Conflict Transformation

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The Little Book of Conflict Transformation was quite interesting and a much-needed read for me as a future social worker. The main question posed is “what does conflict transformation really mean?” Prior to reading, I would say conflict transformation was learning how to deal with disagreements. However, the author states that it is the importance of building right relationships and social structures through respect for human rights and life (Lederach p. 4). I have gained respect for differences in people by reading the book thus far. In my opinion, I need to stay completely open-minded and listen to each client with non-judgmental ears. The texts states there is a moment in the heat of conflict where we need stop, take a minute, pause, and digest the information …show more content…
It teaches me to calm down and work through the conflict and decreases the escalation between me and the other person. The text also notes that conflict transformation is not yet a school of thought and rather it is looked upon as just something that could be beneficial, if we change our way of thinking. For me, I can take away from this statement that I need to try to understand my future clients and not jump to an immediate conclusion. This will resonate in the back of my memory to be patient, listen, and remember there is always a greater reason. The lingering question in my head now, is how we teach conflict transformation in an effective manner. In my opinion, it is hard to role-play conflicts because it is just pretend and that is completely different from being caught off guard and not having time to think clearly. I believe there could be further research done on how we understand and teach conflict transformation to everyone and especially those in high stressed positions. There was another interesting point that Lederach makes that really resonates with me as well. The author states that we as a society no longer take things at face value and we spend time re-interpreting