What's Happening in Conflict [01/10/17]

Posted by ADRhub.com- Werner Institute on January 10, 2017 in Featured News & Articles (Change)
View Discussions

What's Happening in Conflict Resolution" is a weekly roundup of the all the ADR news, jobs, events and more. Check it out each week and view past versions [HERE].

Conflict Engagement and ADR in the News

The role of the media in violent conflicts in the digital age

By Gadi Wolfsfeld, phD. (01/08/17. New Europe).

One of the more significant questions in the field of political communication today concerns how the role of the media in violent conflicts may have changed in the digital age. It is impossible to ignore the fact that the Internet and especially the social media appear to play a major role in some of the most significant events of the last decade. Prominent examples include the Arab Spring, the ongoing civil war in Syria, and the debate in the United States about the police killings if African-Americans. It is clear that both researchers and policy makers need a better understanding of this new reality. All forms of media have the potential to play either a destructive or constructive role in such conflicts. This is one of the topics being examined under the framework of “INFORCORE” which is a collaborative research project with researchers from seven different countries and funded by the 7th European Framework Program of the EU. The major goal of the project is to investigate the role of the media in escalating and de-escalating conflict in three main conflict regions... intrigued? Click HERE to learn more!

________________________________

Alberta confronts issue of indigenous incarceration

By James Wood (01/06/17; Calgary Herald. Image from Pixabay).

Alberta’s correctional system has become a vortex that has trapped too many of the province’s indigenous people, say the government and justice advocates who are searching for solutions.

A report card on the Canadian justice system released in September of last year by the independent MacDonald-Laurier Institute showed Alberta had the most disproportionate level of incarceration for First Nations and Metis people of any jurisdiction in the country.

Walter MacDonald White Bear, who works with youth and adult indigenous offenders through the John Howard Society in Calgary, faces this fact on a regular basis.

“I’ll ask some of the kids, ‘Why do you want to go to jail?’ and 80 per cent of them won’t,” says White Bear, a Cree elder who counsels inmates one-on-one and holds talking circles and sweat lodges with groups of offenders.

“But 20 per cent of them sadly are so ingrained in the system, they’ll say their father is next door, their brother or their best friend, so they actually want to stay. That’s an extreme example but unfortunately that is part of the reality.” To learn more about how the Alberta government is addressing high incarceration rates of indigenous Albertans click HERE.

________________________________

Black Lives Matter And Police: In Portland, Unusual Punishment For Civil Disobedience

By Josh Keefe (01/06/2017. International Business Times)

Activists in Portland, Maine, were arrested last summer after blocking a downtown intersection for several hours to protest the shooting deaths of unarmed black men in Minnesota and Louisiana. The 17 protesters struck a plea deal Thursday with the local district attorney. Their punishment? Talk with police.

The defendants are the first in the history of the state of Maine to enter a restorative justice program for civil disobedience charges, Cumberland County Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Ackerman told the Bangor Daily News. Restorative justice programs require offenders to repair the damage caused by their crimes through collaboration with victims and the community. To hear more about the charges against the protestors click HERE.

Good Reads: Blogs, Books, and More!

Read more here: http://www.newsobserver.com/opinion/op-ed/article121874508.html#sto...Good Reads: Blogs, Books, and MoreYou say you want a resolution? A mediator reflects and regrets

You say you want a resolution? A mediator reflects and regrets

By Mitchell Rose (01/09/17. Canadian Lawyer. Image from Pixabay)

New Year’s resolutions are made to be broken — or at least revisited — even if they are not, technically, “resolutions.”
One year ago, I wrote an article called Post-New Year’s goal-utions of a mediator in which I argued that goals — or “goal-utions” — are superior to resolutions. I then set out a list of semi-serious goal-utions for 2016.
Re-reading my article the other day for the first time since last January, I was shocked by how much has changed, and how much remains the same. I now wonder if I was naïve about the actual differences between resolutions, goals and hybrid goal-utions. Click HERE to hear Mitchell's reflections on his mediation practice.

________________________________

Master these three skills to fight like a happy couple

By Monica Gabriel Marshall (01/05/17. Verily)

One of the hardest things about finding love is working through the many myths out there about what love looks like. With time, we learn that love doesn't always look like a fairy tale (or a rom-com) and that even couples who have found their happily ever after fight.

A lot of people resist this truth, insisting that fighting is a sign of relationship doom. But the reality is that the true gauge of a healthy, happy relationship is not whether or not you fight, but how you fight.

According to Dr. John Gottman, a marriage researcher who has studied married couples extensively in his "Love Lab," what differentiates happy, stable couples is their ability to overcompensate for the negativity in their marriage with mad conflict management skills. Click HERE to read more about how to constructively manage conflict in your relationships.

Movie Review

Review: ' Hidden Figures' by Peter Travers HERE.

Upcoming Events

Symposium – 50 Years of Loving: Seeking Justice Through Love and Relationships

March 23-24, 2017

The Werner Institute and the 2040 Initiative
at the Creighton University School of Law
invite you to a symposium exploring how the 1967 U.S. Supreme Court decision of Loving v. Virginia has influenced society institutionally, demographically and relationally. Participants will also develop strategies for moving from thought to action by building relationships across difference.

The Creighton Law Review seeks submissions exploring issues related to this landmark case. Please visit our call for submissions page.

In partnership with Kutak Rock LLP