Most conflicts are quickly resolved. However, some conflicts escalate and assume a larger presence in the lives of the parties involved. To best understand how conflicts can change over time, it is helpful to view the evolution of a conflict as a series of stages, with each stage marked by certain characteristics of the conflict and the circ*mstances surrounding the conflict.
Conflict Stages
Christopher Moore identifies three stages of conflict in his work The Mediation Process.1 Each stage is characterized by the involved parties’ awareness and participation in the conflict, how the conflict is being addressed, and the degree to which the conflict has escalated.
Latent Conflict: This stage of conflict is marked by underlying tensions experienced by one or both parties that have not evolved into a defined dispute. In latent conflicts, there are tensions arising from a problem that is not fully defined and is known by some, but not all, of the people who will be affected by the problem and participate in the dispute. For example, Woodstock, Vermont is a town with strict zoning regulations that are strongly supported by the town’s citizens. If a real estate company began lobbying the city’s planning commission for a new downtown development that would require certain exceptions to planning ordinances, this would spark a latent conflict. In this example, the problem is known by some people who will be involved in the dispute, but a full definition of the problem and identification of all the parties is missing.
Emergent Conflict: In this stage of conflict, most, if not all, of the issues in contention have been defined, and the parties have been identified and are aware of the dispute. Despite having defined the dispute, conflicts in the emerging stage lack a clear process for resolution, and as a result, have the potential to continue escalating. An example of an emerging conflict is a budget dispute that has emerged between the finance and operations departments of an organization. In this example, the problem is defined, and the people affected by the problem have been identified, but a procedure for resolving the problem has not been established.
Manifest Conflict: When an emergent conflict is not effectively addressed, the conflict becomes manifest. This stage is marked by a prolonged dispute involving contentious tactics by both parties. The parties may have attempted to resolve their dispute and reached an impasse or the parties may never have attempted to resolve the dispute at all. An example of a manifest conflict is the Northern Ireland Troubles, which lasted for thirty years, as the two main communities in Northern Ireland disputed the constitutional status of the island, among other issues. The Troubles were marked by both frequent violence (a contentious tactic) and deadlocked negotiations over the thirty year period.
William Ury uses a similar three step model to identify the stages through which a conflict evolves in The Third Side.2 Ury’s stages include: latent tensions, overt conflict, and power struggle. The difference between Ury and Moore’s work is that Ury classifies conflicts without the potential to cause widespread destruction as an overt conflict, while Moore’s definition of manifest conflict (the parallel between the two models) encompass conflicts that include, but are not limited to, destructive, violent tactics.
Works Referenced
- Christopher Moore. The Mediation Process: Practical Strategies for Resolving Conflict. (Jossey-Bass Publishers, 2003)
- William Ury. The Third Side: Why We Fight and How We Can Stop. (Penguin Books, 2000)
