Conflict Trajectories Research Articles

Hostile, aggressive family conflict trajectories during the transition to adulthood: Associations with adolescent Big Five and emerging adulthood adjustment problems

The goal of this longitudinal study was to investigate the relation of adolescents' Big Five factor (BFF) personality to the development of different patterns of mother–adolescent hostile, aggressive conflict (MHAC) from late adolescence to young adulthood. Furthermore, we examined the prediction of Antisocial Problems (AP) and Depressive Problems (DP) in emerging adulthood from BFF and MHAC trajectories. 385 adolescents participated in this study (age 15–16 at Time 1 and 21–22 at Time 4). Using latent growth curve analysis, Low stable (69.1%), Medium Increasing, (23.3%), and High decreasing (7.6%) trajectories were distinguished. Low adolescents' emotional stability was directly related to AP and indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of both Medium Increasing and High Decreasing trajectories. Agreeableness was directly negatively related to DP and indirectly throughout the mediation of High Decreasing trajectory. Low Conscientiousness was indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of Medium Increasing trajectory.385 adolescents participated in this study (age 15–16 at Time 1 and 21–22 at Time 4). Using latent growth curve analysis, Low stable (69.1%), Medium Increasing, (23.3%), and High decreasing (7.6%) trajectories were distinguished. Low adolescents' emotional stability was directly related to AP and indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of both Medium Increasing and High Decreasing trajectories. Agreeableness was directly negatively related to DP and indirectly throughout the mediation of High Decreasing trajectory. Low Conscientiousness was indirectly related to DP, throughout the mediation of Medium Increasing trajectory.

Contextualizing Mass Atrocity Crimes: Moving Toward a Relational Approach

Contemporary mass atrocities and genocides hold two general lessons: First, even in the course of these violent decades, genocides are rare events, and mass atrocities are not. Second, contemporary mass violence evolves in macro- and microcontexts that shape particular trajectories of conflict and violence. As the international community assumes responsibility for protecting victims and prosecuting perpetrators in contemporary high-risk environments, it is important to contextualize extreme violence and genocide and to understand the microrelational structure and dynamics of mass atrocity events. This article discusses two conceptual turns—atrocity crimes and extremely violent societies—and identifies three trajectories that move beyond an exceptionalist perspective on mass atrocities. Dynamic concentration of deterrence is suggested as a microrelational strategy for both protection and prosecution in contemporary humanitarian crises.

Trajectories of Mothers' Discipline Strategies and Interparental Conflict: Interrelated Change during Middle Childhood

Using data collected annually when children were in kindergarten through 3rd grade (N = 478), this study investigated changes in mothers’ use of nonharsh, harsh verbal, and physical discipline; changes in interparental conflict; and associations between changes in discipline and interparental conflict. Controlling for potential confounds, physical discipline decreased over the course of middle childhood, whereas harsh verbal and nonharsh discipline remained stable. Increases in interparental conflict were associated with increases in physical discipline; decreases in interparental conflict were associated with decreases in physical discipline. Change in interparental conflict was unrelated to change in harsh verbal or nonharsh discipline, although more frequent interparental conflict was associated with more frequent use of all three types of discipline in 1st grade. Findings extend previous research on how two major forms of communication within families—conflict between parents and parents’ attempts to influence their children through discipline—change across middle childhood.

Labor Conflicts in China

Labor conflicts in China can be classified into three types: those over legal rights, over interests, and over the pre-reform entitlements. They have relatively distinguishable bases, claims, framing, and patterns of interaction with the government. The typological classification is useful for understanding the developmental trajectory of labor conflict in China.

Assessing the relevance of stakeholder analysis for national ecological network governance: The case of the Green Network in Estonia

Ecological network planning and implementation touches upon different land use and policy sectors, thus, creating multiple interdependencies between the respective stakeholders associated to these spheres. Stakeholder analysis (SA) is a widely promoted approach to understand the interfaces between natural and social systems in environmental governance. Yet, the applications of SA in relation to ecological networks are scarce. This study explores the usefulness of SA for the planning and implementation of the national ecological network concept – Green Network – in Estonia. Based on an analysis of relevant documents and a set of semi-structured interviews, we have (i) revealed a set of various roles stakeholders can play in Green Network governance and (ii) highlighted stakeholders’ experiences with involvement practices, as well as traced certain cooperation and conflict trajectories between different parties. We conclude that encouraging the use of the stakeholder concept in the national ecological network governance could potentially make decision-makers more aware of different claims stakeholders might have in Green Network governance. We further suggest that for complex governance tools such as Green Network planning and implementation, schematic-analytical and descriptive approaches of SA could be integrated, to gain a more adequate overview of the concrete situation.

