Conflict Management: Theory and Practice

Conflict Management: Theory and Practice offers practitioners and students a powerful framework for analysing how conflicts arise and evolve. Drawing upon a variety of theoretical foundations, this text provides tools to manage complex interpersonal, group and organisational dynamics – whether in workplace, community, legal, or everyday settings. This revised edition blends theory with practice, combining contemporary research with accessible explanations, practical techniques, real-world scenarios, and structured exercises. Readers will learn how to foster constructive dialogue, resolve impasses, and lead with clarity and confidence.

Features

• Incorporates and reflects some of the changes that flow from the systemwide reform brought on by the establishment, in 2025, of new national mediation standards overseen by the Australian Mediator and Dispute Resolution Accreditation Standards (AMDRAS) Board
• Includes commentary from indigenous and multicultural conflict perspectives
• Provides improved analysis of multi-party and multi-issue conflict contexts and those relevant to Australian practice and systems
• Covers advances in online dispute resolution and artificial intelligence (AI) and their impacts upon conflict management