Lewin’s Action Research Model as a Tool for Theory Building

Abstract

This article explores the importance of first-person research strategies in enhancing practice and theory within the field of conflict resolution. The core of the article is a case study that describes a first-person experience working with police and community members to establish local community–police forums in post-apartheid South Africa. The case study echoes the processes of reconciliation and healing that took place at the community and national level. Using the Lewinian model of action research (Lewin, 1951) as a structured reflection process, the author analyzes this process of conflict transformation from the perspective of a participant, practitioner and researcher over an eight-year period. This reflection process combines first-, second-, and third-person data to develop and test a grounded theory of identity-based conflict. The application of the Lewin model to conflict resolution illustrates how action research can inform both research and practice by more closely aligning lived experience with theory.