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Storytelling holds a significant place in peace education and dialogue work with young people in Israel/Palestine, reflecting the popularity of the dual narrative approach as a framework for understanding the conflict. The approach is predicated on the assumption that there are two competing national narratives that have collided in the same geographical space, with young people only able to come to terms with the ‘other’ narrative through a process of concession and compromise, mediated by adults. Recognising the constraints and limitations of the dual narrative approach, my thesis focuses on the lives of Israeli and Palestinian youth who inhabit a border of some kind (physical, linguistic, ethnic, or intergenerational) and analyzes how stories are transmitted across and influenced by such boundaries. Special attention is given to traumatic histories that carry a social taboo, such as the Nakba in Israeli society and the Holocaust in Palestine, and how young people may develop and express their conceptions of community, belonging, and exclusion through storytelling. The research is grounded in ethnographic fieldwork and practical storytelling workshops conducted over sixteen months in Israel/Palestine (March 2014 to July 2015), with various methods of narrative inquiry forming the basis for data analysis, notably Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The thesis is divided into four chapters, which are based on the dominant themes that emerged through fieldwork. ‘Language and the Hidden Landscape’ is an applied linguistic analysis of how young people living in segregated communities imagine and narrate places that are off-limits to them. ‘Violence in the Narration of Self and Other’, an examination of the violence inherent in face-to-face storytelling that is grounded in the phenomenological theory, discusses how the storytellers deal with violence through narrative, their depiction of members of the ‘other’ community’, and the more disturbing and potentially violent functions of storytelling in peace education for youth. ‘Forbidden Histories in Contested Spaces’ unpicks the shadowy interweave between Holocaust and Nakba memory, while ‘Happily Ever After?’ examines how the narrators view and construct endings – both for the conflict, and in their narratives. These themes bring together time, place, and inhabitants’ interaction with place and memory, resulting in a more complex and nuanced understanding of how young people growing up with intractable conflict use storytelling to interpret their histories and make sense of their lives in the present day, as well as the ways in which stories may interact even in a highly polarized and segregated society. In conclusion, the role of storytelling with children in conflict zones is re-evaluated, with the research suggesting that there needs to be a shift in emphasis from storytelling as a means of therapy to storytelling as a social and political act, a means of enabling young people to take a more active role in community-building, rehabilitation, and ultimately reconciliation.

Since World War II, the executive branch has dominated foreign policy and national security decisions, expanding war powers well beyond the president’s constitutional purview. Aided by a complicit Congress, the president has bypassed the legislator and unilaterally prosecuted some of the United States’ bloodiest conflicts. Continuing this tradition of executive overreach, Congress passed the Authorization for the Use of Military Force (AUMF) on September 14, 2001, which ostensibly empowered the president to pursue those responsible for the 9/11 attacks, namely al Qaeda and the nations supporting them. However, the broadly-worded force authorization and equally far-reaching legal interpretations by the executive branch turned the AUMF into a nearly limitless authorization. Since its passage, the AUMF has provided the legal backstop for the war in Afghanistan, drone strikes in Yemen, Somalia, Pakistan, and elsewhere, National Security Agency surveillance, and the Guantanamo Bay detention facility. Enabled by the AUMF, the “war on terror” has eroded civil liberties, allowed extrajudicial killings, and transformed the conflict with al Qaeda into a war without end. In order to end the destructive legacies of the war on terror and begin to reverse the trend of executive overreach, Congress and the president should repeal the AUMF and update the force authorization regime.

This paper argues that the interactive problem-solving workshops created by political scientist John Burton and applied to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by social psychologist Herbert Kelman, while not, as yet, resulting in a just and permanent peace agreement, are effective in resolving intractable conflict, and, if persistently used, can significantly help to produce such an agreement. This is done by closely examining two books of Burton and a series of articles by Kelman to describe their process; the characteristics of intractable conflict are also reviewed from the work of social psychologist Daniel Bar-Tal. It is then argued that the psychological elements of intractable conflict and the satisfaction of basic human needs are addressed in the interactive problem-solving workshops, exactly what is needed in intractable conflict. It is also suggested that the many outsider recommendations for the resolution of this conflict will not work because they do nothing to address the psychological elements. Recommendations are made to use the workshops to resolve disputes between the Hamas and Fatah political parties and various elements on the Israel side of the conflict; the top leaders of both sides of the conflict are also urged to participate in a workshop. This paper also notes that a fully completed peace agreement already exists in the form of the Geneva Initiative, assembled by Israeli and Palestinian persons exhibiting the qualities promoted by the workshops.

This study defined family mediator effectiveness as ‘having a lasting positive impact on parties after mediation has concluded’. The purpose of this research was to uncover the nuances that give some family mediators effectiveness. This study used Husserl’s transcendental phenomenology as presented in the book, Idea: General introduction to pure phenomenology (Husserl 1962/1913). Since this was a phenomenological study, advanced family mediators shared their lived experience to provide valuable information. Participants for this study were selected for their family mediation experience. A group of 18 advanced family mediators who had at least 15 years of experience and at least 75 mediated cases in the area of adult family and divorce (all issues) were selected from Mediate.com. The data analysis process for all five research questions yielded 1,750 horizons with a final 224 themes. The final outcome was an integrated phenomenological framework for understanding family mediator effectiveness.

