The Guide to Trauma-Informed and Emotionally Mindful Conflict Practice

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Restoring social harmony requires both emotion and the difficult embrace of past felt traumas.
Jeremy A. Rinker provides a clarion call for practitioners to bravely explore human emotions and past trauma. He interrogates current conflict intervention practicemoving past interest-based negotiation and needs-based conflict resolutionand provides a guide for more emotionally mindful and trauma-informed conflict intervention work.
The Guide to Trauma-Informed and Emotionally Mindful Conflict Practice addresses the underattended aspects of emotions and foregrounds historical harms in the work of resolving social conflict. It critically investigates trauma and human emotions as an underexplored resource in addressing local and entrenched community violence and integrates the theory and practice of trauma-informed approaches using cultural framing, storytelling, resilience, and emotional human connection to chart new ways toward peace. This refocusing of peace work is critical for not only conflict resolution but also for overcoming the ossification of polarized social identity formations.

Reviews

Jeremy Rinker offers an innovate and refreshing reassessment on trauma and its remedies at personal and societal levels. He argues convincingly that relevant contexts for viewing trauma must be reconceptualized by practitioners working to halt cycles of violence and to promote healing processes, not only to reckon with social injustices but also to acknowledge and engage with emotions as a crucial part of addressing trauma. This book provides invaluable insights for practitioners and theorists from disciplines as diverse as psychology, trauma counseling, social work, sociology, mediation, peacemaking, and peace-buildings. It will provoke useful reflection and reevaluation of widely held assumptions about the nature of trauma and how to prevent and ameliorate trauma-induced suffering. -- Douglas P. Fry, professor of peace and conflict studies, UNC Greensboro; co-author of Nurturing Our Humanity
With a restorative focus, this book offers a perspective that views collective and historical trauma and emotions as powerful transformative resources, amplifying the voices of the marginalized. Rinker integrates theory and practice, forging human connections with the reader through storytelling, and provides profound insights for peacebuilders and practitioners, guiding them in conflict resolution and nurturing the collective potential for sustainable change -- Gaurav J. Pathania, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Peacebuilding, Eastern Mennonite University

Author Bio

Jeremy A. Rinker is an associate professor at the University of North Carolina Greensboros Department of Peace and Conflict Studies. He is the editor of the Journal of Transdisciplinary Peace Praxis.