Intractable Conflict as an Attractor: A Dynamical Systems Approach to Conflict Escalation and Intractability

American Behavioral Scientist

Volumn 50, Issue 11, 2007, Pages 1454-1475

  Coleman, Peter T ^a   Vallacher, Robin R ^b   Nowak, Andrzej ^c   Bui Wrzosinska, Lan ^d  

^a Och Spine at New York Presbyterian Hospitals

^b FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^c UNIVERSITY OF WARSAW   (Poland)

^d SWPS UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES   (Poland)

Author keywords

dynamical systems; intractable conflict; protracted conflict

Indexed keywords

EID: 51249145569     PISSN: 00027642     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0002764207302463     Document Type: Article

References (63)

1. Agger, I. (2001). Psychosocial assistance during ethnopolitical warfare in the former Yugoslavia. In D. Chirot & M. E. P. Seligman (Eds.), Ethnopolitical warfare: Causes, consequences, and possible solutions (pp. 305-318). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
2. Azar, E.E. (1990). The management of protracted social conflict: Theory and Cases. Hampshire, UK: Dartmouth.
3. Bandura, A. (1982). The self and mechanisms of agency. Psychological perspectives on the self. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
4. Bar-Tal, D. (2000). From intractable conflict through conflict resolution to reconciliation: Psychological analysis. Political Psychology, 21(2), 351-366.
5. Beyond Intractability. (2006, January). Retrieved January 18, 2007, from http://www.beyondintractability.org
6. Brewer, M.B., & Brown, R.J. (1998). Intergroup relations. In D. T. Gilbert, S. T. Fiske, & G. Lindzey (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology (Vol. 2, 4th ed., pp. 554-594). New York: McGraw-Hill.
7. Bui-Wrzosinska, L. (2005). The dynamics of conflict in a school setting. Unpublished master's thesis, Warsaw School for Social Psychology, Warsaw, Poland.
8. Burton, J. (1987). Resolving deep-rooted conflict: A handbook. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.
9. Carver, C.S., & Scheier, M.F. (1999). Themes and issues in the self-regulation of behavior. In R. S. Wyer, Jr. (Ed.), Advances in social cognition (Vol. 12, pp. 1-105). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
10. Coleman, J.S. (1957). Community conflict. New York: Free Press.
11. Coleman, P.T. (2000). Intractable conflict. In M. Deutsch & P. T. Coleman (Eds.), The handbook of conflict resolution: Theory and practice (pp. 428-450). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
12. Coleman, P.T. (2003). Characteristics of protracted, intractable conflict: Towards the development of a meta-framework—I. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 9(1), 1-37.
13. Crocker, C.A., Hampson, F.O., & Aall, P. (2004). Taming intractable conflicts: Mediation in the hardest cases. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
14. Crocker, C.A., Hampson, F.O., & Aall, P. (2005). Grasping the nettle: Analyzing cases of intractable conflict. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
15. Deutsch, M. (1973). The resolution of conflict: Constructive and destructive processes. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
16. Festinger, L. (1957). A theory of cognitive dissonance. Evanston, IL: Row, Peterson.
17. Fisher, R.J. (1990). The social psychology of intergroup and international conflict resolution. New York: Springer-Verlag.
18. Fisher, R.J. (1997). Interactive conflict resolution. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
19. Goertz, G., & Diehl, P.F. (1993). Enduring rivalries: Theoretical constructs and empirical patterns. International Studies Quarterly, 37, 147-171.
20. Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. New York: John Wiley.
21. Hoppman, P.T. (1996). The negotiation process and the resolution of international conflict. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press.
22. Isen, A.M. (1987). Positive affect, cognitive processes, and social behavior. In L. Berkowitz (Ed.), Advances in experimental social psychology (Vol. 21, pp. 203-253). New York: Academic Press.
23. Johnson, S. (2001). Emergence: The connected lives of ants, brains, cities, and software. New York: Scribner.
24. Kelley, H.H., & Stahelski, A.J. (1970). The social interaction basis of cooperators' and competitors' beliefs about others. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 16, 66-91.
25. Kelman, H. (1999). The role of social identity in conflict resolution: Experiences from Israeli-Palestinian problem-solving workshops. Presented at the Third Biennial Rutgers Symposium on Self and Social Identity, Piscataway, NJ.
26. Kriesberg, L. (1999). Intractable conflict. In E. Weiner (Ed.), The handbook of interethnic coexistence (pp. 332-342). New York: Continuum.
27. Kriesberg, L. (2003). Constructive conflicts: From escalation to resolution (2nd ed.). Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
28. Kriesberg, L. (2005). Nature, dynamics, and phases of intractability. In C. A. Crocker, F. O. Hampson, & P. Aall (Eds.), Grasping the nettle: Analyzing cases of intractable conflict (pp. 65-98). Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
