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| Sunday, 13 January 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Conflicts made in Sri Lanka by Major General (Dr.) Tilak Jayaweera Ours is a society world famous for very strong family ties, whilst there are also many families with differences ranging from ignoring each other, occasionally getting into blows and sometimes even killing each other. This is why in societies like ours the slightest hasty and foolish action could lead to a conflict making life miserable to everybody, just as much as any ass could kick a barn, in next to no time whilst a carpenter would take a while to build one. There is another peculiarity in our society i.e. we always value foreign things and foreign makes, we go in search of world renown names like Marks and Spencer, St. Michaels, Van Heusen etc sometimes only to find when the package is opened they are made in Sri Lanka. Just as much we have made a name for our products internationally we have also made a name for conflicts as people of all walks of life plunging the country into this pathetic state make them in great abundance at every turn. We have to blame ourselves and no one else. This is true Sri Lankan culture predominant in some races, and there is no choice when we are forced to live with it. In society today there are certain factors that cause satisfaction, whilst absence of certain other factors cause dissatisfaction. The presence of the second group of factors only removes dissatisfaction but does not cause satisfaction. The main satisfying factors are a just society, un-bias superiors, good working environment, individual recognition and mutual understanding. The root causes of conflicts are the absence of these satisfying factors. The primary damage that is caused to the society by conflicts is the retardation of the work process by the wastage of valuable man hours that could be profitably used to increase productivity and for the progress of institutions and organisations. Conflicts are daily occurrences with varying degrees of intensity depending on the seriousness of the conflict and the attitudes of those involved. These are more common amongst petty minded people who are pessimistic, and suspect everybody and everything. Conflicts could be between individuals, between families, between communities, between nations, conflicts between children or those behaving like children are common. The former types can be easily resolved but not the latter. Conflicts could be between the educated and the non-educated, amongst the educated and the non-educated. Experience shows that the prevalence of conflicts is on a sliding scale mostly in the first category and the least in the last category. Some of the most common causes for conflicts are misunderstandings, jumping into irrational conclusions and wrong assumptions precipitating from the breakdown or lack of communications. The golden rule for interactions between people is that they must first try to understand before they are being understood. There are instances a phone call could resolve a conflict, which may get dragged over a long period when people try to argue and counter argue by writing lengthy letters wasting everybody's time. These are the conflicts made by parties in conflict with out outside influence. Third party influences purposely and sometimes ignorantly result in conflicts. These are irrational distribution of resources, unfair and irregular dealings. The latter could be on favouritism based on religion, language etc. Sometimes third parties when they are at the top thrive on continuing conflicts as they feel it is easier to rule when people are divided. Some conflicts are due to complexes and jealousies. If one of two friends gets a promotion or achieves something quite innocently not depending on the second party, there is bound to be an element of jealousy ending up in a conflict. Any thing premature is disastrous, this involves appointments, promotions, etc obtained by currying favour and by undue influences or deviating from accepted norms. These too find their way to conflicts, disputes, and even to quarrels. Some other conflicts are based on illiteracies. This has to be accepted though we boast of the highest levels of literacy levels without realising that the yardsticks of literacy levels are the ability to read, ability to write and the level of schooling. This does not mean that those with average levels of literacy can or cannot understand the causes and prevention of conflicts. The reality is situations become worse when people without adequate literacy levels are given positions based on which they are entrusted with solving problems. They treat symptoms blindly, shift the problems to get instant relief on a short-term basis ending up in disaster and this is not conflict transformation. Inferiority complexes are appetizers if the conflicts are main meals. It is the man with a complex who is always guarded and who always suspect everybody and will never looks straight into your eyes. In dealing with conflicts there are certain ground rules, first one is you should never prescribe without diagnosing, in diagnosing you should always take a good history and avoid treating the symptoms, which is a shifting of the problem. Spend some time and find out how did it happen, why did it happen, what caused the conflict and then only try to resolve it by what ever method you may adopt depending on circumstances. However to manage a conflict first line of action should be by the parties involved preferably before it is to late so that this could be nipped in the bud. Failure would precipitate either the involvement of a third party by peaceful means or by using authority depending on the relative strengths of the three parties and their individual interests. Last but not the least the lack of tolerance is a vital causative factor, which could be between individuals social, and/or religious group's communities and even nations. These could range from disputes, break down of relationships, confrontations ending up in hostilities. The only salvage being development of understanding, and increasing the degree of tolerance. The proven remedies for conflict resolution starts from avoiding, and if and when unavoidable by compromising, collaborating and lastly by force. |
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