Studies on social conflict have been carried out focusing on the causes of, progression of, and methods of alleviation and solution for social conflicts. Past numerous studies have above all, highlighted the conflicts and the resolutions for ‘not in...
Studies on social conflict have been carried out focusing on the causes of, progression of, and methods of alleviation and solution for social conflicts. Past numerous studies have above all, highlighted the conflicts and the resolutions for ‘not in my backyard’ projects such as waste landfills, or nuclear waste energy facilities, between the government as initiator of such projects, and the groups affected by them.
Furthermore, such studies like the Cheonggye Stream Restoration Project Analysis, already completed, are minimal in their analysis as they just highlight the relationship between the instigator of the cause of the conflict and the parties affected by the project, and the resolutions to such conflicts.
My research based on past studies, serves to present conflict management in comprehensive framework, a strategy which I have termed as ‘Integrated Conflict Management’. The strategy adapts various factors for conflict resolution from precedent studies in conflict, to construct a 4-pronged integrated model for strategic conflict management.
This win-win strategy is to approach the players creatively and genuinely so that everyone becomes a winner as each of demands are simultaneously met and compensated for. For the goal of substantiating this particular method of management, the integrated conflict management strategy model was utilized in an attempt to analyze the Cheonggye Stream Restoration Project, contrastingly resolved in short time, compared to that of many failed public projects of recent, for a defined strategic framework.
First of all, there is the fulfillment of the fundamental needs of the members of a group. The assumption is that when the group’s needs are unfulfilled, they will feel conflict, and even forced to resort to violence. To fulfill their demands, the group will act for social reforms. The social security system will consequently have to be revised to meet the basic needs of the weak and outcasts of society as well as satisfying the fundamental demands of the poor for housing, minimum social security, health and educational services.
Secondly, there is the development of social capital. An abundance of social capital in the form of unofficial standards or culture, promotes social cooperation which prevents social friction and increases social productivity overall. For example, the most important social capital is education and public information, and through such venues, they develop unofficial and practical standards for dealing with conflicts and negotiations. For members of society to coexist in a diversified society with members of different values and viewpoints, social members must be educated and distributed with public information calling for mutual compromises and cooperation for harmonious coexistence, Namely, the most fundamental aspect for transforming social climate is instilling belief amongst all members of society that values and claims of others are necessary for their own coexistence and prosperity, and that their existence gains significance because there are opposing viewpoints, Furthermore, only the balancing of such views can they as a society maintain equilibrium.
Thirdly, there must be a revision in the system for order. This refers to swift national or social mechanism in the form of sophisticated law and system that deal with conflicts. Most social conflicts are traditionally dealt through lawsuits and are characteristically often unresolved through such venues. Therefore, a more sophisticated system and techniques must be cultured for effective conflict resolution. Going beyond authoritarian or rule of majority methods which often work to repress conflicts, work must begin with detailed provisions in law enacted todefine new governmental administrative services that offer procedurals for conflicting parties to negotiate conflict resolution, and provide for public education and developments for professional negotiators or mediators in preventing and resolving social conflicts.
Lastly, there is government leadership, the primary subject of public conflicts as well as the central force in resolving social conflicts. Government leadership refers to the influences of government public workers or officials, in other words their leadership skills in reflecting public interest in administrative processes, through understanding as much of public demands for preventing full-scaled conflicts, and skillful persuasion of the public.
Not only does government leadership represent the outstanding personal skills of the public official but also the flexibility of the entirety of the official sector in interacting with the public sector. Thus only when conflict management is tackled on an integrated level; in other words, only when the public and the government work together cooperatively can their society be truly harmonious and, the goal of my thesis, conflict prevention and resolution achieved.