ACR's Public and Intense Conflicts Committee

History

In response to the events of September 11, 2001 and out of a general concern about how ACR can best respond to public and intense conflicts, the ACR Board at its January 2002 meeting decided to form an Advisory Committee on Public Conflict. In establishing the committee, the Board suggested the following guidelines:

1. to advise the Board about the appropriate role of ACR in responding to public conflicts and the process by which such responses can be decided upon;

2. to advise the Board about how to respond to specific conflicts in a timely and meaningful way; and

3. to work with ACR staff on the development of materials that might be useful to local ACR Chapters and members in developing a local response to public conflicts.

The Board asked the Advisory Committee to submit a report at the May 2002 Board of Directors meeting, with the goal of aiding the Board in establishing an ongoing structure and process for dealing with public conflicts. The report recommended that ACR create a permanent Committee on Public and Intense Conflicts (PIC) and also recommended that this committee, in consultation with the Board and Staff of ACR, identify a yearly focus for ACR concerning Public and Intense Conflict and oversee the implementation of this focus.

Previous and Current Efforts

The PIC Committee selected “Racial Profiling” as its theme in 2003, which it highlighted in the Fall 2003 issue of ACResolution magazine, titled “Discrimination and Conflict Resolution,” and in a session at the 2003 Annual Conference. In 2004, the PIC Committee chose “Righting Unrightable Wrongs” as its theme, which it highlighted through a series of workshops, mini-plenary sessions and facilitated dialogues at the 2004 Annual Conference. This theme will continue as the 2005 theme.

Contact the PIC Committee

To ask questions or convey ideas to the PIC Committee, or to learn more about its work, send an email to PIC Committee Chair Leah Wing or to staff member Jennifer Druliner.

Current PIC Committee members include:

• Michelle Armster

• Frank Dukes

• Michele Hill

• Alma Abdul-Hadi Jadallah

• John Paul Lederach

• Marina Piscolish

• Mary Skelton Roberts

• Kalani Souza

• John Stephens

• Leah Wing (Chair)

Recent Statements:

• ACR Statement on Hurricane Katrina  (adopted by the Board of Directors of the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) on September 12, 2005.)

• A Call for Dialogue on Security and Terrorism
  (Adopted February 2003 by the ACR Board of Directors)
  

• Policy Statement on War and Weapons of Mass Destruction
  (Adopted November 10, 2002 by ACR Board of Directors)
  

We invite your responses to these statements. Please click here to access the ACR Statements Discussion Forum.