Conflict Resolution resources

I played around with a few things last night. First, I went to the transcript of an interview I did last year with someone who works in alternative dispute resolution in a variety of different contexts. She identified issues such as the problem of frustrations building up and the assumptions we make that another person won't understand. Her emphasis was on people's need for acknowledgment, to feel heard and valued, as well as the importance of setting and reinforcing ground rules for that discourse to enable "effective talk." She also mentioned attribution theory, which I may have to investigate further, as her definition didn't quite jibe with the limited research I've done thus far.

Interesting to revisit, but mostly it helped me pick out a few key terms for further research.
I found a couple of good websites with information re: conflict resolution. Although this one is business oriented, I think the same sorts of parameters apply to most contexts.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_81.htm

This site discusses the benefits (some unexpected) of resolving conflicts, different styles of conflict resolution (competitive, collaborative, compromising, accommodating and avoiding) as well as one called the "Interest-Based Relational (IBR) Approach" which focusses on the relationships between individual standpoints. It also goes into established steps for resolving conflict: setting the scene, gathering information, agreeing on the problem, brainstorming for possible solutions and finally negotiating the solution.

Another website I found:

http://www.ohrd.wisc.edu/onlinetraining/resolution/index.asp

takes a slightly different approach by focussing on the more personal aspects of conflict.

Both are worth some time if you're interested in the subject.