Psychology

The paper analyzes the article concerning conflict resolution and peacemaking. The concepts of peacemaking and peacebuilding are analyzed. The example of displaced communities is used to reflect the complexity of conflict experiences and anxieties in need for professional support. The article confirms the need for psychology professionals to provide displaced populations with professional conflict resolution support.

Keywords conflict resolution, peacebuilding, displaced populations, psychology

Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking
Conflict resolution and peacemaking are recurrent topics in professional literature. The current state of knowledge treats conflict resolution as a critical element of successful individual and organizational decision-making, but conflict resolution is rarely or never mentioned in the context of community peacemaking and peacebuilding. However, when thousands of internally displaced people and refugees face an urgent need to relocate, conflict resolution and peacemaking become effective tools of reducing conflicts and violence that occur between them. This paper will analyze the principles of conflict resolution and peacemaking in post-war situations.

Conflict Resolution and Peacemaking Analysis and Discussion
In his article, Steve Utterwulge (2004) examines the relevance of conflict resolution and peacemaking principles in displaced populations in Angola. Utterwulge (2004) writes that armed conflicts impose severe pressures on the population, and the number of those who have to leave the country is symptomatic of the war situation. It is necessary to understand that displaced people also face numerous conflicts during and after displacement loss of relatives, traumatic experiences, the lack of basic resources and community structures altogether contribute to the escalation of conflicts between displaced people from different regions, different camps, and different countries (Utterwulge, 2004). Land, tribalism, property, and political affiliations in the new land create conflicts which displaced people fail to resolve (Utterwulge, 2004). Displaced individuals require effective peacemaking support to relieve the burden of their traumatic experiences in post-war contexts (Utterwulge, 2004).

That Utterwulge (2004) discusses the conceptual framework of peacemaking and peacebuilding is, probably, one of the major benefits of his article. In current state of literature, peacebuilding, peacemaking, and peacekeeping are often used interchangeably but reveal strategic conceptual differences. According to Utterwulge (2004), peacemaking in psychology is about the nonviolent management of conflict. Peacebuilding for Utterwulge (2004) is associated with the pursuit of social justice. The critical features of peacemaking include reducing direct violence, applying non-violent techniques, being reactive and spatially constrained, preventing violent episodes and maintaining status quo (Utterwulge, 2004). Peacebuilding reduces structural violence and emphasizes the relevance of socially just ends it is proactive, ubiquitous, promotes social justice and the threat to status quo (Utterwulge, 2004). In practice, however, these concepts cannot and should not be separated because when violence and inequities transcend the divide between wartime and post-war, pragmatic conflict resolution approaches like peacemaking and peacebuilding should be integrated and interlocked (Utterwulge, 2004). Utterwulge (2004) asserts that all forms of peace-oriented interventions, including peacemaking, must target internally displaced people before, during, and after war conflicts. The author is confident that humanitarian approaches alone cannot suffice to improve the state of conflict resolution in internally displaced populations (Utterwulge, 2004). Utterwulge (2004) argues that emergencies and affected people require specific complex approaches, and one of these priorities includes addressing the structural causes of violence, conflict and subsequent humanitarian crisis (p. 225).

In displaced communities, all elements of conflict resolution and peacemaking were realized via the so-called conflict resolution nuclei  self-constituted groups that were designed to develop and implement effective conflict resolution strategies in displaced communities (Utterwulge, 2004). The nuclei did not replace the authority of the formal community leader but served an effective complementary instrument of peacemaking, encouraging displaced individuals to handle their conflicts in a non-adversarial manner and to use traditional and non-traditional  modern methods of conflict resolution (Utterwulge, 2004). In many instances, those nuclei identified the emerging conflict, reported the existing problems and provide conflict resolution support, including the cases of domestic violence, violent conflicts between displaced community members, and conflicts that resulted of inadequate distribution of relief aid (Utterwulge, 2004). More importantly, nuclei gradually withdrew themselves from displaced communities, giving the latter a chance to resolve their conflicts and controversies without external support.

Utterwulges (2004) discussion of conflict resolution and peacemaking is interesting in the sense that the author approaches the problem from a novel perspective the case of displaced people presents a new facet of the conflict resolution issues, where the meanings of violence, traumatic experiences, the loss of relatives, geographical displacement, and the need to adjust to the new realities merge and shape a new reality. Displaced populations are placed somewhere between the war that ended and the peace that has not yet come. As a result, psychologists who choose to work in post-war environments must realize that termination of warfare does not necessarily result in the immediate reduction of conflicts in and among displaced people (Utterwulge, 2004). Years may pass but internal conflicts in displaced populations will persist because war results in the development of multiple micro-conflicts (e.g., personal abuses) and merge with macro-conflicts, like the lack of socio-economic and political justice, and continue to exist even after the cessation of fire (Utterwulge, 2004).

Professionals and scholars in psychology should remember that all communities had and have traditional ways of managing conflicts. However, displacement produces disruptive effects on the psychological well-being of every single community, and they either fail to use the benefits of their conflict resolution techniques or find them inadequate when applied to large-scale conflicts (Utterwulge, 2004). Yet, it is clear that even for the displaced populations, the basic elements and aspects of conflict resolution and peacemaking will remain unchanged those who engage in conflict resolution in post-war settings will have to clarify the conflict situation, to define positive interests and to invoke overriding interests with the other party of the conflict, in order to utilize the conflict resolution potential to the fullest. All these conflict resolution actions will have to reflect the realities of the environment, in which they are applied otherwise, psychologists and conflict resolution professionals will fail to identify the full range of micro-level conflicts in displaced people and the impact of macro-level structural conflicts and complexities on them.  
 
Conclusion and Implications for Conflict Resolution
The effect of the proposed approach to conflict resolution and peacemaking is two-fold on the one hand, displaced communities acquire a unique opportunity to resolve their conflicts in a non-violent, productive way. On the other hand, conflict resolution professionals explore and analyze the relevance of traditional and modern conflict resolution techniques in displaced community environments. Utterwulge (2004) implies that conflict resolution policies alone cannot suffice to bring the opposing parties to a consensus, be they family members, neighbors, or colleagues. In case of displaced communities and in other, similar conflict situations, the knowledge of conflict resolution techniques and peacemaking approaches predetermines the quality and effectiveness of the conflict resolution outcomes and sets the stage for developing and maintaining a reasonable status quo.