. This exploratory thesis seeks to create a multidisciplinary framework, built upon Conflict Resolution studies, with which to analyze conflicts of residential landscaping in the United States. It includes numerous case studies of relevant conflicts. The final chapter contains a thematic analysis of 12 structured interviews conducted with participants who have been party to residential landscaping conflicts. Four overarching themes were discovered. The connection to the preliminary framework included in this thesis is connected to the thematic results and leads to suggestions for future research.This Thesis contains previously un-published co-authored material.
Open Access
Constructing Jerusalem: A Palestinian Digital Discourse
(University of Oregon, 2021-04-27) Campbell, Ian; Baxter, Diane
The following interdisciplinary research investigates digital communication using a constructivist interpretation for conflict analysis. President Trump's recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel formed the basis for the research inquiry of Palestinian digital modes of response. International law remains relevant to the background understanding of this research, albeit outside the scope. Data from pro-Palestinian media, translated by the Middle East Media Research Institute (M.E.M.R.I.) and Palestinian Media Watch (P.M.W.), provided the sources for digital content analysis. Research findings uncovered a communication matrix consisting of five themes and organizational concepts produced through 15 conflict storylines that provide a qualitative understanding of the politics of humiliation in response to an epoch Jerusalem discourse. Digital communication interventions based on research outcomes provide insight for practicing empathy in support of digital literacy to mitigate future conflict, communicate diverging views, and employ best-practices for dialogue in digital spaces.
Open Access
Exploring the Intersection of Collective Identity and Peacebuilding: a Case Study of Kids4Peace Jerusalem
(University of Oregon, 2020-09-24) Diamond, Laura; Baxter, Diane
This study examines the experience of Palestinian and Israeli youth involved in a coexistence organization Kids4Peace Jerusalem. This qualitative research investigates the questions: 1) What is the interaction between collective identity and experience in K4P? 2) In what ways do young people benefit or fail to benefit from Kids4Peace? 3) How do the larger power structures and power asymmetries impact youth perceptions of their experience in Kids4Peace? The research explores the way in which collective identities of participants of Kids4Peace interact with individuals’ experiences to produce group-specific results in regards to individual and group goals for contact, emotional themes, and responses to dialogue and programming, perceptions of power and peace. The findings detect a difference in perceptions of the conflict, power, and the meaning of peace.
Open Access
Chunkey, Cahokia, and Indigenous Conflict Resolution
(University of Oregon, 2020-09-24) Gregory, Anne; Brown, Kirby
Chunkey, a traditional Native American sport, was a form of conflict resolution. The popular game was one of several played for millennia throughout Native North America. Indigenous communities played ball games not only for the important culture-making of sport and recreation, but also as an act of peace-building. The densely populated urban center of Cahokia, as well as its agricultural suburbs and distant trade partners, were dedicated to chunkey. Chunkey is associated with the milieu surrounding the Pax Cahokiana (1050 AD-1200 AD), an era of reduced armed conflict during the height of Mississippian civilization (1000-1500 AD). The relational framework utilized in archaeology, combined with dynamics of conflict resolution, will provide a basis to explain chunkey’s cultural impact. This thesis connects conflict resolution dynamics embedded in chunkey with its role in culture production while also centering an Indigenous worldview in an exploration of conflict resolution paradigms.
Open Access
The Role of ECFA in Taiwanese/Chinese Identity of Taiwanese
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) LU, CHIEH JU; Tuong, Vu
The paper uses the Cross-Strait Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), signed by Taiwan and China in 2010, and Taiwanese’s national identity, to explore the relationship between economic cooperation and political conflicts. Social identity theory indicates that people compare the in-groups to which they belong with out-groups, and develop negative feelings toward out-groups. According to the intergroup contact theory, contact between members of different groups can work to reduce prejudice, intergroup conflict, and improve social relations. ECFA, the most significant trade achievement between Taiwan and China, is predicted to reduce Taiwanese identity under the theory. For exploring this relationship, I compare identity data before and after the ECFA was implemented, and also discuss the Sunflower Movement and the new political word “Tian Ran Du.” I lastly compare the results of the Taiwan’s Presidential elections in 2008, 2012, and 2016. My research found that ECFA has not reduced Taiwanese identity obviously.
