Vision in conflict Volume I

Vision In Conflict: International Perspectives on Values and Enmity

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With contributions from members of the American Psychological Association, Psychological Society of South Africa, and others this 2010 book may be of interest to teachers and students of religion, theology, psychology, counseling, social work, anthropology, political science, military science, and conflict resolution, among others.

This volume contains presentations from recent symposia and essays written by other experts from around the world on powerful vehicles of conflict resolution-namely, religion, psychology, education and training, psychotherapy, and sports. The essays shed light on the process of peace and reconciliation in challenging venues from South Africa and the Congo to Rwanda, Iraq, and Kosovo.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Foreword...........................................................i

About the Contributors...........................................iii

Visions in Conflict: Introduction..................................vii

Brian C. Alston

God, Strangers, Friends, Neighbors, Enemies: Religious Constructs of the "Other"..........................................1

William R. Clough

The Tribal Instinct Hypothesis: Evolution and the Social Psychology of Intergroup Relations...............................13

Mark Van Vugt and Justin H. Park

The Utility of Teaching Conflict Resolution in War: A Case Study

From Iraq.............................................................35

Elisa Levy

Through Tribulation and Despair: Understanding the Serbian Orthodox Church in Today’s Newly Independent Kosovo......45

Rudy Scholaert

The Role of Agnomancy in the Creation and Perpetuation of

Conflict...............................................................81

William R. Clough

Healing Hurts: The Forgiveness Factor (South Africa)..........101

Basil Joseph Pillay

Reconciliation After Genocide, Mass Killing or Intractable Conflict: Understanding the Roots of Violence, Psychological Recovery and Steps Toward a General Theory (Rwanda) .....111

Ervin Staub

Reconciliation and Peace Through Recreation, Play and Leisure: Approaches That Penetrate Deeply and Widely Throughout Society (East Africa)................................................141

Valarie Vat Kamatsiko

Reconciliation and Peace Through Recreation, Play, and Leisure (Uganda).............................................................157

Catherine O’Keefe

Advancing Healing and Reconciliation (Congo).................161

Ervin Staub and Laurie Anne Pearlman

Promoting Deeper Values: Lessons Learned and Some Common Themes..............................................................187

Steven E. Handwerker

About the Contributors:

Brian C. Alston, STM, MA, is an adjunct professor at Grand Canyon University and has been involved in peaceful conflict resolution since leading peer mediation during Boston’s turbulent school busing crisis of the 1970s. He is a master’s- level clinician and college professor teaching in the areas of ethics, neurotheology, psychology, philosophy, and religion. He has pioneered work in the disciplines of neurotheology and relationship literacy. Currently he is bringing awareness to the politicization of poverty, both domestic and international, by working in Haiti and by organizing symposia and book projects (including the Visions in Conflict series) to disseminate the good work of others doing peaceful conflict resolution around the world.

William R. Clough, MDiv, DMin, is a professor in and program chair of the Pastoral Community Counseling Program at Argosy University in Sarasota, Florida. His degrees include an MDiv (theology) and DMin (counseling) from Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, and an MA (human development) from Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island. He writes and presents on practical theology, peacemaking, and counseling. He is an Educator Member of the American Association of Pastoral Counselors; a Senior Fellow of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research; a Diplomat of the National Center for Crisis Management; a Minister of Word and Sacrament in the Presbyterian Church,

USA; and a member of Peace River Presbytery.

Steven E. Handwerker, PhD, DDiv, is a licensed psychologist in New York, Florida, and South Dakota and has served as a clinical psychologist with individuals, couples, and groups for more than three decades. He currently lives in Florida, where he is a devoted husband of 35 years and a caring father to a 20-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. He is board certified as a forensic examiner and trauma specialist. He also serves on the Professional and Scientific Board for the Crisis Management Division of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Dr. Handwerker is chief executive officer of the 501(c)(3) international peace organization the International Association for the Advancement of Human Welfare, which he founded in 1997. He has also served as a U.S. Supreme Court mediator. His work is diverse, as he continues to work with all individuals and groups who work toward peace.

