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Institutions From Above And Voices From Below: A Comment On Challenges To Group-Conflict Resolution And Reconciliation, Laurel E. Fletcher
Institutions From Above And Voices From Below: A Comment On Challenges To Group-Conflict Resolution And Reconciliation, Laurel E. Fletcher
Law and Contemporary Problems
Fletcher explores how assumptions about justice have succeeded in establishing a new international consensus on necessary processes of rebuilding societies, some pitfalls of this approach, and recommendations for new directions for the field of transitional justice. A central assumption animating the moral, political, and legal cases for transitional justice is that those responsible for unleashing and conducting mass violence that devastates countries and the lives of civilian residents should not get away with their criminal acts. And further, supporters of justice assume that a legal response is necessary in order to promote reconciliation. He thinks that the appropriate role of …
Never Being Able To Say You’Re Sorry: Barriers To Apology By Leaders In Group Conflicts, Roger Conner, Patricia Jordan
Never Being Able To Say You’Re Sorry: Barriers To Apology By Leaders In Group Conflicts, Roger Conner, Patricia Jordan
Law and Contemporary Problems
Conner and Jordan discuss three implications of the foregoing analysis for leaders, peacemakers, and scholars interested in apology as an instrument to advance justice, prevent destructive conflict, and promote cooperation. First, an effective apology is likely to occur only after other changes have "softened up" negative attitudes between the groups--referred to here as "ripeness." Second, even with a degree of ripeness, apology is unlikely without a "window of opportunity," a confluence of circumstances that permits the leader to limit the scope of the apology so as not to concede too much. Third, even if these conditions are satisfied, words alone …
A Biological Approach To Understanding Resistance To Apology, Forgiveness, And Reconciliation In Group Conflict, Douglas H. Yarn, Gregory Todd Jones
A Biological Approach To Understanding Resistance To Apology, Forgiveness, And Reconciliation In Group Conflict, Douglas H. Yarn, Gregory Todd Jones
Law and Contemporary Problems
Yarn and Jones introduce a biological approach to understanding resistance to apology, forgiveness, and reconciliation in intergroup conflict. Using evolutionary biology and game theory, they illustrate how the strategic dynamics of dyadic interaction tend to favor these behaviors and derive a schema relevant a reconciliatory cycle. They then explore how the distinct context of intra- and intergroup conflict reinforces these behaviors. Finally, they identify those barriers to individual reconciliation that result from the strategic dynamics of social-group architectures, particularly those that differ from the ancestral social architecture within which individual behavior has evolved. They conclude with a brief application of …
Governing Pluralistic Societies, Tom Tyler
Governing Pluralistic Societies, Tom Tyler
Law and Contemporary Problems
Societies can be held together in many ways. Historically, many groups were linked by a common history, common ethnicity, and common religious and social values. These societies shared a unified set of norms dictating right and wrong. Other groups have been held together by charismatic leaders who present a unifying vision, but modern pluralistic society, uniquely, accepts a diversity of views about what is appropriate and reasonable, which makes these forms of authority difficult to enact. The form of authority emerging in western democratic states has been, instead, authority based upon the processes of government: people recognize democratic procedures as …
Saving Face: The Benefits Of Not Saying I’M Sorry, Brent T. White
Saving Face: The Benefits Of Not Saying I’M Sorry, Brent T. White
Law and Contemporary Problems
White discusses the socio-psychological research that suggests humans invest significant emotional stake in "face"--or their "claimed identity as a competent, intelligent, or moral persons"--and apologize only when they can do so without significant "face threat." Criminal offenders, many of whom are likely to be low on self-determination, may resist apology to victims out of psychological fragility and the psychological need to preserve face rather than lack of remorse. Thus, the criminal-justice system should be cautious about punishing offenders more harshly because they fail to show external remorse--or even when they are openly defiant. This caution should be exercised whether the …