Chapter I - Statement of Creative ProjectSince the beginning of time people have struggled with conflict. Conflict is an inevitable part of society among people of different origins, cultural backgrounds, gender, and overall lifestyles. Conflict can be defined in various ways. Coser (1956) defined it as a struggle over values and claims to scarce status, power and resources in which the aims of the opponents are to neutralize, injure or eliminate rivals. Simmel (1955) explained conflict as being designed to resolve divergent dualisms; a way of achieving some sort of unity, even if it be accomplished through the annihilation of one of the involved parties. However, no matter what the definition, the fact remains that in order for society to be somewhat civil in nature, people must find ways to deal with conflict and resolve differences.Throughout human history, people have found many ways to understand and deal with conflict. In both lore and fact, when conflict exists, so does the killing, imprisonment, abuse, segregation and isolation of people based on their disagreements over large and small issues (Weeks, 1994). While it is possible that some conflicts cause aggressive behavior or competition in an effort to defeat another person, conflicts can also occur in a subtle manner. For instance, people often deal with conflict by entering a state of suppression. These people would rather avoid the conflict altogether than deal with the issues that may stem from the conflict. To some people, conflict isn't worth "fighting over" (Folger, Poole, 1984 p.4). However, intentional or not, if two parties view a situation to be incompatible, a situation of conflict is likely to occur (Folger, Poole, 1984).Borisoff and Victor (1998) explain that just because certain people do not like conflict and avoid dealing with disagreements, conflict will not cease to exist. In fact, people who have been raised in an environment with little conflict, are often ill prepared to deal with others in difficult situations. Likewise, people who have been raised to understand conflict as a "direct clash" are also likely to be ill prepared to handle the "give-and-takes" aspects of interpersonal relationships (p. vii, viii).According to Porter and Taplin (1987) "Conflict resolution is as old as conflict itself" (p.19). They introduce various means of conflict resolution, including avoidance, conquest, education and contact, spontaneous remission, transactional resolution (direct negotiations and mediation), arbitration, judicial decision, and nonreconciliation (Porter, Taplin, 1987).This project will focus on mediation as a means to resolve conflict. When a third party is used to assist in the communication but not arbitrate, mediation has occurred (Porter, Taplin, 1987). Mediation is the conflict resolution process that has gained the most attention in recent years. In the last two decades, experimentation with mediation as an alternative or complementary process for resolving disputes has increased (Kressel, Pruitt Associates, 1989). Mediation is one of the oldest forms of conflict resolution. Mediation is typically used when there are three parties who rely on each other and two of the parties face a disagreement (Kressel, Pruitt, 1989).Evidence continues to show that mediation can be an effective and lasting tool in resolving many forms of conflict. The adequacy of mediation differs among programs, mediators and case types. (Kressel, Pruitt, Associates, 1989).College campuses are no different than any other social setting where conflict may occur. The Office of the Dean of Students at Ball State University has recently evolved from a single person to a comprehensive office of various staff members providing an array of student services. Staff in the Office of the Dean of Students, are striving to better serve students, faculty and staff in various ways. One particular way the Office of the Dean of Students would like to better serve the university community is to implement a conflict resolution/mediation program as an alternative form of discipline in the judicial process. By creating such a program, students will have the opportunity to improve their conflict resolution skills with the help of a third party. In addition, it is hopeful that inappropriate behavior of students who are unable to deal with conflict in a civilized manner will cease. The ultimate goal of the program is to teach students how to manage conflict throughout their adult life. The program created through this project has been designed to provide the Dean of Students and his staff with a vehicle to assist students to more appropriately resolve their conflict through mediation.The literature on mediation and conflict resolution provides a wealth of insight into the challenge of creating a useful program for students. This literature will be examined in the next chapter.