Valarie Vat Kamatsiko is the regional research and documentation coordinator for AmaNet, World Vision’s peace network covering nine countries in East Africa. She has carried out extensive context analysis to inform conflict-sensitive programming as well as research and advocacy in the areas of conflict and peace building. Her most recent research projects and publications have been in the areas of children and young people as peace builders, children affected by armed conflict, church approaches to peace and reconciliation, and local capacities for peace assessments. She is also the editor of The Peace-Seeker, a quarterly journal that facilitates the sharing of best practices in peace building and lessons learned within World Vision East Africa and World Vision International.

Elisa Levy, MA, has written and trained others on team building, conflict resolution, anger management, and women’s rights. Her work ranges from training Sunnis and Shiites on conflict resolution in Iraq to doing team building training for United Nations staff in southeastern Europe and Fortune 500 companies in the United States. She has developed training programs on violence prevention for the United Nations that have been replicated in 13 countries, and a book on violence prevention that she co-authored is now used by more than 200 organizations and universities around the world. Her audiences include major airlines, restaurants, doctors, court administrators, teachers, and youth.

Catherine O’Keefe, MEd, CTRS, has been on the faculty of the University of South Alabama in Mobile for almost 30 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in art at Spring Hill College, a Jesuit institution in Mobile, and her MEd in therapeutic recreation at the University of South Alabama. She has spent her adult life teaching about the value of recreation in community building as a vehicle for the inclusion of persons with disabilities and personal/group health and wellness. One of her chief goals is to inform social science disciplines of the benefits inherent in recreation for societal good on both the local and global levels.

Basil Joseph Pillay, PhD, is head of the Department of Behavioral Medicine at the Nelson R. Mandela School of Medicine at the University of KwaZulu-Natal and chief clinical psychologist for hospital services of the KwaZulu- Natal Provincial Administration in Durban, South Africa. Widely published, he is an internationally recognized academic and clinician, represents his discipline on national and international bodies, and serves on several scientific committees. He is a past president of the Psychological Society of South Africa.

Rudy Scholaert, MA, served as World Vision International’s peace building program director in Kosovo from 1999 to 2004. In this capacity, he acted as an advisor and program manager for a number of civil society development and peace building projects across the province. It was at this time that he became the driving force behind the Council for the Peace & Tolerance program in the ethnically divided city of Mitrovica. Rudy also led a number of conflict mitigation projects in Kosovo funded by the U.S. Institute of Peace and the Swiss Department of Foreign Affairs. Rudy is also the founder and president of the Eagle Down Foundation (www.eagledown.org).

Ervin Staub, PhD, is a professor of psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and founding director of the PhD concentration in the psychology of peace and the prevention of violence. President emeritus of the Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology Division of the American Psychological Association and of the International Society for Political Psychology, he has taught at Harvard and was a visiting professor at Stanford University, the University of Hawaii, and the London School of Economic and Political Science. He has studied, written, and lectured on the influences that lead to caring, helpful, altruistic behavior and their development in children; the origins of mass violence, especially genocide, mass killing, torture, and terrorism; the prevention of group violence; reconciliation in postconflict settings; the development of positive group relations; and the role of passive and active bystanders in all these areas. Since 1998, Dr. Staub has worked on various projects in Rwanda, working with communities, national leaders, and journalists as well as on radio dramas and with other educational programs in Rwanda, Burundi, and the Congo to promote healing, reconciliation, and violence prevention.

Mark Van Vugt, PhD, is a professor of social psychology at the University of Kent in the United Kingdom. He obtained his undergraduate degree from the University of Groningen and his PhD from the University of Maastricht in The Netherlands. He has published widely on topics in social and evolutionary psychology, including intergroup relations, leadership, social identity, altruism, and cooperation. He is the chief editor of “Cooperation in Modern Society: Promoting the Welfare of Communities, States, and Organizations” (Routledge, 2000) and co-author of the textbook “Applying Social Psychology” (Sage, 2007). He is a Fellow of the British Academy Centenary Project "Lucy to Language" and a member of the editorial boards of various journals in the field of social psychology.