Workplace bullying is a repeated, health-harming mistreatment carried out in the form of verbal abuse or other ways that are threatening, humiliating, and intimidating; which interferes with work; and which prevents work from being completed (Lutgen-Sandvik & Sypher, 2009). The study sought to explore reported workplace bullying and how the phenomenon plays out as a fundamental conflict that affects the quality of life of those bullied. The study was guided by a central research question namely, what effects follow reported workplace bullying? A sub-question focused on the nature and extent of the effects of reported workplace bullying. Using the phenomenological research methodology, eight participants who reported being bullied in the workplace were interviewed. The following themes: 1) Confusion Concerning Organizational Response, 2) Fear Concerning Various Levels of Reprisals, 3) Re-bullied as Consequence of Reporting Experience, 4) Intimidation to Force Regret for Reporting Experience, 5) Alienation within the Workplace, 6) Hopelessness and Helplessness about Conditions in the Workplace, and 7) Physical and Emotional Stress Deranging Personal and Social Balance emerged from the findings. Based on discussions of the implications of the study, an Organizational Response Model (ORM) dealing with bullying and reported workplace bullying was developed as a prescriptive tool to compliment several groups who work with the bullying conflict.

The field of autism in epidemiology has received much attention in recent times especially as scientific information evolves on the causes and impact of autism spectrum disorder. Just as medical research is conducting to arrest the growing pace of autism with current research indicating one out of every 68 children in the United States diagnosed autistic, the field of the social science has equally produced some literature on the subject. Much of the social science and epidemiological information in the field has bothered on framing the concept (Murray, 2008), historical dimension and causation of the disease, and its associative influence on family (Grinker, 2007). However, not much has been done to assess the phenomenon from the point of view of conflict analysis and resolution (Sabatelli & Waldron, 1995) to fully understand their sense of conflict ambiguity and ambiguous loss of a child with autism (Cridland et al. 2014; O'Brien, 2007). This research therefore attempted to bridge that gap through reflexive analysis of transcripts from phenomenological interviewing of 19 participants comprised of 14 single parents and 5 married couples with autistic children. While the primary focus of the research was Single parents, married couples served comparative analytical purpose of data validation. Theories of phenomenology, Resilience, human needs, stereotypes & identity, relative deprivation, attribution, critical theory, ambiguous loss, etc. operationalize to frame the research language for hermeneutical transformative interpretation and social action about the phenomenon. Results from the study indicate conflict behavioral experience, a burden curve and resilient risk factors associated with caring for an autistic child leading to possible crisis borderline.

The U.S. Southwest Border is associated with highly politicized topics, yet the lived experience of Border Patrol agents is not one of them. Border Patrol agents face risks to their personal safety and security as they attempt to safeguard the national security of the United States while implementing the policies of their organization, which are sometimes at odds with the beliefs and expectations of agents in the field. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore perceptions and lived experiences related to the threats and dangers that Border Patrol agents face as they protect the U.S. Southwest Border. The theoretical framework for this study involved McGregor's organizational behavior theory, Janis's groupthink theory, and the bureaucratic dissonance phenomenon. Data collected through semistructured interviews of 11 former Border Patrol agents with direct experience working along the U.S. Southwest Border were inductively coded and subjected to a thematic analysis procedure. On-duty risks, emotional toll, lack of community support, and separation from family are among the stressors for members of this profession. The key findings regarding threats and dangers included: perceived manpower shortage, fear of assaults, the very nature of the job, political and presidential administration conflicts, and lack of mobility (location and career advancements). The recommendations call for greater policy-and decision-maker understanding of the stresses and conflicts facing Border Patrol agents, which could effect positive social change by encouraging policies and regulations to improve job safety and security, and to inform training programs. The promulgation of the findings may contribute to improvements of the morale and safety of Border Patrol agents and enhance security of the United States.

The collective nature of group affiliation may inhibit an individual from exhibiting prosocial behavior regarding acts of religiously-motivated terror. This study's purpose was to investigate the nature of bystander intervention as it relates to religious group affiliation. Darley and Latane's bystander effect theory provided the theoretical framework for this study. The research questions examined the impact of religious group affiliation and group size on the dependent variables of civic moral disengagement (CMD) and commitment to the war on terror (CWT). Three validated survey instruments were administered to a random participant pool of 206 respondents. An ANCOVA and Spearman's rho correlation were employed to address the research questions. Findings revealed that neither religious group affiliation nor group size significantly predicts either CWT or CMD after controlling for the degree of religious commitment. Further research should test alternative theories associated with leadership and group dynamics. Positive social change is advanced by acknowledging that bystanders to acts of terrorism may not be influenced by factors such as group affiliation or size of religious group affiliations. These findings underscore the complexity of the relationship between behavior and religious affiliation. Policy makers and future researchers may benefit by redirecting their focus for prevention and intervention toward influences such as the motivational dynamic between religious leaders and their followers.

The magnitude of internal displacement worldwide is growing every year and represents a tripling of the existing number of refugees worldwide. Internally displaced persons have specific vulnerabilities and the system of assistance to them needs to be adapted and revised. The purpose of this case study was to identify external factors that influence protection interventions for internally displaced persons in humanitarian response. Using Benet's Polarities of Democracy theory and the Theory of Change Conceptual Framework as a framework, the study sought to identify key external factors influencing protection intervention in humanitarian aid settings. Data for this study was gathered through focus group discussions with internally displaced persons in Niger. Key informant and protection cluster members were interviewed and an online survey conducted. In total, 38 persons participated. Content analysis was used to identify significant themes. The data revealed that multiple external factors impacted the effectiveness of protection intervention in humanitarian action. The central theme was a need for strengthened accountability towards affected populations, with other major themes, including donors and their influence; quality of programs - holistic approach, external attention to the crisis; coordination; nature of the crisis; security; position of the government; and data and analysis, also emerging. The findings shed light on the vulnerability of protection intervention in humanitarian settings, and open opportunities for further research in this topic.