Objective 1. Identify the context and type of family conflict that community peacebuilders have experienced.
Objective 2. Identify and explore what KASH (Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills, and Habits) from CCMT have been useful to community peacebuilders in transforming family conflict.
Objective 3. Explore what skills/strategies peacebuilder families are actually implementing during their conflicts.
Objective 4. Identify continued needs for peacebuilder families for building healthy family systems and transforming family conflict.
We hypothesized that the CCMT KASH related to conflict counseling and mediation skills had crossover applicability to experiences of family conflict, particularly situational couple conflict/violence. It was further hypothesized that this KASH (in its present form) was not sufficient to engage violence associated with coercive controlling violence.
Study Design & Methods
We chose to design a holistic, multiple case study. The unit of analysis is the peace education KASH (Knowledge, Attitudes, Skills and Habits) taught in Peace Bridges’ Conflict Counseling and Mediation Training. Each case is the self-reported experiences of community peacebuilders on how participation in CCMT impacted their experience of family conflict.
We used intensity sampling to locate, recruit and select four participants. To be eligible for inclusion, participants needed to have: 1) completed CCMT, 2) lived as an adult in a family context before and after participation in CCMT, 3) been identified by Peace Bridges staff as skillful in applying the KASH in their personal lives. Our rationale was that these choices would help reveal the real and potential impacts of the KASH to family conflict, as well as the challenges in doing so.
To reflect the diversity of CCMT participants, the sample included two males and two females. Two participants lived in Phnom Penh and two lived in the provinces. Participation was entirely voluntary and participants were free to refuse to answer any question and to withdraw from the study at any time. Because participants shared personal experiences in trust, confidentiality has been protected through cross-case analysis (Yin, 1989: 56) and by leaving individuals unnamed in reports.
Each case participated in an in-depth, semi-structured interview and accompanying role play that was followed by a focus group discussion of the data. In-depth interviews were conducted by teams of two Peace Bridges staff members (women with women and men with men). Interviews were recorded and interviewers completed narrative reports. Following interviews, each case also participated in a role play. These role plays were designed by Peace Bridges’ staff to reflect culturally relevant conflict scenarios. Each role play was video recorded. The final stage of data collection utilized focus group discussions. We chose participants for these groups based on the following eligibility requirements: 1) is currently a staff member of Peace Bridges, 2) has demonstrated competence in both applying and teaching CCMT KASH, and 3) has demonstrated interest and experience in helping families engage conflict. Each case interview and role play was reviewed by the focus group and their reflections were documented. Our rationale was the intention to gain the insight of those familiar with Cambodian culture and CCMT to identify and clarify the skills and strategies actually being implemented by participants during family conflict, as well as the continued challenges for cultivating peace. This data is also supplemented with the CCMT course material, a rapid assessment survey, and a recent external evaluation. (n1)
Data was analyzed using: 1) relevant theoretical propositions, 2) pattern matching and 3) cross-case analysis. As the data was compiled, each case was analyzed using the theories that had initially led to the study. (n2) We then looked for patterns within the case while comparing the empirically based pattern (i.e., the experience of the participant in engaging family conflict) with the predicted one. In this case, our prediction was that basic peace education KASH would help to cultivate healthy family systems, so we looked for patterns that demonstrated how and why (or how not and why not) CCMT KASH was useful in the family context. Finally, the cases were compared in order to modify our theory and develop policy implications. In this final stage of the analysis, we looked for larger patterns of both the usefulness and limitations of CCMT KASH in transforming family conflict. (n3)
Limitations
The major limitation of the study is the inclusion of only four cases, which is further related to limitations of time, resources, and expertise. (n4) Limitations common to research in family related conflict and violence also apply to this study: it is difficult to discuss potentially embarrassing conflict stories; domestic violence is typically under-reported; interviewers are all trained in communication skills but inexperienced with research methodology; and the research team, while sensitive to relevant psychosocial issues (e.g., trauma, gender awareness, etc.), is without formal training in these disciplines. Finally, there is always the risk of misunderstanding, especially in the translation process. We hope readers are able to be mindful of these limitations.
***Notes1) Relevant data collection instruments are available from Peace Bridges, including: Rapid Assessment Survey, Interview Questionnaire, Role Play Scenarios, CCMT Course Outline, and glossary. For a deeper discussion of data sources, see section 1.3 below.2) This report reflects this methodology, and the major findings are organized accordingly.3) For more information about data analysis methodology, see especially Yin (1989), 105-126.4) We hope this limitation is somewhat mitigated by the chosen methodology of an exploratory case study, as well as Peace Bridges' intention to continue the inquiry through Participatory Action Research during the pilot program.