Malaysia's conflict with the Philippines and Indonesia over labour migration: economic security, interdependence and conflict trajectories

If labour migration increases the potential for interstate conflicts, does the economic interdependence thus created make such conflicts easier to address, given the economic gains to both sides from such labour movements? This article addresses this question by using the concepts of economic security and interdependence to compare the Malaysia-Philippines and Malaysia-Indonesia conflicts over labour migration. Although the limited cases make generalizations difficult, the analysis suggests that the economic interdependence constraint on conflict escalation may not always work well as it may be offset by national security concerns in the labour receiving states about the illegal migrant workers and by the shifting economic underpinnings of economic security. The theoretically pacifying effect of interdependence can also be weakened by preventing the ‘aggrieved country’ from articulating clearer demands from the other side for fear of jeopardizing the economic gains from the migrant outflows. Comparing the two conflicts suggests that clearly articulated demands matched by effective state capacity in translating those demands into actions on the ground can help in conflict management. The potential for the migrant worker issue to evoke deep emotions and the ease with which that can translate into nationalist outpourings mean that both sending and receiving countries must develop bilateral or regional frameworks that outline clear best practice standards for the treatment of migrant workers, including during detention and repatriation.

The Origins and Trajectory of the Caucasian Conflicts

Conflicts in the Caucasus began as a result of the weakening of the institutions of the Soviet Union. Since then there have been some major transformations. Initially, there were ‘triangular conflicts' with the centre (Moscow) on the one side and two competing national projects on the other side (a Union Republic and a minority group with an autonomous status within this republic). After the collapse of the Soviet Union, these conflicts evolved into bilateral ones between two popular-nationalist movements with competing territorial claims: newly independent nation states, on the one hand, and minority groups with autonomous status, on the other.

The impact of a family-centered intervention on the ecology of adolescent antisocial behavior: Modeling developmental sequelae and trajectories during adolescence

This study used an experimental, longitudinal field trial involving random assignment to the Family Check-Up (FCU) to explore the social ecology of adolescent antisocial behavior. A sample of 998 youths and their families was followed from early to late adolescence (age 12 to 18-19). In the intervention condition, 115 families (23%) elected to receive the FCU. In general, random assignment to the FCU in middle school was associated with reductions in late adolescence antisocial behavior (age 18-19). Variable-centered analyses revealed that the effects were mediated by reductions in family conflict from early to middle adolescence (age 12-15). The link between family conflict and antisocial behavior in turn was mediated by association with deviant peers at age 17; parental monitoring at age 17 was also influential but did not attain the status of a mediator. Person-oriented analyses suggested that the FCU was associated with declining trajectories of family conflict and rising trajectories of parental monitoring but was not associated with trajectories of deviant peer association. A dual-trajectory analysis indicated that the pathways to adolescent antisocial behavior were myriad and varied, suggesting new directions for developmental and intervention research.

Developmental trajectories of work–family conflict for Finnish workers in midlife.

This study investigated the developmental trajectories of work-family conflict among the same participants (n = 277; 48% female) at ages 36, 42, and 50. Across this 14-year time span, with respect to the sample as a whole, there was no significant change in the mean levels of work-to-family conflict (WFC) or family to-work conflict (FWC). However, latent profile analyses revealed four latent trajectories within the sample, showing both mean-level stability and change in WFC and FWC: (1) "WFC decreasing" (n = 151); (2) "WFC and FWC stable low" (n = 105); (3) "WFC and FWC increasing" (n = 14); and (4) "FWC decreasing" (n = 7). Of these trajectories the strongest contrast existed between the WFC and FWC stable low and the WFC and FWC increasing trajectories: the former had the lowest and the latter the highest number of weekly working hours at ages 36, 42, and 50, and in the former but not in the latter the number of children living at home significantly decreased from age 36 to 50. Also, at ages 42 and 50 the WFC and FWC increasing trajectory showed higher job exhaustion and depressive symptoms than the WFC and FWC stable low trajectory. Altogether these findings suggest that work-family conflict is not limited to the early part of employees' working career and that developmental trajectories of work-family conflict exhibit a substantial amount of heterogeneity.

