Unresolved Conflicts Research Articles

Study urges researchers to take into account the effect of intersectional “identities”, such as black single-mothers, Native American women, or gay fathers

PurposeThe existing work-life literature is full of studies that consider the influence of a single social identity, which is “an individual’s self-concept derived from membership in a social group.” There are many values and emotions attached to a social identity, but in the modern world, individuals often belong to more than one social grouping. Therefore, the authors wanted to discuss the effect of belonging to “multiply stigmatised groups.”Design/methodology/approachThe authors began their study with a review of the literature in the work-life space on multiply stigmatized identities. They included ProQuest searches of 104 databases using key words such as “religion”, “ethnicity”, “race”, “disability”, “sexual orientation”, “religion” and “intersectionality.” They found 31 papers that focused on the intersection of two, or more, identities.FindingsThe study provides a framework for future research into the impact of multiple identities on issues of power and privilege. If intersectionality is not considered, the authors say, there will be “unidentified needs, ignored values, unresolved conflicts and unhelpful advice.”Originality/valueThe authors said they had written the paper in response to the criticism that work-life research tends to focuses on the experiences of middle, or upper-class, younger, white, western and heterosexual women.

Conflict management styles of nurses at all india institute of medical sciences, New Delhi, India

Background: Conflict is an inevitable and integral part of any work environment including nursing. Unresolved conflicts among nurses may lead to increased errors in patient care, affect their morale, and even increase turnover. Objective: The objective of the study is to determine the conflict-handling styles practiced by newly joined nursing staff working in a tertiary care hospital. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on newly joined 297 nurses. Standardized Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument was used to collect the data. Nurses were asked to give answers that characterized their dominant response in a conflict situation. Results: A total of 34.7% nurses used accommodating style for conflict management whereas 30.3% used collaborating style. It was followed by compromising, competing, and avoiding styles of conflict management. Conclusion: There is a need to enhance nurses' conflict management skills which in long run may lead to improvement in the quality of work as well as job satisfaction among nurses.

Quantifying Soft Information, Mortgage Market Efficiency & Asset Pricing Implications

I provide a novel framework for machine learning models to ingest quantified soft information during the life of a loan, using cutting-edge natural language processing techniques on salient unstructured text. This soft information, from servicer call transcripts, is not restricted to mere positive/negative sentiments and provides efficiency and alleviates the information asymmetry between the lender (and/or issuer) and the borrower. Proprietary servicer comments are hardly accessible and offer the soft in-formation for real-time delinquency status of the mortgages. I investigate whether the special servicer invoked by the investor can utilize the valuable comments from the master servicer. The time-varying soft information about the borrower’s financial condition, health of the loan and the property condition from these master servicer comments renders the predictive power and has asset pricing implications. Given this valuable information, the special servicer may choose to use this information, as I anecdotally see with several private equity investors. The well-known unresolved conflict of interest between the master and special servicers can be resolved, thereby reducing moral hazard and increasing efficiency and transparency.

Penerapan Hukum Progresif dalam Penyelesaian Konflik Agraria

This article aims to analyse ongoing agrarian conflicts by providing recommendations in a progressive legal paradigm approach so that people's rights can be protected. This study uses a normative juridical approach by conducting several comparative analyses of the case approach and the comparative approach of various unresolved agrarian disputes. The main finding of this research is the explosion of increasingly widespread agrarian conflicts until unresolved agrarian conflicts. Settlement of agrarian conflict disputes can be resolved if the law works as its purposes. Hence, the main point of understanding the resolution of agrarian conflicts is people awareness toward access or land ownership of as the fundamental right of every human being, which the State must fulfil according to the mandate of the constitution. The application of progressive law is expected to help resolving agrarian conflicts that prioritize human rights by considering environmental aspects to improve the people welfare through land ownership.

