Internal Conflict Management and Decision Making: A Qualitative Study of a Multitiered Grassroots Advocacy Organization

Abstract

This study explores decision making and strategies for managing conflict with and among titled volunteers of affiliates in a nonprofit organization. This investigation describes priming, conflict climbing, problem parking, and insulation and addresses experiences with mediation. Through a systems theory approach, it describes the importance of detoxification and proposes capacity building as a revised goal inside of systems theory. This study also provides an example of how one organization's history and culture shapes the power politics at play and subsequent conflict management dynamics.