Thesis (M.A. (Pastoral))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

Thesis (Th. M.)--Dallas Theological Seminary, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 69-72).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Robert E. Lyons, Dept. of Plant & Soil Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

Downsizing has had a significant influence on organizational life over the past 20 years. When organizations downsize, two groups of people emerge, those who are laid off and those who remain in the organization. The experiences of those remaining in the organization, or the organizational survivors, have been neglected. This study presents an interpretivistic examination of the experiences of survivors with regard to their perceptions of conflict and procedural justice during and after downsizing. The data gathered for the study is based on thirty-one interviews with employees in TeleCo, a downsizing organization. TeleCo is a diversified organization with facilities and subsidiaries worldwide. In 2001, changes began taking place within the organization, one being the implementation of company-wide layoffs. Telecomm, the division highlighted in this study, has laid off 200 of the 350 workers in one facility. This study revealed three overarching categories of conflict frames employees use to make sense out of their experience as survivors. Procedural justice components of choice, voice, and feedback were also determined to influence the perceptions of survivors and their overall opinions of downsizing

The organization leader has a big role when a conflict occurs. It is essential that the leader has some kind of conflict management to solve the problem with minimal harm for the company and its employees, for even the employees who are not directly involved can be negatively affected by the conflict. To avoid any negative and destructive outcomes the leader has to find to solve the issue in the best way possible for all involved.

Drawing on insights from social psychological literature on identity formation, and on social movement and contentious politics literature, this research focuses on elite strategies to gain from or survive a crisis. The research specifically looks at strategies to foster popular support and mobilisation. It explores the use of divisive and ethno-centric discourses and policies aimed at mobilising supporters in times of instability or crisis. More specifically, it studies why some elite mobilising appeals have traction. To do so, the research examines social and psychological mechanisms behind group solidarity. A heightened sense of group solidarity is what leads individuals to think in terms of the group, a necessary step for mobilisation. From there, they can be made to feel appeals for collective action are warranted. Three mechanisms in particular are discussed: opposition, politicisation and simplification. Opposing entails enhancing feelings of attachment by creating a sense of antagonistic relations with another group. Politicising consists in ascribing to group identities a political nature, more conducive to contentious relations. The final strategy is simplification. It amounts to simplifying interpretations of the situation and environment so as to make them more readily internalisable. This framework is applied to contemporary Rwanda and to the lead-up to the wars in Yugoslavia. In the Rwandese case, cultural and historical references were repeatedly used by ruling regimes to foster a Hutu uprising against the Tutsi population. This tactic eventually played a fundamental role in triggering the 1994 genocide. In the former Yugoslavia, Croatian and Serbian elites antagonised group relations by agitating nationalist rhetoric. Though this was a strategy to stay in power or gain support, it also led to the break-up of Yugoslavia and to wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Scripts for peer conflict were examined in a sample of 55 four- and five-year-old children. Children provided a full sequential report of the conflict strategies used in six hypothetical peer conflict situations involving disputes over possessions. Interviews were conducted at two time points (early and late) during the children’s first year of school. Scripts were studied at two different analytical levels examined separately in two manuscripts: in the first manuscript, conflict scripts were examined at the group level to reveal general patterns across the participants. The second manuscript explored individual differences in children’s conflict scripts by identifying subgroups of children on the basis of how their scripts unfolded from beginning to end. Analyses in the first manuscript offered support for the stability of children’s scripts across situations. Findings suggested that children internally represent the sequential unfolding of conflict. In particular, their scripts became more constructive as conflicts progressed towards termination, a pattern that was especially apparent later in the school year. As well, analysis of if-then contingencies within scripts revealed that problem solving (e.g., offering to share or negotiate) was perceived by children to de-escalate hostility in conflict, as problem solving was rarely followed by power assertive responses. Averaging actions across conflicts masked specific conflict processes that were captured with sequential analysis of patterns. In the second manuscript, the types of scripts children reported were examined in relation to their receptive language abilities, theory of mind, and social adjustment to school. There was some support for the hypothesis that children whose scripts were constructive (i.e., containing references to problem-solving and conciliation) had better receptive language skills and were more prosocial than children whose scripts were less constructive. Theory of mind was unrelated to children’s ability to represent perspective-taking in their scripts. Directions for future research on children’s conflict scripts are discussed.