CRISIS, CONFLICTOS E INESTABILIDAD REGIONAL EN MEDIO ORIENTE

Los acontecimientos de las últimas dos décadas han reforzado la imagen del Medio Oriente como una zona altamente volátil e inestable. La evolución regional después de los atentados terroristas del 11/09 parece haber seguido el curso de una parábola del caos, en donde el punto de llegada describe un escenario máscomplejo y convulso que el existente al momento de partida. A los viejos conflictos regionales no resueltos, como los de Palestina y Afganistán, se sumaron nuevos escenarios de crisis en Irak, Siria, Yemen y Libia, los cuales han conmocionado sensiblemente el contexto regional, generando tragedias humanitarias deenormes proporciones, con altos costos en vidas civiles, violaciones generalizadas de los derechos humanos y flujos multitudinarios de refugiados y desplazados internos, situación que ha reafirmado con mucho al Medio Oriente como el principal centro expulsor de personas a causa de los conflictos armados.

Priorities, Partners, Politics

Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) is once more asked to reinvent itself and become more effective. This essay discusses recurrent reform proposals directed at the WHO which, in different ways, ask it to find a strategic focus and thereby its niche in the crowded global health arena. Looking back at decades of reform endeavors at the WHO, it exposes the contradictions and unresolved normative conflicts with regard to the WHO’s priorities. Ultimately, the WHO’s effectiveness hinges on Member State support for public authority in global health, and thus the political commitment to protect it against capture by special interests.

Role of the Arab League in Structuring the Arab Regional Space

Abstract: The article analyzes the reasons that prompted the Arab states to consolidate their efforts and create the League of Arab States. Attention is focused on the deep differences that existed between the states that came forward with the idea of strengthening Arab unity and determined the nature of this regional organization and the features of its charter, which provided its members with the opportunity to preserve their political system, sovereignty and the specifics of foreign policy.The heterogeneous nature of LAS had an impact on its the goals and objectives. The focus of this organization was to protect pan-Arab interests and support all Arab states in achieving political independence.The aggravation of the situation in Palestine after the Second World War became a central item on the agenda of all the Arab League meetings. This organization indicated its position on the Palestinian issue in the preparatory period for its official proclamation. The article discusses the activities of the Arab League, aimed at introducing a complete boycott of Israel, which, amid expansion of the Arab League, other Arab states also joined. The Arab-Israeli conflict, due to the targeted efforts of the Arab League, consolidated the Arab geopolitical community and contributed to the formation of a national Arab identity. The LAS in its documents built a common Arab narrative, having two underpinnings: the recognition of the Palestinian Arab people as a victim of the Western powers and Zionists, as well as foreign policy of Israel.The article traces the relationship between the activities of the Arab League and the changes that have occurred in the regional and international environment. The gradual transition of the Arab League to the search for a political settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict was influenced by the emergence of a new balance of power in the Middle East region, as well as the gradual transformations of a new system of international relations.The further demarcation of the Arab countries that occurred after the mass protests in 2011 influenced the activities of the Arab League, which tried to maintain Arab unity by using the traditional tool – the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict. The LAS member-states should have taken a pan-Arab stance on the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to preserve national identity. The refusal of all Arab League members to accept the American settlement plan, proposed by D. Trump administration in early 2020, was a confirmation that this regional organization retains its position as a defender of Arab unity and pan-Arab interests.