Open Access
Transforming Female Abduction Victims to Mentors using Survivor Centered Approach: Discussing "Chibok Girls/ #BringBackOurGirls/ Stolen Daughters" as a case study
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Atabo, Enekole; Weiner, Merle
Generally, women and girls are discriminated against based on gender, education, religion, or culture. Some of these characteristics are either ascribed or achieved. Life chances or the ability to improve one’s quality of life depends on the intersectionality of the different forms of oppression. Education which is one important means to improve life chances has often been targeted by religious and cultural ideology to the extent that girls are severely punished for defying restrictions on women’s education. More than 200 girls were captured and led to captivity to perform the ideal feminine role of ‘unpaid work.’ The rescue of some Chibok girls is an opportunity to commence Individual-Based Therapy because the period and experience of captivity vary for each student. After a critical examination of Chibok girl’s suffering based on their testimonies, the Survivor-Centered Approach undertakes restorative measures aimed at healing, restoring and transforming survivors to mentors in the community.
Open Access
A Wretched Hive of Scum and Villainy: How Twitter Encourages Harassment (and How to Fix It)
(University of Oregon, 2019-09-18) Conbere, Timothy; Tippett, Elizabeth
In August 2014, the video games community on Twitter became embroiled in a months-long harassment campaign called Gamergate. The campaign initially targeted indie video game developer Zoë Quinn, but quickly spread to many women and feminist games developers and journalists, targeting them with slurs, sexualized epithets, threats of violence, and more. This thesis examines what Twitter has done to prevent the kind of harassment that occurred during Gamergate and explains the social-psychological principles behind Twitter’s failure to curb the culture of abuse on its platform. There is a fundamental disconnect between Twitter’s value of allowing its users to share information instantly without barriers and its desire to protect its users from harassment. In order to solve the problem of harassment, Twitter will need to shift its foundational value away from free speech and towards deliberate community building.
Open Access
A Look at the Continuum of Impression Formation on Two Cases of Violent Extremism in the Media
(University of Oregon, 2019-04-30) Hull, Christina; Girvan, Erik
This thesis investigates media impressions between radical far right violent extremism and radical Islamic violent extremism to see if impression formation explains differences in our associations of violent extremists. Focusing on two cases from 2015, the Charleston church shooting and the San Bernardino office shooting, this thesis examines impression formation to see if the initial categorizations of the extremists in the media change over time or remain consistent. This thesis explores whether violent extremists that are associated with the ingroup are more likely to have the impressions of them change over time to become more individuating than violent extremists associated with the outgroup which would remain more category-based. This thesis also addresses how to reduce bias that negative impressions of a group could cause, through intergroup contact.
Open Access
Respect My Privacy: An Argument for Legal Professional Privilege in Ombuds Communications
(University of Oregon, 2019-01-11) Gyde, Matthias; Lininger, Tom
Since the latter part of the twentieth century there has been a push to promote the use of various forms of alternative dispute resolution to ease the pressure on America’s overburdened and backlogged court system. Ombuds offices are often used as a tool to help resolve issues and disputes within organizations at an informal level. For these offices to be maximally effective they need to guarantee those who seek their assistance an extremely high degree of confidentiality. To that end, and to further the overall goal of settling disputes outside of the court system, a legally sanctioned professional privilege for ombuds communications should be implemented. The granting of this privilege would not only allow the ombudsperson to perform their duties free from concern of being forced to violate best practices, but it would also give those seeking services peace of mind that their concerns will not be made public.
Open Access
Examining the Effectiveness of College- or University Sexual Assault Prevention Programs: A Literature Review
(University of Oregon, 2018-10-31) Stringer, Barak; Weiner, Merle
The purpose of the current review was to examine the effectiveness of college- or university sexual assault prevention programs. Further, the current paper reviews prevalence rates, factors that may contribute to the high rates of sexual assault on college- or university campuses. The paper also explores colleges- and universities’ efforts to increase men’s participation in sexual assault prevention programs as well as recommendations for further improvement. Sexual assault continues to be a problem on college campuses. Although colleges- and universities have recently implemented new prevention programs and strategies, there continues to be a need for change on college- and universities campuses to reduce sexual assaults, victimizations, and perpetration. There also needs to be more evaluation of the current programs in order to determine their effectiveness.