Fish and chips: cross-cutting issues and actors in a co-managed fishery regime in the Pacific Northwest

The goal of biological resource management regimes is to balance human uses of resources with their inherent regenerative capacities. While accomplishing this goal, managers usually face a multiplicity of stakeholder groups bringing a suite of different, and at times conflicting, interests and values to the management table. In the case of the migratory Pacific salmon, the resource regimes are comprised of a series of hierarchically nested institutional arrangements, engaged in cross-level and cross-scale interactions. Co-management institutions have emerged, at least in part, to address these challenges, encompassing a diversity of stakeholders, providing a forum for the sharing of different beliefs, values and perspectives and, importantly, an institutional response to a suite of cross-scale challenges. This article examines how institutional innovation, specifically the emergence of the Pacific Northwest salmon co-management regime, created new roles and legitimized the participation of new actors. In turn, this has transformed tribal co-managers into “cross-cutting actors”, active in management arenas at multiple jurisdictional and spatial levels in which they represent different interests or constituents. Wearing “different hats”, these tribal actors mobilize a suite of cross-cutting issues, relevant within different policy subsystems, and create bridges among actors who may be opponents in other fora. This has altered the emergence and trajectory of conflict and cooperation as well as problems of institutional interplay and addressed some of the scale-related challenges that exist within the Pacific salmon management regime.

Developmental Trajectories of Neural Mechanisms Supporting Conflict and Error Processing in Middle Childhood

To study age-related changes in cognitive control, event-related potentials (ERPs) of children aged 6–9 years, 10–12 years, and young adults were recorded during a Flanker task. Younger children were more susceptible to conflict than older ones and adults. The N2 in incongruent trials was smaller in younger than older children, who did not differ from adults. The error-related negativity (ERN) following errors, however, was larger in adults than in children, but did not differ between younger and older children. Delayed development of neural responses to error processing relative to conflict monitoring may indicate dissociable maturational time tables of subdivisions of the anterior cingulate cortex.

The Horn of Africa in the shadow of the cold war: understanding the partition of Sudan from a regional perspective

On 9 July 2011, following over four decades of intermittent civil conflict, Southern Sudan officially declared independence from the North. The historic secession of the Southern provinces was a culmination of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement signed by the ruling National Congress Party and the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement in 2005. While conventional analysis has depicted the roots of the Sudanese conflict as a result of enduring conflicts over its national identity, and power and resource sharing, this article argues that the seemingly inevitable march towards the emergence of two new nation-states has been a result of a complex dynamic of external as well as local political developments in the greater Horn of Africa. More specifically, I argue that domestic-level factors having to do with regional conflicts in the Horn have greatly influenced the region's external relations in ways that are often obscured by international relations theories that privilege geo-strategic interests over the role of domestic politics. The article highlights the role of the cold war in influencing political developments in Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea and Somalia in ways that shaped the relationship of the Middle East and the Horn region, and the trajectory of the civil conflict in Sudan in particular. I maintain that while security and strategic interests have provided the context for the relationship of the Horn and external actors, the role of domestic politics has played a crucial role in the shifting alliances between Middle Eastern states and the regimes and insurgent groups in the region. I conclude by highlighting the continuing importance of the role of local-level politics in these external relations following the end of the cold war by examining the advent of Islamism in the region in Sudan, arguing that the dynamic relationship between regional and domestic factors has played an important, albeit often neglected, role in the historic partition of the country.

Acculturation-based and everyday parent–adolescent conflict among Chinese American adolescents: Longitudinal trajectories and implications for mental health.

The purpose of the study was to examine 2 types of conflict for Chinese American families that have not been integrated in previous literature: everyday conflict and acculturation-based conflict. We explored the relation between the 2 types of conflict over time and their associations with adolescent adjustment (i.e., anxiety/somatization, loneliness, depressive symptoms, and self-esteem). The sample consisted of 316 Chinese American adolescents (M = 14.8 years, SD = .73 at Wave 1) who participated in a 3-wave longitudinal study. The results showed that everyday and acculturation-based conflict are related and change in parallel over time. However, the 2 types of conflict are unique predictors of the 4 different indicators of psychological functioning. Results also suggested that psychological functioning is a better predictor of trajectories of conflict than vice versa. Taken together, the results highlight the importance of considering how the acculturation process contributes to parent-adolescent conflict regarding everyday issues and deeper cultural values.

