Arthur L. Finkle

The question of what makes a best practice of conflict resolution is the subject of numerous publications. The explanations, however, are generally focused on the methods rather than the substance of conflict resolution, which is the subject of this commentary.

My contention is that a good mediator practice analyzes human cultural factors; reframes the conflict to comport with each party’s cultural orientation; and assists the parties to resolve the conflict. Accordingly, we will explore cultural anthropology and its components.

Cultural anthropology deals with human culture especially with respect to social structure, language, law, politics, religion, magic, art, and technology. Sociology, the scientific study of human social behavior, will also assist us. As the study of humans in their collective aspect, sociology is concerned with all group activities: economic, social, political, and religious. Sociologists study such areas as bureaucracy, community, deviant behavior, family, public opinion, social change, social mobility, social stratification, and such specific problems as crime, divorce, child abuse, and substance addiction. Sociology tries to determine the determinants governing human behavior in social contexts. (http://www.webref.org/sociology/index.htm)

Cumpara Revista Medierea Nr 3-4/2010