Drawing on insights from social psychological literature on identity formation, and on social movement and contentious politics literature, this research focuses on elite strategies to gain from or survive a crisis. The research specifically looks at strategies to foster popular support and mobilisation. It explores the use of divisive and ethno-centric discourses and policies aimed at mobilising supporters in times of instability or crisis. More specifically, it studies why some elite mobilising appeals have traction. To do so, the research examines social and psychological mechanisms behind group solidarity. A heightened sense of group solidarity is what leads individuals to think in terms of the group, a necessary step for mobilisation. From there, they can be made to feel appeals for collective action are warranted. Three mechanisms in particular are discussed: opposition, politicisation and simplification. Opposing entails enhancing feelings of attachment by creating a sense of antagonistic relations with another group. Politicising consists in ascribing to group identities a political nature, more conducive to contentious relations. The final strategy is simplification. It amounts to simplifying interpretations of the situation and environment so as to make them more readily internalisable. This framework is applied to contemporary Rwanda and to the lead-up to the wars in Yugoslavia. In the Rwandese case, cultural and historical references were repeatedly used by ruling regimes to foster a Hutu uprising against the Tutsi population. This tactic eventually played a fundamental role in triggering the 1994 genocide. In the former Yugoslavia, Croatian and Serbian elites antagonised group relations by agitating nationalist rhetoric. Though this was a strategy to stay in power or gain support, it also led to the break-up of Yugoslavia and to wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Scripts for peer conflict were examined in a sample of 55 four- and five-year-old children. Children provided a full sequential report of the conflict strategies used in six hypothetical peer conflict situations involving disputes over possessions. Interviews were conducted at two time points (early and late) during the children’s first year of school. Scripts were studied at two different analytical levels examined separately in two manuscripts: in the first manuscript, conflict scripts were examined at the group level to reveal general patterns across the participants. The second manuscript explored individual differences in children’s conflict scripts by identifying subgroups of children on the basis of how their scripts unfolded from beginning to end. Analyses in the first manuscript offered support for the stability of children’s scripts across situations. Findings suggested that children internally represent the sequential unfolding of conflict. In particular, their scripts became more constructive as conflicts progressed towards termination, a pattern that was especially apparent later in the school year. As well, analysis of if-then contingencies within scripts revealed that problem solving (e.g., offering to share or negotiate) was perceived by children to de-escalate hostility in conflict, as problem solving was rarely followed by power assertive responses. Averaging actions across conflicts masked specific conflict processes that were captured with sequential analysis of patterns. In the second manuscript, the types of scripts children reported were examined in relation to their receptive language abilities, theory of mind, and social adjustment to school. There was some support for the hypothesis that children whose scripts were constructive (i.e., containing references to problem-solving and conciliation) had better receptive language skills and were more prosocial than children whose scripts were less constructive. Theory of mind was unrelated to children’s ability to represent perspective-taking in their scripts. Directions for future research on children’s conflict scripts are discussed.

This study investigated the impact of participation in the Seeds of Peace International Summer Camp program on attitudes toward perceived enemies and in-group members. Specifically, individuals’ social dominance orientation, stereotype attributions, closeness to own and out-group members, attitudes about peace, beliefs about ability to think independently and ideas about how to facilitate peace were examined. Three groups of adolescents were studied: Israeli, Palestinian and Non-Palestinian Arab campers who came from Jordan and Egypt. Two hundred and forty eight adolescents between the ages of 14 and 17 participated in Study 1, and a 62 participant sub-sample of the original group participated in the follow up study. The two studies together revealed several important findings. The results from Study 1 suggest that the experience of participating in the Seeds of Peace camp program is effective for fostering feelings of closeness to the out-group, and for evaluating the other side’s attitudes toward peacemaking more positively. Results also suggested that cognitively-oriented ratings, such as stereotypes of warmth and competence, were more resistant to change. The results of the follow up study conducted ten months after camp had ended were mixed. Generally, out-group evaluations became less positive, although there was some maintenance of effects. The present research supports previous findings that the use of coexistence programs as a means to improve intergroup relations is generally beneficial in the short term. The results also highlighted the importance of the experience of participating in the Seeds of Peace camp program to changing the beliefs held about perceived enemies. The significant contributions of the current research include underlining the importance of intergroup contact, the experience of living with perceived enemies, and becoming ready to listen to the other side, in order to change beliefs held about them.