What is Community Conflict Resolution? Why is it important for Virginia?
Conflict is inevitable. If handled well, conflict can be a positive force for individual and societal change.
In the United States people often use courts of law to resolve conflict. This makes the courts responsible for conflict resolution as opposed to the people in conflict. And it does not always settle issues adequately. Many courts are over-burdened and struggling to meet the needs of the citizenry.
Community conflict resolution centers emerged in the United States in the 1960s to empower individuals and organizations to engage, transform, and resolve conflicts through the use of collaborative, constructive processes. These processes include mediation, facilitation, conflict resolution training and restorative justice and are often provided by trained volunteers committed to helping their fellow citizens use non-adversarial ways to engage conflict.
The Virginia Association for Community Conflict Resolution (VACCR) formed in 1992 to support and encourage the growth of Virginia’s non-profit conflict resolution centers. VACCR’s members want to engender a cultural change in which Virginians seek out the support of their community conflict resolution centers to resolve disputes on their own, and use the courts only as a last resort. They believe that educating the public about the conflict resolution services available through the centers is a first step toward creating this cultural change and creating a more peaceful society.
Click on the “Services” link on this site to learn about what’s being offered today by Virginia’s community mediation centers. Or click on the “Regional Centers” link to find the website for the center nearest your community.
