Transforming conflict
Conflict resolution is coming of age. Judy Kirby discovered a movement blossoming in the north
What settles disputes, deflates violence, erases ill-feeling and promotes understanding? Quakers have been pursuing this for generations. But a quiet revolution has been happening right under their noses – from foundations they laid. In the north of England, conflict resolution is beginning to look like a movement in transition – from early isolated and underfunded local efforts to a confident collaboration of many voices working for the same goal. Transforming conflict: Northern experiences brought these voices together, and they made an impressive sound. The Newcastle Conflict Resolution Network (NCRN), which is funded by Newcastle Quakers and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust, felt that after three years of hard work it had a story to tell of the region’s successes in actively promoting good community relations. It staged a day-long event in Newcastle Friends’ spacious new Meeting house in Gosforth.
Extraordinary stories emerged of how grievances of every kind, from racism to shopkeepers selling alcohol to under age young people, have been tackled by brave and ingenious mediators – often at street level. Even if issues weren’t always resolved, those involved on both sides were able to walk away with their self-esteem intact. These northern peacemakers now need to bring their skills to a wider audience. ‘We need to connect the civic to the political,’ Phil Champain of the mediation group International Alert told them. ‘How can we be more politically savvy?’
Patterns emerged: of a growing loss of faith in local decision making, in some places a diminishing trust in the police, a dangerous weakening of previously orderly gang structures in Manchester, the impact on local communities of what is happening in Pakistan, and divisive press coverage. Cuts are making collaboration vital between peacemakers.
The women of Walker
Walker is a tough area of Newcastle. It has had high rates of teenage pregnancy and the highest rate of police call-outs that involve domestic violence in the city. More than thirty per cent of residents have long-term ill health. Yet there was something in the gritty character of Walker people which made them perfect for the Alternatives to Violence Project (AVP). The way into this community was through the women.
When the Walker community staged its own ‘Engage for Change’ initiative, NCRN offered intensive weekend workshops run by AVP facilitators on ‘handling conflict.’
‘This was the first time that AVP Britain – outside prisons – has run a series of workshops focused in such a sustained way on one particular community’ says Rosemary Hartill, who co-facilitated many of the Walker sessions. Workshops were open to all but mostly attracted women. ‘AVP started in male prisons but in Walker it’s much more difficult to recruit men.’
The problems in Walker are balanced by a history of strong community feeling and voluntary groups working to improve life for local people. ‘People live with many stresses and strains within their families and communities but there is loads to celebrate – for example, the day-to-day conflicts already being handled or coped with and the huge commitment of some women in their part of the city.’
‘There are conflicts between partners, parents and children. There are community problems of noise, fights, not being well heard by officials and clashes of race and culture. But the same themes came through in the workshops – respect for self and expect the best.’
One surprising result of the residential weekends was the reaction from the women’s children, who were cared for outside the workshop sessions. When behaviour was disruptive, causing problems for carers, some let it be known they felt excluded – ‘we want to do some of the work Mum is doing,’ they protested.
Some of the women have begun to try out ‘handling conflict’ exercises with young people in their community centre’s youth club. ‘I’ve noticed that the older kids are getting the message more than the younger ones,’ says Suki Bell of Walker. ‘We now have other teenagers who have been on the adult conflict courses and they have become volunteers in our community centre.’
Suki found that the young people’s experience mirrored her own. ‘Everyone has problems with conflict. After these workshops we’ve come to decide that getting into arguments, losing tempers, just doesn’t work.’
Kay, who lives in Byker, Newcastle, suffers from a classic neighbourhood spat. She has neighbours who sleep all day and come alive at night, playing loud music and socialising in the garden. ‘I would lose my temper all the time,’ she says, ‘my neighbour thought I was being unreasonable.’ The AVP workshops changed her approach. ‘I don’t lose my temper now, I just say to her “come on, hinny, I’ve got to go to work in the morning.”’ The conflict isn’t entirely resolved, but their relationship is better than their prior confrontational one. Perhaps the neighbour can be persuaded on to an AVP course? ‘Not a bad idea,’ says Kay.
Taxi!
In Burnley, taxi drivers had a decades-long dispute with the licensing group of the local council. Relationships between drivers and council officials deteriorated sharply until a civic mediation group stepped in. The Centre for Good Relations is a small independent Community Interest Company based in the north-west since 2005 and has strong links with Mediation Northern Ireland, which was invited to the area after the 2001 riots.
The Burnley taxi drivers were ninety percent Asian and the council members mainly white. Protests about licensing decisions increased two years ago and Good Relations practitioners were invited by both sides to mediate the escalating dispute. One of the practitioners, Sam Tedcastle, told the NCRN audience that the first meeting was ‘fiery.’ She admitted that a lot of hurt was generated by the meeting. ‘The taxi drivers were angry, the councillors were angry – some of them said to us “what have you led us into?” but the power shifted at that meeting.’ Later, the centre brought some of those involved into training so that they might understand their own behaviour. Now, two years later, there is regular dialogue between the two parties.
Pro-disagreement
A recurring theme was the importance of engaging with those who one’s own group has disparaged. When Anjum Anwar was appointed three years ago as a Dialogue Development Officer at Blackburn Cathedral, it was the first time that a Muslim had been appointed to the staff of an English cathedral. At one open session in the cathedral, she was asked: ‘why do you and your friends keep on driving your aeroplanes into buildings?’ But as police moved in, she insisted the questioner stay: hers was the alternative and non-violent approach – acknowledging disagreement and talking.
What is a resilient community?
The Churches Regional Commission in the north-east has been finding out. It’s one that can withstand natural or man-made threats and one that can enhance the ability of its citizens to influence change. David Penn, a north-east Quaker, and Jim Robertson, have been working on the Commission’s project in two deprived north-east areas, Jarrow and Walker. They underlined the importance of a sense of belonging and inclusion in the making of resilient communities, a theme that reverberated throughout the day.
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