Chapter Twelve
Why We Intervene in Conflict
This book considers how we can think about conflict in a useful and productive way. It is not meant to sell conflict intervention as a field or to instruct people in how to practice mediation, negotiation, or facilitation. I believe that good practice comes from sound thinking as informed and refined by practice. Our growth as conflict interveners requires that we become increasingly sophisticated in our thinking, that we learn to apply our concepts and to test them in our practical efforts, and that we use these experiences to reevaluate our thinking. The ability to engage in this reflective process is a characteristic of an advanced practitioner (Lang and Taylor, 2000; Schön, 1983). A clear and accessible ...
