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Friedrich Glasl's model of conflict escalation assists in the analysis of conflicts. Appropriate reactions can be derived from this analysis. The model has nine stages – in contrast to the earlier model of Kurt R. Spillmann, which describes five distinct stages of escalation. These stages are grouped into three levels, which each contain three stages.


Levels

Glasl represents "escalation in his nine stage model not as an ascent to higher and higher stages of escalation, but as a descent to deeper and deeper, more primitive and more inhuman forms of dispute...
hich Ij () is a village in Golabar Rural District of the Central District in Ijrud County, Zanjan province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq ...
inevitably leads into regions that evoke great 'inhuman energies' which are not ultimately amenable to human control or restraint." In the first level both parties can still win ( win–win). In the second level one of the parties loses and the other wins (win–lose), and in the third level both parties lose (lose–lose). Many different kinds of conflict can be thus analysed:
divorce Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganising of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the M ...
s, conflicts between colleagues and school children, and also conflicts between states.


1st Level (Win–Win)

; Stage 1 – Tension: Conflicts start with tensions, e.g. the occasional clash of opinions. This is a common occurrence and is not perceived as the start of a conflict. However, if a conflict should result the positions become more fundamental. The conflict could have deeper causes. ; Stage 2 – Debate: From now on the conflict parties consider strategies to convince the counterparty of their arguments. Differences of opinion lead to a dispute. The parties try to put each other under pressure and think in terms of black and white. ; Stage 3 – Actions instead of words: The conflict parties increase the pressure on each other in order to assert their own opinion. Discussions are broken off. No more verbal
communication Communication is commonly defined as the transmission of information. Its precise definition is disputed and there are disagreements about whether Intention, unintentional or failed transmissions are included and whether communication not onl ...
takes place and the conflict is increasingly exacerbated. Sympathy for "them" disappears.


2nd Level (Win–Lose)

; Stage 4 – Coalitions: The conflict is exacerbated by the search for sympathisers for one's cause. Believing one has right on one's side, one can denounce the opponent. The issue is no longer important: one has to win the conflict so that the opponent loses. ; Stage 5 – Loss of face: The opponent is to be denigrated by
innuendo An innuendo is a wikt:hint, hint, wikt:insinuation, insinuation or wikt:intimation, intimation about a person or thing, especially of a denigrating or derogatory nature. It can also be a remark or question, typically disparaging (also called in ...
and the like. The loss of trust is complete. Loss of face means in this sense the loss of moral
credibility Credibility comprises the objective and subjective components of the believability of a source or message. Credibility is deemed essential in many fields to establish expertise. It plays a crucial role in journalism, teaching, science, medicin ...
. ; Stage 6 –
Threat A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation f ...
strategies: The conflict parties try to gain absolute control by issuing threats which demonstrate their own power. One threatens, for example, with a ''demand'' (10 million euros) which is enforced by a ''
sanction A sanction may be either a permission or a restriction, depending upon context, as the word is an auto-antonym. Examples of sanctions include: Government and law * Sanctions (law), penalties imposed by courts * Economic sanctions, typically a ba ...
'' ("otherwise I′ll blow up your main building") and underlined by the ''potential for sanction'' (showing the explosive). The proportions decide the credibility of the threat.


3rd Level (Lose–Lose)

; Stage 7 – Limited destruction: One tries to severely damage the opponent with all the tricks at one's disposal. The opponent is no longer regarded as human. From now on, limited personal loss is seen as a gain if the damage to the opponent is greater. ; Stage 8 – Total annihilation: The opponent is to be annihilated by all means. ; Stage 9 – Together into the abyss: From this point personal annihilation is accepted in order to defeat the opponent.