29. Labiance, G., Brass, D.J., & Gray, B. (1998). Social networks and perceptions of intergroup conflict: The role of negative relationships and third parties. Academy of Management Journal, 41, 55-67.
30. Latané, B., & Nowak, A. (1994). Attitudes as catastrophes: From dimensions to categories with increasing involvement. In R. R. Vallacher & A. Nowak (Eds.), Dynamical systems in social psychology (pp. 219-249). San Diego, CA: Academic Press.
31. Lederach, J.P. (1997). Building peace: Sustainable reconciliation in divided societies. Washington, DC: United States Institute of Peace.
32. Lewicki, R.J., Gray, B., & Elliot, M. (2003). Making sense of intractable environmental conflicts: Concepts and cases. Washington, DC: Island Press.
33. Lewis, M.D. (2005). Bridging emotion theory and neurobiology through dynamic systems modeling. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 43, 22-40.
34. Merton, R.K. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. Antioch Review, 8, 193-210.
35. Mitchell, C.R. (2005). Conflict, social change, and conflict resolution: An inquiry. Retrieved May 7, 2006, from http://www.burghof/handbook.net
36. Newcomb, T.M. (1953). An approach to the study of communicative acts. Psychological Review, 60, 393-404.
37. Nowak, A. (2004). Dynamical minimalism. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 138-145.
38. Nowak, A., Szamrej, J., & Latane, B. (1990). From private attitude to public opinion: A dynamic theory of social impact. Psychological Review, 97, 362-376.
39. Nowak, A., & Vallacher, R.R. (1998). Dynamical social psychology. New York: Guilford.
40. Nowak, A., & Vallacher, R.R. (2001). Societal transition: Toward a dynamical model of social change. In W. Wosinska, R. B. Cialdini, D. W. Barrett, & J. Reykowski (Eds.), The practice of social influence in multiple cultures (pp. 151-171). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
41. Opotow, S. (2001). Social injustice. In D. J. Christie, R. V. Wagner, & D. D. Winter (Eds.), Peace, conflict and violence: Peace psychology for the 21st century (pp. 102-109). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
42. Osgood, C.E. (1983). Psycho-social dynamics and the prospects for mankind. Urbana: University of Illinois.
43. Pearce, W.B., & Littlejohn, S.W. (1997). Moral conflict: When social worlds collide. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
44. Phillips, W.R., & Rimkunas, R. (1983). Crisis warning. New York: Gordon & Breach.
45. Powers, W.T. (1973). Behavior: The control of perception. Chicago: Aldine.
46. Pruitt, D., & Kim, S.H. (2004). Social conflict: Escalation, stalemate, and settlement. New York, McGraw-Hill.
47. Putnam, L.L., & Peterson, T. (2003). The Edwards Aquifer dispute: Shifting frames in a protracted conflict. In R. J. Lewicki, B. Gray, & M. Elliot (Eds.), Making sense of intractable environmental conflicts: Concepts and cases (pp. 127-158). Washington, DC: Island Press.
48. Read, S. J., & Miller, L. C. (Eds.). (1998). Connectionist models of social reasoning and social behavior. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
49. Rummel, R.J. (1987). A catastrophe theory model of the conflict helix, with tests. Behavioral Science, 32, 241-266.
50. Sandole, D.J.D. (1999). Capturing the complexity of conflict: Dealing with violent ethnic conflicts in the post—cold war era. London: Pinter.
51. Schrodt, P.A., & Gerner, D.J. (2000). Cluster-based early warning indicators for political change in the contemporary Levant. American Political Science Review, 94, 803-817.
52. Sherif, M., Harvey, O.J., White, B.J., Hood, W.R., & Sherif, C.W. (1961). Intergroup cooperation and competition: The Robber's Cave experiment. Norman, OK: University Book Exchange.
53. Strogatz, S. (2003). Sync: The emerging science of spontaneous order. New York: Hyperion.
54. Thagard, P. (2000). Coherence in thought and action. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
55. Thagard, P., & Nerb, J. (2002). Emotional gestalts: Appraisal, change, and the dynamics of affect. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 274-282.
56. Thom, R. (1975). Structural stability and morphogenesis. New York: Addison-Wesley.
57. Vallacher, R.R., & Nowak, A. (in press). Dynamical social psychology: Toward coherence in human experience and scientific theory. In A. W. Kruglanski & E. T. Higgins (Eds.), Social psychology: Handbook of basic principles. New York: Guilford.
58. Vallacher, R.R., Nowak, A., Froelich, M., & Rockloff, M. (2002). The dynamics of self evaluation. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 370-379.
59. Vallacher, R.R., Nowak, A., & Kaufman, J. (1994). Intrinsic dynamics of social judgment. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 20-34.
60. Vallacher, R.R., Read, S.J., & Nowak, A. (2002). Special issue: The dynamical perspective in personality and social psychology. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6(4), 264-388.
61. Weick, K. (1979). The social psychology of organizing. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
62. Weisbuch, G. (1992). Complex systems dynamics. Redwood City, CA: Addison-Wesley.
63. Zartman, I.W. (2000). Ripeness: The huting stalemate and beyond. In P. C. Stern and D. Druckman (Eds.), International conflict resolution after the Cold War (pp. 509-522). Washington, DC: The National Academy of Sciences.