Welcome to the ACR Research Section

Section Co-Chairs

Dr. Gregory Todd Jones
Director of Research
Georgia State University College of Law
PO Box 4037
Atlanta, GA 30302
United States
Telephone: 404-367-4710
Email:  gjones@quantlaw.com 

Jayne Seminare Dockerty PhD
Associate Professor of Conflict Studies
Conflict Transformation Program/EMU
1200 Park Rd
Harrisonburg, VA 22802
Telephone: 540-432-4627
Fax 540-432-4449
Email:  jayne.docherty@emu.edu  

We are delighted to have this opportunity to tell you about the current work of the Research Section of the Association for Conflict Resolution, and to invite your ideas as we move forward. If you have yet to join the section, we invite you to do so, so that you may join one or more of our committees and continue to participate in section activities.

In April 2003 the Center for Dispute Resolution of Penn State Dickinson School of Law, in conjunction with the Broad Field Project and the ACR Research Section, hosted an interdisciplinary symposium to examine how a profession or field that starts out with high aspirations may gradually slip into "routinization" and drift away from practices embodying those aspirations; whether there are telling examples of fields that have resisted these pressures over a long period, so that we might learn from their experience; and what strategies might be devised. The articles developed at the symposium have been published in the Penn State Law Review, Vol. 108, No. 1. For more info, contact Bob Ackerman at bxa9@psu.edu

A monograph related to the meeting is titled Engineering Broad-based Discussions: Engaging multidisciplinary groups to create new ideas in conflict resolution is available at http://www.convenor.com/madison/ACRRS1.htm

We are looking for opportunities for the Section and its members to become involved in significant interdisciplinary work, even as we are in the process of organizing the Section. If you are interested in joining this Section, simply contact ACR's Membership Development Coordinator, Cherise Alley, at calley@acresolution.org, or by telephone, at 202-667-9700 Ext. 245. The cost of Section membership is $10 for one year.

We hope you find it worth your while to join in our work.

Section Co-Chairs

New Resources

Conflict Management Education Legislation Database

CNCR Offers Access to Legislation on Conflict Management in Education In December, 2003, the Consortium on Negotiation and Conflict Resolution (CNCR) in the College of Law, Georgia State University made the Conflict Management Education (CME) Legislation Database available through its web site -http://law.gsu.edu/cncr/research/crisp.html. The CME Legislative Database is a web-based tool providing access to current and pending school conflict management legislation for school stakeholders, conflict management practitioners, and policy makers. Legislation, and the regulations supporting it, often provides a variety of resources, including funding, consultation and assistance in establishing a program, direction on program design, and curriculum and training materials. Unfortunately, many school stakeholders do not have ready access to this information, none of which is organized and made available in a single easily accessible location and format. Additionally, policy makers are unable to easily compare the various models of legislation on conflict management in education so as to make more informed choices in creating new legislation in this area. The CME Legislative Database seeks to address these gaps. Users may search by key word, jurisdiction, or legal form of legislation (statute, bill or regulation) to access information on school conflict management legislation of particular interest to them. The database provides abstracts of legislation, links to the full text of legislation where available, and key information organized by categories including: · Title of the legislation;· Status (pending, effective, abandoned);· Effective date (if applicable);· Funding source and contact;· Grades covered by legislation (elementary, middle, high school or other);· Whether the legislation supports a mandate or merely a recommended course of action;· Agency contact for more information;· Availability of supporting materials such as manuals, curricula, videos, etc. The database is updated annually to ensure access to current information. Users may also provide feedback regarding the usefulness and functionality of the database to CNCR.

Committees

Ethics. While ACR mandates this committee in order to investigate complaints regarding section members and officers, the Ethics committee for the Research Section may take on additional duties involving, among other things, the ethical duties of conflict resolution neutrals, researchers, practitioners and systems. Chair: Nancy Welsh

Diversity and Equity. The Research Section’s Diversity and Equity Committee is charged with assuring diversity of membership and activities, not only in terms of race, gender, class and other traditional classes of people in the section and its activities, but also in promoting diversity of thought and cross-fertilization of academic disciplines and perspectives. Contact Person: June McLaughlin-Cheng

Learning Networks. The Learning Networks committee is responsible for collection and dissemination of information about section activities, developments in research, and research opportunities. The committee also develops ways to open up direct lines of communication between individuals, groups or professions in our field that can benefit from such communication and collaboration. Planned activities for the Learning Networks committee include: 

- Employing ACR publications, such as ACResolution Magazine and Conflict Resolution Quarterly, as well as on-line media, to further goals of the Research Section.

- Publishing a newsletter, in a format appropriate to the Section, together with more informal means of distributing and channeling information.

- Overseeing the listserv(s) for Research Section members.

- Serving as a liaison to ACR sections and promote dialogue with groups external to ACR, including dispute resolution membership organizations, such as the ABA dispute resolution section and regional mediation associations, as well as groups of scholars involved in academic research, such as the Law and Society Association and the International Academy for Conflict Management (IACM).

- Exploring other partnerships and collaborative ventures with a variety of organizations and groups. Contact person: Timothy Hedeen

Intellectual Leadership & Next Generation Research. Working together with other ACR sections, ACR membership, and potential funding organizations, this committee will help lead ACR in the development of research agendas, the identification of research gaps and the facilitation of cutting-edge discourse in the conflict resolution field. The committee will promote the support and evolution of high-quality, relevant research by disseminating "best practices" of theoretical and empirical research. It will promote dialogue among those who conduct and fund theoretical and applied research. Co-Chairs: Gregory Jones, Doug Yarn, Howard Gadlin

Conference/Outreach. This committee will participate in planning for the ACR Annual Meeting, seeking a substantive and visible role for the section and promoting the incorporation of high quality research into conference programs, possibly creating a “scheduling stream” for the presentation of research. It will also consider and plan a mid-year meeting for the section, alone or in conjunction with the meeting of another academic or research-oriented organization. Chair: June McLaughlin-Cheng

Nominations. This ad-hoc committee will be formed on an as-needed basis to develop slates and nominate candidates who have met the requirements for being section officers or other leaders. Chair: Chris Honeyman

Liaisons from ACR Section partners

Education