Article 80
Strategies for Conflict Resolution Among Middle School Students
Kelsey A. Davis and Vickie Ann McCoy
Davis, Kelsey A., is a graduate assistant in the Department of Counselor
Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. With a background in
human development, Kelsey is currently studying K–12 school counseling. She
anticipates receiving her MSEd in May 2017.
McCoy, Vickie Ann, is an associate professor in the Department of Counselor
Education at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Prior to her position at
WCU, Dr. McCoy worked at the Institute for Disability Studies at the University
of Southern Mississippi and was the Coordinator of Counseling and Testing
Services for Students with Disabilities at Monmouth University in New Jersey.
Abstract
Though conflict is an inevitable component of interpersonal relationships,
without appropriate conflict resolution skills, school students may experience
social isolation and academic decline. This pattern can be particularly true in a
middle school setting, where peer relationships have become the focal point of
adolescent development. This article includes a rationale for the importance of
middle school educators, school counselors, and administrators educating
themselves regarding healthy conflict resolution for their students. The authors
provide a brief summary of existing programs, such as peer mediation, conflict
coaching, and psychoeducational training, to create a conflict resolution school
climate. The authors conclude that while the current state of the literature is a
promising starting point for the field, empirical validation of these models is
needed; thus, they call for further outcome research to determine what the
counseling field can truly call a “best practice” for facilitating healthy conflict
management in middle school settings.
Keywords: conflict resolution, school counseling, middle school
Conflict, though an inevitable aspect of interpersonal relationships, can be
managed in ways that yield healthy outcomes. When conflict occurs in middle school
environments, students affected often lack the developmental maturity and interpersonal
skills necessary to move toward healthy outcomes without guidance. Many professional
educators are fostering the development of such skills by implementing school-based
prevention focused on conflict resolution, peer mediation, and other options for
decreasing or resolving the incidence of peer conflicts in a middle school environment
(Daunic, Smith, Robinson, Miller, & Landry, 2000; Smith, Daunic, Miller, & Robinson,
Ideas and Research You Can Use: VISTAS 2016
2002). Conflict resolution skills can prove helpful in a middle school environment, where
a lack of academic, social, and/or behavioral skills may lead to significant consequences
for students in conflict, such as social isolation or academic decline. Conversely, students
who exhibit competency in conflict resolution skills may be better able to adhere to the
various academic and social demands as well as the peer norms that accompany
adolescence (Kalberg, Lane, & Lambert, 2012).
What Is Conflict?
Conflict is commonly referred to as a disagreement of needs, motivations, wishes,
and demands resulting from differing opinions in status, goals, values, perceptions, and
sharing among individuals and groups (Ayas, Deniz, Kağan, & Kenç, 2010; Laursen &
Pursell, 2009; Sülen Şahin, Serin, & Serin, 2011). For simplicity, conflict here will be
defined generally as oppositions from both participants in a situation. Some types of
conflict that may arise in a school environment include physical aggression, relational
aggression, playground disputes, and emerging social conflicts over varying values and
beliefs, among other things (Ayas et al., 2010). It should be noted that, in the literature,
interpersonal conflicts are discussed as distinct constructs from the related constructs
such as aggression, dominance, competition, and anger. Although verbal and physical
aggression, dominance, competition, and anger often take place in the context of conflict,
Laursen and Pursell (2009) suggested that they not be considered interpersonal conflict in
isolated circumstances. In fact, friendships do not typically dissipate due to a single
conflict episode, but chronic and consistent conflict does seem to have a great effect on
friendship/relational quality (Laursen & Pursell, 2009). Regardless of definition used to
characterize conflict, the consensus in the literature is that conflict in adolescence and
within peer groups in a school environment can lead to relational bullying and intergroup
exclusion.
Why Does Conflict Occur?
In attempting to gain greater understanding into the nature of conflict,
practitioners often turn to foundational conflict principles. It is understood that humans
make purposeful choices, that their motivations for each choice are intentional (Ayas et
al., 2010) and that there are unfulfilled psychological needs underlying the roots of
purposeful behavior (Maslow, 1943; Noltemeyer, Bush, Patton, & Bergen, 2012).