Iran’s Fight against International Terrorism

Abstract: The article analyzes the reasons that prompted the Arab states to consolidate their efforts and create the League of Arab States. Attention is focused on the deep differences that existed between the states that came forward with the idea of strengthening Arab unity and determined the nature of this regional organization and the features of its charter, which provided its members with the opportunity to preserve their political system, sovereignty and the specifics of foreign policy.The heterogeneous nature of LAS had an impact on its the goals and objectives. The focus of this organization was to protect pan-Arab interests and support all Arab states in achieving political independence.The aggravation of the situation in Palestine after the Second World War became a central item on the agenda of all the Arab League meetings. This organization indicated its position on the Palestinian issue in the preparatory period for its official proclamation. The article discusses the activities of the Arab League, aimed at introducing a complete boycott of Israel, which, amid expansion of the Arab League, other Arab states also joined. The Arab-Israeli conflict, due to the targeted efforts of the Arab League, consolidated the Arab geopolitical community and contributed to the formation of a national Arab identity. The LAS in its documents built a common Arab narrative, having two underpinnings: the recognition of the Palestinian Arab people as a victim of the Western powers and Zionists, as well as foreign policy of Israel.The article traces the relationship between the activities of the Arab League and the changes that have occurred in the regional and international environment. The gradual transition of the Arab League to the search for a political settleme maintain Arab unity by using the traditional tool – the unresolved Arab-Israeli conflict. The LAS member-states should have taken a pan-Arab stance on the settlement of the Arab-Israeli conflict in order to preserve national identity. The refusal of all Arab League members to accept the American settlement plan, proposed by D. Trump administration in early 2020, was a confirmation that this regional organization retains its position as a defender of Arab unity and pan-Arab interests.

Causes of interpersonal conflict and biparti institution contribution in handling conflict towards tourism industry

This article contains the results of interpersonal interactions that occur in the tourism industry. This research is a qualitative study using three data collection techniques, namely observation, interviews, and documentation. The following data retrieval results produce the final results about the causes of interpersonal conflict in the tourism industry, namely (1) differences in the meaning of information to cause discrepancies in the work done, (2) the influence of priorities from tourists. This personal characteristic is caused by the self-concept formed in a person, (3) Unresolved old conflicts so that a compilation of new interpersonal conflicts occurs, old conflicts also contribute. (4) Interpersonal conflict also arises because the leadership style that is applied so that it causes discomfort in work which in the end the work productivity does not decrease.

The reconfiguration of biobanks in Europe under the BBMRI-ERIC framework: towards global sharing nodes?

Freezers with biospecimen deposits became biobanks and later were networked at the pan-European level in 2013 under the Biobanking and BioMolecular Resources Research Infrastructure—European Research Infrastructure Consortium (BBMRI-ERIC). Drawing on document analysis about the BBMRI-ERIC and multi-sited fieldwork with biobankers in Spain from a science and technology studies approach, we explore what biobanks are expected to do and become under the BBMRI-ERIC framework, and how infrastructural transitions promote particular transformations in biobanking practices. The primary purpose of biobanks in Europe is presented as being to become mediators in contemporary biomedical research (global sharing nodes) distribution, and distributed nodes of samples and their associated data. We argue that infrastructural transitions are complicated and heterogeneous, giving rise to unattended local concerns on adjusting their practices to fit into the BBMRI-ERIC framework, even for non-members, as the case of Spain illustrates, where “old practices” of collection and storage are questioned. In this article, we aim to encourage qualitative studies to explore the lags between pan-European policies and prospects, different contextual interpretations, and biobanking reconfigurations as an opportunity to explore what that lag is made of (e.g. tensions with “old practices,” unresolved conflicts with the national agendas, reservations on a possible centralization of the biobanking practices by regional biobanks, lack of funding, etc.). Such research could enrich not only policy guidance, but also the understanding of technoscientific infrastructures’ scalability.

Processing of Genetic Data under GDPR: Unresolved Conflict of Interests

Over the last decades, developments in the fields of genetics and bioinformatics caused a marked increase in the processing of human genetic data by various companies and institutions. This results in the adoption of several international documents and the emergence of legal norms on the protection of genetic data. The paper examines how and to what extent the interests and rights of the data subject with regard to the processing of genetic data are protected in the European Union. It is concluded that under the GDPR this task is implemented through classifying genetic data as sensitive, reliance on anonymisation and pseudonymisation, as well as introduction of the procedure of data protection impact assessment. Nevertheless, given the unique characteristics of genetic data distinguishing them from other categories of personal data, these measures cannot be regarded as sufficient and effective. The paper argues that current EU data protection legislation creates favourable conditions for genetic research, thereby ensuring particular public interests, but does not establish a special regime for genetic data processing appropriate to potential threats in this field and risks to the rights of data subjects.

