This study documents three cases of protracted conflict in an
institution of higher education. Work groups in conflict were studied for
one year in order to create cases and to describe factors influencing
conflict escalation. From these cases, autistic conflict as a descriptive
construct was developed to illustrate one phase of protracted conflict
escalation. The following research questions guided this study.
1. How and why does protracted conflict develop and escalate in
higher education work groups?
2. What is the nature of chronic autistic conflict?
3. How do higher education cultures and system affect the
development of protracted autistic conflict?
The population studied included the administration and three
distinct work groups from one university where conflicts had continued
for an extended period of time. The stories of group conflict are fully
reported in this study, and process maps illustrate incidents and
influences related to conflict escalation.
To study conflict and human behavior in this context and to
describe the effect of the institutional culture on conflict escalation,
ethnographic methodology was used. Cases were developed from
interviews, participant observation, and document review. The
researcher worked with the university in a number of settings for over a
year, which provided opportunities to observe daily life in these disputant
groups and to develop a broader understanding of the organizational
culture.
From findings in this study, it was possible to form a number of
hypotheses regarding protracted conflict escalation. These hypotheses
include the following:
1. Protracted conflict in institutions of higher education develops
in five phases.
2. When conflicts escalate among groups in higher education
without successful resolution, disputants develop dysfunctional
behaviors which contribute to conflict escalation.
3. A number of contextual factors evident within institutions of
higher education contribute to autistic conflict development.
Additional research questions with broader implications for conflict
in organizations and recommendations regarding the improvement of
practice regarding conflict within institutions of higher education were
also generated by this study. / Graduation date: 1999
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/33346 |
| Date | 29 April 1998 |
| Creators | Murray-Ritchie, Susan K. |
| Contributors | Stiehl, Ruth E. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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