Maslow asserted that people tend to meet their needs in a hierarchical manner, beginning
with physiological needs and progressing upward through safety, love and belonging,
self-esteem/self-respect, and finally reaching the ultimate goal of self-actualization. By
applying this hierarchy to adolescent relationships in the middle school context, conflict
can be examined through the lens of a personal need for social belonging that has gone
unmet. This unmet need may manifest as one member of a peer group acting upon his/her
frustration or prejudice in a way that demeans a peer, in order to increase status/power in
the peer group where social belongingness is sought (Osterman, 2000). Maslow’s theory
also states that those who have met this need of social belongingness may exhibit more
self-actualizing tendencies, such as positive interactions with others; in the case of
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adolescents, these interactions may lead to greater prosocial behavior, as defined by the
middle school students themselves (Greener & Crick, 1999).
While motivation behind the conflict is situational, it is commonly accepted
practice to resolve peer conflict sooner rather than later in order to detect and prevent
bullying and other problematic behaviors (Cowie & Hutson, 2005). To that end, some
strategies which school counselors can implement to detect and decrease peer conflict in
middle school settings include peer mediation, school climate change through
psychoeducational programs, and conflict coaching, all of which are outlined and
discussed in this article.
Strategies for Decreasing Peer Conflict in Middle School Settings
Peer Mediation
The literature suggests that some typical educator responses to disruptive or
violent peer conflict include punishment and seclusion. However, these adult actions do
not necessarily teach students the appropriate tactics to manage their own conflicts more
effectively (Turnuklu et al., 2009). Introducing more student-centered, preventative
programs, such as a peer mediation program, in middle schools could allow for the
resolution of the interpersonal conflicts, as well as the growth of the students’
interpersonal skills in the area of conflict resolution (Bell, Coleman, Anderson, Whelan,
& Wilder, 2000). Peer mediation is defined as having a third party, student or faculty
mediator, help disputants to resolve conflict through open communication and reach a
mutual agreement regarding the situation at hand (Shahmohammadi, 2014; Sülen Şahin et
al., 2011).
The Conflict Resolution and Peer Mediation (CRPM) program is one such
program that has been demonstrated to be effective when implementing peer mediation in
middle school to assist school counselors with managing conflict resolution. Turnuklu et
al. (2009) found that female mediators may be more effective due to the increased
preference of female mediators in that study; however, mediator gender preference may
be situational, depending on age and experiences of participants. Within the first few
months of the school year, peer mediators should be trained in the specific types of
conflict they may encounter and the different types of agreements that could be used.
This program fosters student responsibility for their actions, while also providing them
with the developmentally appropriate autonomy that is found to decrease aggressive
orientation and hostile attribution; escalate healthy perspective taking; increase emotional
awareness and management; improve problem-solving skills; and increase the use of
constructive conflict behaviors in varying contexts, including schools, home, and the
community. Without this guidance, students may take actions to resolve their conflict in
unhealthy and ineffective ways such as physical aggression, verbal attacks, ‘the cold
shoulder,’ or getting even (Turnuklu et al., 2009). According to the CRPM model, a
hybrid approach, using a “cadre” and the “total student body,” seems to be an effective
method and can be used across cultures (Turnuklu et al., 2009). This hybrid approach
provides school-wide training in conflict resolution and peer mediation while allowing
the student body to select individual peers to act as the peer mediators. Such an approach
is further described as resulting in 98% resolution of the peer-mediated conflicts studied
(Turnuklu et al., 2009).
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School Climate Change via Psychoeducational Programs
An alternative to implementing specific strategies when conflict situations arise is
establishing an overall school climate designed to decrease conflict and resolve it in
healthy ways. The National School Climate Center (NSCC; 2015) suggested that school
climate be defined as “the quality and character of school life as it relates to norms and
values, interpersonal relations and social interactions, and organizational processes and
structures” (para. 1). While school climate can embody many school norms, LaRusso and
Selman (2011) identified four school climates specific to conflict resolution: survivalbased climate, power-based climate, respect-based climate, and caring-based climate.
