International Society for Health and Human Rights




		Mark Borg Jr William Alanson White Institute USA Point of impact community conflict resolution Punto de impacto resolución comunitaria de conflicto This paper describes the application of Interpersonal psychoanalytic theory to community conflict. The Interpersonal Empowerment model is based on conflict resolution and addresses long-term, underlying and structural (chronic), as well as overt and immediate (acute) conflicts by utilizing and expanding resources available within the community. The areas of focus in the context of the model are: Anxiety reduction; Relationship building; and Self-sustaining change processes. The Interpersonal approach uses a detailed inquiry into the actual experiences of the community in order to develop an approach that will accurately target cyclic and self-defeating behavior/interactive patterns. A series of workshops is utilized to approach and work with community members, as well as to create a new group of "trainers" in the community who can apply these concepts to conflicts as they arise. Examples are given from a series of workshops initiated to address chronic and acute conflict(s) in South Central, Los Angeles that were able to help community members move from a state of continuous trauma to one of integrated support. Workshops described are: Empowerment vs. Colonization: A comparison of the Empowerment model to that of a perceived "invasion" of a hostile force which tries to impose its own ethic of recovery; Dreams of the Future: Examines the orientations of the community members, observers, and outside influences toward what they envision for the future of the community; Asset Mapping: Compares assets applied to the community based on conceptions of outsiders, versus what is really available to, and needed by, the community; Interactional Analysis Model: This model details the community's history of characterological defense patterns, dependency needs, and anxiety connected with the "unknown," or with growth Group Process Empowerment: Encourages the exploration and expression of feelings in the present of workshop members as a model for the community's experience. Anxiety related to change and the struggle to establish an identity free of dysfunction are examined and utilized to develop self-sustaining change processes; and The Pre-Crisis Past Meets the Post-Crisis Present: Growth rests upon continuity, and this workshop series examines the re-making of community character and the continuation of the self-perpetuating processes that have been instituted to this point. These workshopsestablish the "point of impact" (the emotional epicenter of a crisis, whether chronic or acute) as a reference point for ongoing collaboration between the community, the intervention team, and external resources.