Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file viewed on (March 5, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2003. Graduate Programme in Psychology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 63-85). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url%5Fver=Z39.88-2004&res%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss&rft%5Fval%5Ffmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft%5Fdat=xri:pqdiss:MQ99390

This composite dissertation explores mediation in internal armed conflicts from a bargaining perspective. Four separate essays investigate why mediation occurs, why it is successful, and why peace guarantors’ commitments are credible. Essay 1 examines the conditions under which mediation takes place. The study argues that whereas it is costly for governments to accept international mediation, it is a less costly intervention tool for potential third parties. This argument implies that mediation will be more likely when and where negotiated settlements are least likely to be reached, a contention that is supported by empirical tests. Essay 2 reviews the contemporary debate on what types of mediators that can disseminate information in a credible manner, and formulates a set of testable hypotheses on mediation partiality. The analysis shows that negotiated settlements are more likely if biased or interested mediators intervene, while neutral mediators are not associated with mediation success. Essay 3 elaborates on the role of biased mediators. It proposes that rebels face a commitment problem when negotiated settlements are to be reached, which government-biased mediators can mitigate. The study finds that such types of mediators outperform rebel-biased mediators in terms of helping combatants to settle the armed conflict. Essay 4 deals with the commitment problem that comes to pass between, on the one hand the primary parties, and on the other, the potential peace guarantors. The study probes the requests and promises for third-party security guarantees and suggests that the reputation of the United Nations (UN) enhances its credibility as peace guarantor compared to non-UN actors. It finds that although the UN is more restrictive with its promises, it is more likely that peacekeeping forces will be provided if the UN is one of the guarantors. In sum, utilizing unique data from two time-periods (post World War II and post Cold War), this dissertation arrives at new insights on the role of mediators in bringing about negotiated settlements of internal armed conflicts.

Denna studie behandlar hur konflikthantering på arbetsplatsen, ett alltid aktuellt och ekonomiskt viktigt område för många större organisationer, kan appliceras på mindre företag och deras förutsättningar. Forskningen har hittills varit fokuserad på hur stora organisationer kan hantera och förebygga konflikter, men det här arbetet menar att mindre organisationer har fundamentalt annorlunda förutsättningar som gör att ett nytt synsätt måste tillämpas i deras fall. Det finns ekonomisk och social vinning även för mindre företag att förebygga och hantera konflikter och studien visar att för att vara framgångsrika i det avseendet måste de fokusera på att utveckla sina icke-påtagliga resurser. / This thesis discusses how workplace conflict management, an always current and econom- ical important topic for many large organisations, can be applied to smaller businesses and their conditions. Research have so far been focused on how large organisations can handle and prevent conflicts, but I argue that smaller organisations have fundamentally different conditions that forces us to treat them in a different way. There is a economic and social value in handling and preventing conflicts for smaller organisations too, and this study shows that to be successful with that they must focus on developing their intangible resources.

While previous research shows that civil wars can spread to neighboring states, we do not know why certain neighbors are more at risk than others. To address this research gap, this dissertation proposes a contagion process approach that can identify the most likely targets of contagion effects from an ongoing conflict. Using data with global coverage, theoretical expectations about why and where civil wars would have contagion effects, are examined in a series of statistical analyses. Paper I argues and empirically supports that a country is more susceptible to contagion effects when it is characterized by ethnic polarization, where few ethnic groups form a delicate balance. Paper II argues and provides evidence that the involvement in conflict by an ethnic group in one country increases the likelihood of ethnic conflict erupting in a neighboring country that shares the same ethnic group. Paper III suggests and finds support that the arrival and long-term hosting of refugees from states in civil conflict make host states more likely to experience civil conflict. Paper IV examines the common notion that the granting of autonomy or independence to separatist groups may spur other ethnic groups to violently pursue similar demands, starting off a domino effect. Using new global data on such territorial concessions, the analysis does not support this version of the “domino theory,” which is popular among policy-makers. In sum, this dissertation contributes by demonstrating the usefulness of the contagion process approach. It offers a more comprehensive view of contagion among neighbors, and as such is able to specify arguments and intuitions in previous research.

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This paper examines the ways in which corporate social responsibility (CSR) is used by mining companies in Peru to minimize conflict between themselves and communities. It assesses the use of CSR at both the community and national levels, and concludes that there are important limitations to a reliance on the privatized management of social conflict. Most importantly, a reliance on corporations to manage conflict in which they themselves take part inherently limits the outcomes of this conflict for the communities to those which do not threaten the business interests of the companies. This paper further argues that the political organization of communities and the involvement of external actors in the conflict has an effect on the type of CSR policies enacted by the company. Thus, communities who are better organized, especially with the help of external actors, may achieve more favourable results from CSR-led negotiations with companies.

The objective of this study was to explore the link between school climate and bullying behaviour through a case study of two high schools. Grade 10 students received the two day Cross-Cultural Conflict Resolution (XCCR) Module initiated by YOUCAN. Phase I of this study involved the development of an XCCR Logic Model, which aimed to clarify the objectives and key elements of the XCCR Module. Phase II involved the in depth analysis of the XCCR Module through an 84-item survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews with school and program staff. Data from this study did not indicate any changes in bullying behaviour or school climate between pre-and post-implementation. This study highlights a need to incorporate measures for program adherence and program fidelity in future studies. The results of this study provided two practical contributions, an XCCR Logic Model and information about bullying and school climate for the participating schools.

This study examined parent-adolescent conflict and the attributions for conflict. Adolescent participants (29 ADHD; 22 Comparison) aged 13-17 and their mothers and fathers completed questionnaires. Adolescents with ADHD have conflicts over more issues with their parents according to self and parent report. Adolescents who believed that the conflict occurred in many contexts and that their parents were responsible for that conflict reported that they had conflict over more issues. Attributions were not predictive of conflict according to mother report. ADHD status moderated attributions in predicting father reported conflict. Among fathers who believed that conflicts were their son or daughter’s responsibility, fathers of youth with ADHD were less likely to report more issues involving conflicts than fathers of youth without ADHD. Conversely, among fathers who believed conflict was pervasive across contexts and time, having a son or daughter with ADHD was associated with more issues involving conflict.