Peace Skills

Part of the Peace Skills Set, this Manual is designed as atake-home resource to support workshop participants as they returnto their communities and both apply their mediation skills andshare their insights with others. It covers conflict analysis, therole of mediation, the stages of mediation, communication skills,and working with group conflicts and in cross cultural settings.

Acknowledgements xiii

Introduction xv

Overview of the manual xvii

Thoughts About Peace and Transformation xviii

Section One: Assumptions about Conflict and the Role of Peacebuilders 1

1 Assumptions about Conflict 3

2 Understanding Conflict and the Role of Mediation 12

Section Two: Introduction to Mediation 23

3 Mediation: A Tool for Empowering Others 25

4 Before Mediation: Laying the Foundation 32

5 The Introduction Stage: Providing Safety 38

6 The Story-Telling Stage: Offering Understanding 43

7 The Problem-Solving Stage: Building Joint Ownership 51

8 Additional Tools for Problem Solving 66

9 The Agreement Stage: Seeking Sustainability 75

10 Moving Toward Reconciliation: Letting Go of the Past 81

Section Three: Communication Skills and Tools 85

11 Listening Skills 87

12 Language in Mediation 94

13 Emotions in Conflict 101

Section Four: Building Peace in Communities 105

14 Designing a Peacebuilding Process 107

Notes 119

Appendix: Additional Reading About Conflict Transformation 123

The Authors 125

About Plowshares 127

About the conflict Transformation program 129

Index 131

"This guide is packed with information.... Any skilled leader who takes the time to carefully study it can lead successful workshops." (Provident Bookfinder, 2/02)"Offers a ray of hope for individuals and communities who long forpeace and reconciliation." (Dr. G. Douglass Lewis, president,Wesley Theological Seminary)

"A must for people who want to be change agents in society.Addresses transformation of conflict from an empowermentperspective." (Craig Arendse, director of mediation andtransformation practice, Cape Town, South Africa) RONALD S. KRAYBILL is associate professor in the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Kraybill was the former director of training at the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and founding director of the Mennonite Conciliation Service. ROBERT A. EVANS are international trainers and consultants in the field of conflict transformation. They are founding directors of Plowshares Institute and senior fellows at the Centre for Conflict Resolution, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The Peace Skills: Manual for Community Mediators is a hands-on resource for leaders who seek to be agents of reconciliation by responding proactively to painful differences within their communities. The Peace Skills Set (which includes the Leaders' Guide and Manual for Community Mediators) describes skills and strategies to help individuals, organizations, and communities in conflict talk things through and become stronger in the process. Based on successful conflict transformation workshops conducted in countries around the world, the Manual for Community Mediators offers guidance and tools for

• Bringing conflicting parties into a four-stage mediation process
• Assisting parties to resolve their own issues
• Getting beyond the barriers of language and miscommunication
• Designing processes for responding to group conflicts

"Offers a ray of hope for individuals and communities who long for peace and reconciliation." —Dr. G. Douglass Lewis, president, Wesley Theological Seminary "A must for people who want to be change agents in society. Addresses transformation of conflict from an empowerment perspective." —Craig Arendse, director of mediation and transformation practice, Cape Town, South Africa The Authors Ronald S. Kraybill is associate professor in the Conflict Transformation Program at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Virginia. Kraybill was the former director of training at the Centre for Conflict Resolution at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, and founding director of the Mennonite Conciliation Service. Alice Frazer Evans and Robert A. Evans are international trainers and consultants in the field of conflict transformation. They are founding directors of Plowshares Institute and senior fellows at the Centre for Conflict Resolution, at the University of Cape Town, South Africa. The Peace Skills: Manual for Community Mediators is a hands-on resource for leaders who seek to be agents of reconciliation by responding proactively to painful differences within their communities. The Peace Skills Set (which includes the Leaders' Guide and Manual for Community Mediators) describes skills and strategies to help individuals, organizations, and communities in conflict talk things through and become stronger in the process. "Offers a ray of hope for individuals and communities who long for peace and reconciliation." (Dr. G. Douglass Lewis, president, Wesley Theological Seminary)

"A must for people who want to be change agents in society. Addresses transformation of conflict from an empowerment perspective." (Craig Arendse, director of mediation and transformation practice, Cape Town, South Africa)