- group members must have equivalent status;
- they must participate equally in common activities, sharing common
purposes; - contact within the group must be personal and varied rather than superficial,
although frequent; - the process of change must be supported by representatives of the authorities.
In order to solve conflicts, a counsellor must adopt various approaches (Garba, 2005,
apud Launikari and Puukari, 2005) like in the following table. A fundamental rule in
approaching a conflict is involving both parties, starting with the beginning of the resolve
process up to product evaluation. Thus it is ensured the paternity of the solution and it
can be hoped to construct and support good relationships within the group and between
groups.
Conflict solving methods
Conflict type Source Intervention
Instrumental
conflict
Tangible aspects, means,
methods, procedures,
structures
Negotiation, compromise
Conflict of
interests
Allotting time, money, jobs,
space, etc.
Direct negotiation between parties or their
representatives in order to reach an agreement
Personal
conflict
Identity, self value, loyalty,
breach of confidentiality,
rejection
Open and transparent communication so as to
mutually understand needs, anxieties, interests or
positions of the two parties
Conflict of
values
Religion, politics,
ideologies, and other
deep beliefs
Since they cannot be negotiated, the solution is
an honest and permanent dialogue for deeper
mutual understanding and acceptance of
everyone’s right to be different
Target population
- ethnic, linguistic, religious, political minorities etc.;
- immigrants from different cultural areas;
- poorly educated people;
- broadly speaking any counselling situations involves multicultural aspects
due to the extremely diverse experience of both counsellor and client(s).