Each type of school climate can be defined in the context of their names. A survivalbased climate is categorized by high aggression. Students are concerned with their own
safety, and the conflict that occurs typically resolves with unreflective, impulsive fightor-flight responses. A power-based climate is categorized by some aggression and much
concern for rules and having control. In this type of school climate, conflict is resolved
with submission and one-way compliances. Respect-based climates demonstrate little
aggression, concern with recognizing multiple viewpoints, equality, and resolution of
conflicts with mutual communication and strategies. Finally, caring-based climates are
concerned with the mutual well-being of everyone, maintaining social relationships, and
using compromise and collaboration to solve conflict. Aggression is very rarely found in
a caring-based school climate (LaRusso & Selman, 2011). The importance of school
climate can be underestimated because the abstract concept of school norms can go
unnoticed until problems arise. The NSCC (2015) empirically supports the importance of
school climate by acknowledging increased teacher and student retention, decreased
incidences of violence, and higher student achievement when school climate is positive.
School climate can be established through psychoeducational training sessions
and programs for the school. An example of such a program is the Productive Conflict
Resolution Program (PCRP). This program empowers students and teachers with the
skills necessary to resolve conflict productively, develop emotional intelligence, create
and uphold social justice, aid in the development of responsible citizenship, and create a
caring and cooperative whole school environment (Kalberg et al., 2012). Instructional
topics taught during the PCRP include understanding conflict, cooperation, conflict
styles, valuing diversity, listening skills, emotional expression skills, problem solving,
forgiveness, and reconciliation. Alternatively, Mura, Bonsignore, and Diamantini (2010)
described a conflict resolution psychoeducational training program for students that
promotes positive conflict management throughout the student body, in due course
attempting to create a school environment in which not only teachers take part in actively
diffusing conflict before it escalates, but students do so as well. An interactive training,
including group discussions, workshops, and role playing, is implemented to provide
techniques that will allow students to autonomously handle conflict resolution through
communication, emotional skills, and negotiation skills (Mura et al., 2010).
Conflict Coaching
Conflict coaching takes a different, more individualized, approach to conflict
resolution. In fact, while the majority of conflict resolution strategies require both or all
participants involved in the conflict, conflict coaching focuses on one participant and a
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conflict resolution specialist (Brinkert, 2006). Conflict coaching can be used either in
anticipation of a conflict or in making assessments of a situation that has already occurred
(Brinkert, 2002). Most of the literature surrounding conflict coaching is within businesses
and organizations; therefore, the use of conflict coaching in academic settings may be
sparse. Despite the absence of literature for school conflict coaching, school counselors
would be appropriately qualified to be considered conflict coaches. According to Brinkert
(2002), effective conflict coaches are acknowledged as exhibiting above average
confidence and self-awareness, concern for others, perspective taking, and verbal and
non-verbal communication skills. Other components of the conflict coaching process that
parallel a counseling session include establishing rapport, discussing limits of
confidentiality, goal setting, fostering client understanding of interpersonal awareness
and self-reflection, as well as autonomous problem solving. The counselor or conflict
coach acts as a facilitator and expert on the situation and offers a different perspective as
well as insight into the situation at hand (Brinkert, 2006). Conflict coaching may be
preferable to clients who connect with sports or do not want to view the core issue as
intrapersonal. The metaphor of coaching implies to the client that the conflict situation
can be solved with an external focus, geared toward goals and success for the future using
the client’s strengths.
The school counselor-coach can choose a type or framework for their coaching
style. There are four approaches: interest-based, transformative, narrative, and conflict
styles. Interest-based, problem-solving coaching focuses on negotiation. Transformative
coaching focuses on client empowerment through the acknowledgement of self-strengths
as well as the other disputant’s perspective. Narrative coaching focuses on the ways
individuals use stories to gain an understanding of their lives. The stories are used to help
make sense of how different stories can lead to conflict and subsequent resolution.
Finally, conflict styles coaching determines the client’s conflict style using the ThomasKilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (1974) and explores conflict situations using that
style. This approach is relatively structured and thus a model that novel coaches can learn
easily (Brinkert, 2002). Once the counselor-coach has identified their approach for the
particular participant, conflict coaching sessions run similar to a counseling session,
however much more brief. The single session begins with introductions, gathering
information and exploring perspectives and outcomes, and terminates with a reflective,
summative exchange.
