Intragroup and Intergroup Dynamics
Senior 6 · Psychology
Intragroup and Intergroup Dynamics
Lesson 3 of 4
25 min
In 1960 the psychologist Urie Bronfenbrenner, who spoke Russian, visited the Soviet Union at the height of the Cold War and talked with ordinary citizens. He was struck by how they described the United States: its government was aggressive, exploited its people, could not be trusted and was preparing for war. These were almost exactly the things Americans said about the Soviet Union. He called this the mirror-image perception (Bronfenbrenner, 1961).
| Each side said of the other | Each side said of itself |
|---|---|
| "Their leaders are aggressive." | "We only want peace." |
| "Their government deceives its people." | "Our people support our leaders." |
| "They cannot be trusted." | "We keep our promises." |
| "They are building weapons to attack us." | "We arm ourselves only for defence." |
When both sides see themselves as innocent and the other as the aggressor, every move by one side confirms the other's fears. This lesson asks what causes such conflicts and how they can be resolved.
Definition
Intergroup conflict: a situation in which groups perceive their goals, interests or values as incompatible and act against each other.
Negotiation: direct discussion between the parties to reach an agreement.
Mediation: a neutral third party helps the parties reach their own agreement but cannot impose one.
Arbitration: a third party hears both sides and makes a decision that the parties have agreed in advance to accept.
Restorative justice: an approach to wrongdoing that brings together offenders, victims and the community to establish the truth, repair harm and restore relationships, alongside or instead of punishment alone.
Dean Pruitt and Sung Hee Kim describe changes that occur as conflicts spiral: tactics move from light (persuasion) to heavy (threats, violence); issues multiply; specific complaints become general judgements ("they are evil"); the number of people involved grows; and the goal shifts from doing well, to winning, to hurting the other side.
Pruitt and Jeffrey Rubin's dual concern model (1986) says that a party's strategy depends on two concerns: for its own outcomes and for the other side's outcomes (Figure 1).
Problem solving is usually the most lasting, because neither side feels defeated. Roger Fisher and William Ury's Getting to Yes (1981) turned it into four principles of principled negotiation: separate the people from the problem; focus on interests (why each side wants something), not positions (what it says it wants); invent options for mutual gain; and judge results by objective criteria.
Important
Case study: Rwanda's community-based justice and mediation. After the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi, more than 100,000 suspects were held in prisons, far more than the ordinary courts could try. From 2002 Rwanda used Gacaca courts: community courts in which elected judges of good character (inyangamugayo) heard cases in public, with survivors, witnesses and the accused taking part. By the time they closed in June 2012, Gacaca courts had dealt with 1,958,634 cases. Supporters point to the speed, the truth revealed about where victims were killed, confessions and apologies, and community participation. Critics, including Human Rights Watch (2011), recognised these achievements but raised concerns about fair-trial rights, such as the lack of defence lawyers and the risk of false accusations, and about the distress of testifying.
For everyday disputes, Abunzi mediation committees of elected local residents help neighbours settle civil disputes, such as over land boundaries or debts, before going to court. Both are listed by the Rwanda Governance Board among Rwanda's "home-grown solutions".
Warning
Use the right words. The 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi was not an "intergroup conflict" or an "ethnic conflict" between two sides. It was the planned extermination of a targeted group. Theories of intergroup conflict help explain how hostility is built and how communities rebuild afterwards, but they must not be used to describe genocide as a two-sided fight.
Tip
Interests, not positions. Two pupils want the same classroom at lunchtime (positions). One wants quiet to revise; the other wants a table to make a club poster (interests). The poster team can use the library table. Practise finding the interest behind every position.
Important
Discuss. Two neighbouring villages argue over a water source. Using the dual concern model and Fisher and Ury's principles, design a meeting that could resolve it. Who should mediate?
Practice
Sources and credits
Written by Ganzaa: the text, the diagram (Figure 1), the tables and the exercises.
