Community Collaboration and Public Policy Making

Abstract

The management of conflict in organizations and communities is intrinsic to the policy development process. Many communities across the United States are searching for more effective ways of building consensus and managing conflict. A variety of training programs in conflict management are available, but there is little evidence either supporting or disputing the long-term utility of these interventions. Will an intensive training effort in collaborative conflict management influence the personal styles of community leaders in addressing the variety of contentious issues facing their communities? Much of the existing research on conflict management styles and personal attitudes toward conflict has been conducted in lab/experimental settings. Because the context of community is often either artificial or nonexistent in such controlled settings, methodologies such as the fieldwork-based comparative case study may provide valuable, additional evidence for researchers to consider in this area. This article examines the methodological issues raised in a multiple-case framework spanning a 2-year longitudinal analysis of attitudes and self-reported behaviors related to a community training intervention in which collaborative conflict management training was experienced by 150 community leaders representing public, nonprofit, and private organizations.