A Prescriptive Model

Abstract

Third-party consultation plays a useful role for community developers because it promotes the productive resolution of intergroup conflict in community settings. Two related case studies of third-party consultation between conflicting groups in the same neighborhood illustrates a descriptive model. Initially, the impartial consultants facilitated small group, problem-solving discussions between a recreation group, mainly identified with public housing tenants, and a political group, primarily representing private home owners. Consultations resulted in a joint proposal for a community center. This led to a conflict between proponents and opponents which became the focus for a second, but unsuccessful, intervention. The authors analyze the case studies in terms of the major components of the model and in terms of relevant principles of social psychology. Then they discuss the implications for the practice of third-party consultation by community developers.