The final stage


Strategies for de-escalation and conflict solution

The model describes how two parties in a conflict behave. Solutions leading to
de-escalation De-escalation refers to the methods and actions taken to decrease the severity of a conflict, whether of physical, verbal or another nature. It is the opposite of escalation. De-escalation may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution, b ...
are not immediately apparent in this model, particularly when it appears to both conflict parties impossible to reverse the situation (e.g. an aggressive act on the territory of a state, separation of a common child from the other parent, withdrawal of nationality by a state, mass redundancy to improve shareholder value), or when one party selects conflict escalation as a strategic ploy. To achieve de-escalation Glasl assigns the following strategic models to the different stages of escalation: * Stage 1–3:
mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...
* Stage 3–5: process guidance * Stage 4–6: sociotherapeutic process guidance * Stage 5–7: intercession, intermediation * Stage 6–8:
arbitration Arbitration is a formal method of dispute resolution involving a third party neutral who makes a binding decision. The third party neutral (the 'arbitrator', 'arbiter' or 'arbitral tribunal') renders the decision in the form of an 'arbitrati ...
, court action * Stage 7–9: forcible intervention The ability to recognise and eliminate conflict-nourishing forces in a culturally neutral and non-judgemental fashion in order to de-escalate a conflict is highly advantageous in particular for
manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
s,
consultant A consultant (from "to deliberate") is a professional (also known as ''expert'', ''specialist'', see variations of meaning below) who provides advice or services in an area of specialization (generally to medium or large-size corporations). Cons ...
s and
social worker Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...
s.


Criticism

Glasl’s conflict model is criticized for being too deterministic and ignoring the probabilistic nature of conflict dynamics.


See also

*
Business ethics Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics, that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that can arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business c ...
* * Conflict escalation *
Conflict management Conflict management is the process of limiting the negative aspects of conflict while increasing the positive aspects of conflict in the workplace. The aim of conflict management is to enhance learning and group outcomes, including effectivene ...
*
De-escalation De-escalation refers to the methods and actions taken to decrease the severity of a conflict, whether of physical, verbal or another nature. It is the opposite of escalation. De-escalation may also refer to approaches in conflict resolution, b ...
* (in German) *
Dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
* ''
Getting to Yes ''Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In'' is a best-selling 1981 non-fiction book by Roger Fisher and William Ury. Subsequent editions in 1991 and 2011 added Bruce Patton as co-author. All of the authors were members of the H ...
'' * Judges 16 (Biblical example of final stage) *
Just war theory The just war theory () is a doctrine, also referred to as a tradition, of military ethics that aims to ensure that a war is morally justifiable through a series of #Criteria, criteria, all of which must be met for a war to be considered just. I ...
*
Karpman drama triangle The Karpman drama triangle is a social model of human interaction proposed by San Francisco psychiatrist Stephen B. Karpman in 1968. The triangle maps a type of destructive interaction that can occur among people in conflict. The drama triangle mo ...
*
Mediation Mediation is a structured, voluntary process for resolving disputes, facilitated by a neutral third party known as the mediator. It is a structured, interactive process where an independent third party, the mediator, assists disputing parties ...
*
Nonviolent Communication Nonviolent Communication (NVC) is an approach to enhanced communication, understanding, and connection based on the principles of nonviolence and humanistic psychology. It is not an attempt to end disagreements, but rather a way that aims to increa ...
* Paul Graham's hierarchy of disagreement * Samson option * ''The War of the Roses'' (film)


References

* Some translations from: Ruth Mischnick: "Nonviolent Conflict Transformation – Training Manual for a Training of Trainers Course" (the link, https://web.archive.org/web/20160304082001/http://library.deeep.org/record/777/files/DEEEP-BOOK-2014-473.pdf, now links to the web archive as primary link is no longer available as at 2020-07-14).


Bibliography

* Friedrich Glasl: ''Konfliktmanagement. Ein Handbuch für Führungskräfte, Beraterinnen und Berater.'' Haupt, Bern 9. A. 2009, . * Alexander Redlich: ''Konfliktmoderation in Gruppen'' (mit Lehrfilm auf DVD). Windmühle, Hamburg 7. A. 2009, {{ISBN, 978-3-937444-18-5. Dispute resolution