“Fair to me, fair to us, or fair to you?” Unresolved conflict between government and graduates over Australia’s tertiary education loans

ABSTRACT Australia adopted income-contingent government loans for tertiary students 30 years ago, aiming to promote greater access and equity in higher education, as repayments were required only when income exceeded a threshold. Why then does the scheme still cause dissension and with what consequences for government? We analyse qualitative and quantitative survey data to answer this question. Contrary to the government’s universal conception of fairness, graduates keenly perceive unfairness relative to their peers. Our results indicate that perceptions of unfair treatment create enduring difficulties for governments in securing cooperation from their citizens.

Effectiveness of Satisfactory Marriage Training Intervention in Marital Conflicts and Marital Disillusionment

Background and Aim: Unresolved and dysfunctional marital conflicts are always accompanied by frustration and daily tensions, leading to ignoring the needs of the couples and declining the quality of their marital relationships. This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of satisfactory marriage intervention on marital conflicts and marital frustration. Materials and Methods: The present research method was semi-experimental with pre-test, post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of this study consisted of all married men and women with a spouse of 25 years and older in Zanjan, of which 30 people were selected by available sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The data were obtained through Sanaei and Barati Marital Conflict Questionnaire and Kayser’s Marital Frustration Questionnaire and analyzed with descriptive statistics methods such as mean, standard deviation, and inferential statistics by multivariate analysis of covariance and Spss.22 Software. The Shapiro-Wilkes test was used to test the normality of the covariance analysis test, and the Loon test was used to investigate the homogeneity of the variances. Also, the significance level of the tests was considered to be 0.05. Results: The results indicated that satisfactory marriage intervention was effective in marital conflicts and marital frustration (p <0.001). Conclusion: It can be concluded that satisfactory marriage intervention was effective on marital conflicts and marital frustration. Therefore, satisfactory marriage education leads to reducing marital conflicts and marital frustration, which is used to improve the quality of life of couples.

Drivers of Clan Conflicts: A Perspective of the Role of Al-Shabaab in Garissa County, Kenya

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the drivers of intra-clan-based conflicts and the involvement of external actors that has remained indefinable in Garissa County. The three sub-counties: Garissa Township, Ijara and Fafi were purposively selected for the study because of prolonged and unresolved intra-clan conflicts coupled with militia group of Al-Shabaab attacks over the past years. Qualitative approach was used to seek understanding of drivers of intra-clan conflicts and involvement of violent extremism. The study involves primarily 35 Key Informants drawn from security agencies, Clan elders, Religious leaders and Civil societies across the three sub-counties. The study established that competition over natural resources: water; pasture and land are the main causes of intra-clan conflicts. The respondents attest that intra-clan conflicts have been accelerated by clan identity politics, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and Al-Shabaab infiltration. The devolution has elevated competition for political leadership due to sharing of county resources and employment along the sub-clans. The study found some respondents attributing Kenya’s military operation in Somalia to reciprocal attacks by Al-Shabaab in the county. The research established that over the years, Somali clan conflicts and hostility have spilled over into North Eastern Kenya, creating security threat and undermining community peace and cohesion. The porous border of Kenya-Somali has made it easy for some sub-clans to communicate with their kinsmen’s counterparts and obtain guns that are readily available in Somalia. The perception of injustices and sense of marginalization amongst the Muslims have provided fertile ground for Al-Shabaab which has diverted attention of security agencies to violent extremism rather than clan conflicts. The study recommends enhancement of inclusive peace committee and collaboration of community with administration and security agencies to tie together peace. There is also a need for openness of politicians to advocate for impartiality, clan conflicts resolution and countering violent extremism through policy framework in the county assembly.