Another conflict coaching option to consider would be the CONFLICTALK
instrument (Kimsey & Fuller, 2003). This instrument can be used to assess youth and
adolescent conflict management message styles. The authors intend the instrument to be
used as a tool for training in school-based, peer mediator and conflict management
programs. The data collected on this instrument indicate that, when used in middle school
settings, the scales used in CONFLICTALK measure typical responses to interpersonal
and group conflicts and the construct validity, using factor analysis, suggests that
CONFLICTALK discriminates three conflict styles: (1) adversarial, (2) collaborative,
and (3) avoidance.
Options for Underfunded Programs
While the above strategies have been empirically supported as tools for
addressing conflict resolution in middle schools, the distribution of resources, both
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financial and human, can affect the availability of, training for, and implementation of
formal strategy programs. Educators may not have the time or resources to begin
implementing early aspects of programs, such as in-service training sessions, that provide
proper training to school faculty in conflict resolution skills. In this case, school
counselors may opt to run counseling groups centering on conflict resolution during the
school year for students who need the assistance. Such programs, which promote coping
with school-based conflict when delivered to the whole population, have been considered
to represent a promising direction for the prevention of school-based conflict and
violence escalation. Particularly recommended by practitioners in the field are groups that
focus on student resiliency in the presence of conflict or victimization. By focusing on
resiliency in student intra- and interpersonal relationships, school counselors are
emphasizing the students’ own ability to move beyond a challenging event (Rose &
Steen, 2014) as a preventative measure for negative emotional consequences associated
with conflict and victimization. The Achieving Success Everyday Group Counseling
Model, as developed by Rose and Steen (2014), is one such specific group model that
targets middle school students and focuses on student resiliency.
Another option would be to deliver programming designed to assist children and
adolescents facing conflict to the whole middle school population. Frydenberg et al.
(2004) detailed the need to implement programs through which we can teach adolescents
such coping responses so that they may handle conflict more effectively. In addition to
teaching better strategies, programs should also focus on the reduction of the use of
non‐productive coping skills. One such program was designed to increase coping
resources in preadolescents through the modeling and teaching of optimistic thinking
skills (Cunningham, Brandon, & Frydenberg, 2002). The results support the feasibility of
middle school implementation of some low-cost, non-intrusive programs for students.
Call to the Profession
In recent years, middle school educators and practitioners have reported evergrowing concerns with conflicts that escalate to relational bullying, cyberbullying and
physical altercations (Espelage, Bosworth, & Simon, 2000). It is no secret that the
increasing violence and bullying in middle schools creates a school climate that can be
both physically and psychologically unsafe for the students who are not necessarily
developmentally ready to negotiate escalating conflict without intervention from school
personnel. Though these challenges are well documented in the literature (Rigby &
Bagshaw, 2003), empirically validated interventions that are considered best practices are
difficult to identify.
This brief review of the literature indicates that there are several promising
programs aimed at resolving and/or preventing escalating conflict in middle schools.
With so many options, it is difficult for practitioners to discern which, if any, would be
considered ideal for a middle school environment; thus, we are a long way from declaring
in our literature base a strategy that would be considered “best practice” in facilitating
healthy conflict resolution in middle schools. It is hoped that researchers and practitioners
will collect outcome data on some of the more promising options, such as peer mediation
and school climate change. In addition to these middle school interventions, researchers
may wish to explore preventative options such as creating a positive school climate
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surrounding conflict resolution in early elementary school, where there may be greater
possibility of facilitating preventative action against maladaptive conflict behaviors in
middle school. For both populations, further research is needed.
When we expand beyond traditional educational research, we find that the
business and psychology literature is ripe with starting points, as authors report strategies
used in groups of adults (Dechurch, Hamilton, & Haas, 2007), businesses (Simons &
Peterson, 2000), team building (Behfar, Peterson, Mannix, & Trochim, 2008), couples
counseling (Mackey, Diemer, & O'Brien, 2000), and even graduate education in conflict
resolution (Brockman, Nunez, & Basu, 2010). While we can learn from these findings, it
is important for school counselors to collect data in support of specific strategies to be
used in middle school conflict resolution plans. Working together, school counselors can
develop conflict-specific curriculum for group counseling as well as collect efficacy and
summative data following the program implementation. It is hoped that researchers in the
field will collect the data necessary to lend support to the programs outlined in this brief
review of the options.
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Note: This paper is part of the annual VISTAS project sponsored by the American Counseling Association.
Find more information on the project at: http://www.counseling.org/knowledge-center/vistas
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