Part 1 Analysis: Observe an instance where conflict is present, one in which you are not personally involved. (You will need to be a bit of a covert operator to accomplish this.) Answer all of the following:
Describe the conflict scene.
Who was involved in the conflict? What was the relationship between the participants prior to the conflict? Did it appear as if the relationship between the participants had any impact on how either person responded to the conflict?
When and where did it take place? Was it formal or informal? Planned or unplanned? What impact did the location and time have on the outcome?
What transpired? (Be specific.)
What was the surface problem?
Many times when we face conflict, there is a surface-level problem and an underlying problem. The surface-level problem acts only as a symptom of the real problem. Consider both.
What was the surface problem?
What was the underlying problem, or the real problem? If this is unclear, what might you speculate the real problem to be?
There are many conflict management strategies that can be employed when dealing with conflict. Consider which were present in this conflict.
Which conflict management strategies were employed by each of the participants? Did the conflict management strategies change during the course of the conversation? How do you know?
What was the outcome? Was there a winner? A loser? Did there appear to be an impact on the relationship? If so, what was that impact?
Looking back, describe at least two variables that could be changed in this scene to alter the outcome.
Part 2 Reflection of Analysis: Much of the learning in this course requires you to draw conclusions about your experiences and observations based on the concepts we have read about and discussed. For the reflection, address the following:
List two specific things you learned about conflict as a result of this exercise.
Use reference material from the text, discussions, lesson, course objectives, and so forth to support your statement. Answers that demonstrate application of the course material and effective critical thinking will earn the greatest number of points.