Beyond the Liberal-Conservative Divide: Assessing the Relationship Between Religious Denominations and Their Associated LGBT Organizations

Emerging research suggests that existing culture, including religious culture, serves to constrain and enable the rhetoric and claims of social actors in situations of conflict and change. Given that religious institutions continue to have significant authority in framing moral debates in the United States, we hypothesize that groups connected to each other through a religious tradition will share similar orientations towards the moral order, shaping the kinds of rhetoric they use and the kinds of claims they can make. To test this, we compare the official rhetoric of the 25 largest religious denominations on gay and lesbian issues, as well as their orientation towards the moral order more broadly, with the rhetoric of each denomination’s respective movement for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender inclusion, affirmation, or rights. We use Kniss’ heuristic map of the moral order to analyze and theorize about the patterns that emerge from these comparisons. Ultimately, we find that the existing rhetoric of the parent denomination on gay and lesbian issues, along with the broader moral stances they take, do appear to shape the rhetoric and ideologies of associated pro-LGBT organizations. This provides support for the notion that existing culture, belief, and rhetoric shape the trajectories of conflict and change.

Insights from the Cocoa Regions in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana: Rethinking the Migration–Conflict Nexus

Abstract:Although many scholars have noted the salience of mobility throughout the African continent, there has been little systematic investigation into the link between migration and conflict. Most scholarship has tended to see migration as primarily a by-product of conflict and not as a security issue in its own right. In analyzing and contrasting the different migration–conflict trajectories across two similar case studies—Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana—this article attempts to develop an empirically informed theoretical framework for understanding the nexus between migration and conflict in Africa and to shed light on key intervening variables linking migration processes with violent outcomes.

Antecedents and Outcomes of Joint Trajectories of Mother–Son Conflict and Warmth During Middle Childhood and Adolescence

This study investigated the development of mother-son relationship quality from ages 5 to 15 in a sample of 265 low-income families. Nonparametric random effects modeling was utilized to uncover distinct and homogeneous developmental trajectories of conflict and warmth; antecedents and outcomes of the trajectory groups also were examined. Four conflict trajectory groups and 3 warmth trajectory groups were identified. Difficult temperament in early childhood discriminated both conflict and warmth trajectory group membership (TGM), and adult relationship quality in early childhood was related to warmth trajectories. In addition, conflict TGM differentiated youth antisocial behavior during adolescence, and warmth trajectories predicted adolescent peer relationship quality and youth moral disengagement. Implications for socialization processes are discussed.

Trajectories of Marital Conflict Across the Life Course: Predictors and Interactions With Marital Happiness Trajectories.

Using typologies outlined by Gottman and Fitzpatrick as well as institutional and companionate models of marriage, the authors conducted a latent class analysis of marital conflict trajectories using 20 years of data from the Marital Instability Over the Life Course study. Respondents were in one of three groups: high, medium (around the mean), or low conflict. Several factors predicted conflict trajectory group membership; respondents who believed in lifelong marriage and shared decisions equally with their spouse were more likely to report low and less likely to report high conflict. The conflict trajectories were intersected with marital happiness trajectories to examine predictors of high and low quality marriages. A stronger belief in lifelong marriage, shared decision making, and husbands sharing a greater proportion of housework were associated with an increased likelihood of membership in a high happiness, low conflict marriage, and a decreased likelihood of a low marital happiness group.

War as a moral imperative (not just practical politics by other means)

We present findings from one survey and five experiments carried out in the USA, Nigeria and the Middle East showing that judgements about the use of deadly intergroup violence are strikingly insensitive to quantitative indicators of success, or to perceptions of their efficacy. By demonstrating that judgements about the use of war are bounded by rules of deontological reasoning and parochial commitment, these findings may have implications for understanding the trajectory of violent political conflicts. Further, these findings are compatible with theorizing that links the evolution of within-group altruism to intergroup violence.

A Tale of Entrepreneurship in Two Iraqi Cities

Businesses play an important role in societies in conflict, contributing to trajectories of continued conflict or transitioning out of conflict. The institutional and historic context affects the potential of entrepreneurship and can be particularly important during times of change. In this paper, I discuss the relevance of the institutional and historic context of two cities in southern Iraq.

Youth Restiveness and Entrepreneurial Orientations in Ijora-Badia, Lagos, Nigeria: A Development Approach

Conflict and restiveness have become so endemic in Nigeria to the extent that Nigeria is commonly known at home and internationally as a crisis ridden nation. To demonstrate this, the federal government o(Nigeria has earmarked at least one-third of its national budget for the year 20l2for security and conflict management. lf the real dynamics and trajectories of the Nigerian conflict are not understood, the budget provision and other resources will be useless ultimately. Unfortunately, 11I0stof the drivers and armies of the conflicts are youths. It is against this background that this article explored the subject of youth restiveness and the entrepreneurial options in the country. The article was empirically based 011data collected through questionnaires, IDIs and FGDs. Important findings were made and useful conclusions reached in this article.