Drivers of Clan Conflicts: A Perspective of the Role of Al-Shabaab in Garissa County, Kenya

The purpose of the study was to investigate the relationship between the drivers of intra-clan-based conflicts and the involvement of external actors that has remained indefinable in Garissa County. The three sub-counties: Garissa Township, Ijara and Fafi were purposively selected for the study because of prolonged and unresolved intra-clan conflicts coupled with militia group of Al-Shabaab attacks over the past years. Qualitative approach was used to seek understanding of drivers of intra-clan conflicts and involvement of violent extremism. The study involves primarily 35 Key Informants drawn from security agencies, Clan elders, Religious leaders and Civil societies across the three sub-counties. The study established that competition over natural resources: water; pasture and land are the main causes of intra-clan conflicts. The respondents attest that intra-clan conflicts have been accelerated by clan identity politics, poverty, illiteracy, unemployment and Al-Shabaab infiltration. The devolution has elevated competition for political leadership due to sharing of county resources and employment along the sub-clans. The study found some respondents attributing Kenya’s military operation in Somalia to reciprocal attacks by Al-Shabaab in the county. The research established that over the years, Somali clan conflicts and hostility have spilled over into North Eastern Kenya, creating security threat and undermining community peace and cohesion. The porous border of Kenya-Somali has made it easy for some sub-clans to communicate with their kinsmen’s counterparts and obtain guns that are readily available in Somalia. The perception of injustices and sense of marginalization amongst the Muslims have provided fertile ground for Al-Shabaab which has diverted attention of security agencies to violent extremism rather than clan conflicts. The study recommends enhancement of inclusive peace committee and collaboration of community with administration and security agencies to tie together peace. There is also a need for openness of politicians to advocate for impartiality, clan conflicts resolution and countering violent extremism through policy framework in the county assembly.

Why Do We Need Computational Models of Psychological Change and Recovery, and How Should They Be Designed and Tested?

Traditional research methodologies typically assume that humans operate on the basis of an “open loop” stimulus-process-response rather than the “closed loop” control of internal state. They also average behavioral data across repeated measures rather than assess it continuously, and they draw inferences about the working of an individual from statistical group effects. As such, we propose that they are limited in their capacity to accurately identify and test for the mechanisms of change within psychological therapies. As a solution, we explain the advantages of using a closed loop functional architecture, based on an extended homeostatic model of the brain, to construct working computational models of individual clients that can be tested against real-world data. Specifically, we describe tests of a perceptual control theory (PCT) account of psychological change that combines the components of negative feedback control, hierarchies, conflict, reorganization, and awareness into a working model of psychological function, and dysfunction. In brief, psychopathology is proposed to be the loss of control experienced due to chronic, unresolved conflict between important personal goals. The mechanism of change across disorders and different psychological therapies is proposed to be the capacity for the therapist to help the client shift and sustain their awareness on the higher level goals that are driving goal conflict, for sufficiently long enough to permit a trial-and-error learning process, known as reorganization, to “stumble” upon a solution that regains control. We report on data from studies that have modeled these components both separately and in combination, and we describe the parallels with human data, such as the pattern of early gains and sudden gains within psychological therapy. We conclude with a description of our current research program that involves the following stages: (1) construct a model of the conflicting goals that are held by people with specific phobias; (2) optimize a model for each individual using their dynamic movement data from a virtual reality exposure task (VRET); (3) construct and optimize a learning parameter (reorganization) within each model using a subsequent VRET; (3) validate the model of each individual against a third VRET. The application of this methodology to robotics, attachment dynamics in childhood, and neuroimaging is discussed.

