Abstract
The question “Why?” – though often avoided by mediators and facilitators – is a powerful tool for unlocking the door between antagonism and resonance when skillfully applied to program planning and conflict engagement. Appropriate use of the question “Why?” engages participants in making core values explicit to themselves and others. It is a key to the successful application of Rothman’s (1997) ARIA process. A variety of successful practical applications are reported, ranging from program planning sessions to large, computer-based cross-community conflict engagements. The article builds upon the authors’ own experience and research in dialogue to present a practical, step-by-step guide, including a checklist and “do’s and don’ts’ for facilitating the “Why Dialogue” in identity-based conflict and cooperation scenarios.
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Notes
- 1.
The Power of Why process is our key way of making manifest the Resonance we speak about in the two ARIA processes – those focused on conflict engagement and those focused on collaborative planning and evaluation. It is done differently in the two processes, but the core is the same. It is easier to present, and conduct, the Why process within the ARIA visioning sessions than in the conflict engagement efforts. Thus, we will first present a full step-by-step way to foster a why dialogue in Action Evaluation. We then summarize how to do it in Conflict Engagement.
- 2.
Refer to http://www.ariagroup.com/?page_id=3 for a fuller step-by-step presentation of this process.
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Friedman, V.J., Rothman, J., Withers, B. (2012). The Power of Why. In: Rothman, J. (eds) From Identity-Based Conflict to Identity-Based Cooperation. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3679-9_2
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