Power relationships and coalitions in urban renewal and heritage conservation: The Nga Tsin Wai Village in Hong Kong

Urban renewal has been predominantly driven by themes of property-led and economic profit-driven redevelopment. The immense redevelopment pressures in dense urban cities have often posed unresolved conflicts in the conservation of historic quarters, particularly vernacular buildings with local significance instead of designated monuments with outstanding heritage value. This study examines the 20-year debate over the conservation and redevelopment of Nga Tsin Wai Old Village, one of the very few remaining villages in the urban area in Hong Kong. This case vividly demonstrates the contestations between the urban redevelopment and heritage conservation regimes and the multiple power relations that exist within each coalition. By combining the urban regime theory with the growth machine thesis, this study illustrates the complex interplay of power relations and struggles amongst different actors to determine their roles and interests, exercise of power and formation of coalitions. As such, the findings of this work improve our understanding of the sequential interrelationships amongst the power struggles of different actors, the redistribution of power, the formed coalitions and the supportive institutional arrangements in the redevelopment–conservation debate, thereby minimising the imbalanced power relations between these two discourses. This study also provides insights that can aid in the formulation of land use planning policies that can also be applied to other cities that are undergoing urban renewal.

Efectos psicológicos en los rituales ancestrales en Sagrario-Ecuador

Nuestra comunicación busca comprender la influencia de los rituales ancestrales de sanación en la salud mental. Esta investigación se centra en los rituales de sanación con substancias enteógenas practicados por los yachag o sanadores de la nacionalidad Saraguro. La nacionalidad Saraguro pertenece a las 14 etnias y nacionalidades indígenas identificadas en Ecuador. Se caracteriza por el secretismo entre la sabiduría ancestral y la religión católica occidental. Entienden al individuo físico y espiritual como una unidad, la sanación física empieza por el espíritu, por la energía de vida. Para los yachag la planta madre es la aguacoya o San Pedro. La sanación con aguacoya se realiza con un ritual que dura una noche. Los efectos que producen el consumo de la planta son: físiológicos, visiones y desinhibición sensorial y afectiva. Desde los estudios de la personalidad y la salud mental, nos hemos planteado analizar la relación del individuo con los procesos de sanación y curación. Tomamos como referencia teórica los estadios jerárquicos de Erikson, desde los cuales se plantea el desarrollo de la vida en ocho etapas que hacen frente a las realidades sociales en función del Yo. Participamos durante dos años en rituales de sanción con aguacoya, observando el proceso de cambio personal de 27 participantes seleccionados de forma aleatoria. Analizamos la influencia del ritual, integrando los niveles: somático, psíquico y ético-social; entendiendo estos niveles en relación a Erikson desde los conflictos no resueltos en cada uno de los estadios de la vida. Existe una tipología psicológica que predispone a los individuos a participar en los rituales y una serie de rasgos de personalidad que influyen en que el individuo encuentre sanación al superar los conflictos no resueltos a través del ritual.

Values at work

Tensions between nurses and physicians have been linked to differences in power, hierarchy, education, compensation and gender. Less attention has been paid to the underlying values on which these differences are predicated. Likewise, little is known about how frequently values conflicts are resolved, and the threats to patient safety unresolved conflicts pose. Our aim was to compare the values embedded in affirming and challenging narratives elicited from nurses and physicians from a large health system. We used thematic analysis and descriptive statistics to assess goodness-of-fit of observed differences in themes. Narratives were coded into eight values categories. Nurses felt affirmed by emotional investment, altruism, humanism, and being of service; for physicians, it was humanism and teamwork. Nurse challenges involved respect, altruism/kindness and emotional investment. For physicians it was also respect and, in addition, professionalism, being of service, humanism and teamwork. Some values affirming narratives, e.g., humanism, were indistinguishable, while for some values challenging narratives e.g., respect, there was virtually no overlap. Participant narratives provide important insights into work-life satisfaction and tensions arising from differences in the underlying values of close working professional groups. Unresolved values conflicts are a potential threat to quality, safety and effective relationships.

Editorial Introduction: Governance, Citizenry, and Methodological Advancement in Policy Research

Editorial Introduction: Governance, Citizenry, and Methodological Advancement in Policy Research