ASTRACTS

Assessment, Training, and Coaching Services

SEMINAR

PROPOSAL Title: Assessing Peace and Violence Attitudes in Organizations

Overview: The purpose of the seminar is to equip the participants with the tools to conceptualize, observe, and

measure peace and violence attitudes in organizations. The basic assumption in this technique is that peace

or violence attitudes are inherent to the human nature of employees and are not considered beneficial or

threatening before they are contrasted with the organizational mission.

The mission of the organization defines the values and objectives, but also creates a strong culture

normalizing and encouraging behaviors, emotions, and beliefs. The organization is only as strong as the

alignment it has between its culture, its departments, its teams, and its employees. Three major events are

opportunities for adjustments: organizational stressors, organizational crises, and organizational trauma.

Knowing how to recognize, contrast, and lead through them allows the participants to come up with the right

strategy to respond adequately and thus foster growth for organizations and their employees.

Course Justification: Introducing the concept of positive peace – more than the absence of violence – modifies the pre-established

opposition between violence and peace and challenges practitioners to creative problem solving scenarios.

Specific global trends, national priorities, and regional constraints are often measurable challenges for

organizations. However, internal informal reorganization of information, authority, and decision power can

sometimes shift during stressful times, long-term crises, and/or acute or chronic trauma. Knowing how to

approach peace and violence attitudes on the macro, meso, and micro levels offers leaders and human

resources managers in challenging times with a tool to make difficult decisions aligned with the mission of

the organization.

Target Audience: Organizational and Industrial psychologists or students; Human resources managers or students; Business

and Management students, and Professional coaches in organizations.

Prerequisites: Introduction to organizational behaviors; basic management; basic assessment skills.

Learning Objectives: 1. Understand the complex influence of peace and violence attitudes in organizations.

2. Contrast problems, stressors, crises, and trauma as they relate to the organizational mission.

3. Assess with adequate tools peace and violence attitudes in organizations.

4. Micro, meso, and macro influences on peace and violence attitudes.

5. Strategies for relevant interventions.

Course Content:

Day 1: 9:00AM – 12:30 PM 2:00PM – 4:30PM

Main topic: The Relationship between Peace and Violence Attitudes

- Moral, cultural, social, relational, and personal implications.

- Appropriate use of violence and dysfunctional use of peace.

- Organizational mission, culture, and dynamics.

Day 2: 9:00AM – 12:30 PM 2:00PM – 4:30PM

Main topic: Assessing peace and violence attitudes

- Focus group techniques

- Interview techniques

Day 3: 9:00AM – 12:30 PM 2:00PM – 4:30PM

Main topic: Relevant Recommendations

- Assessment of presenting problems

- Discussions of scenarios for interventions

- The future of peace and violence assessments

Course Length: Three-day course for a group of 7 – 13 participants. Can possibly be extended to five days to accommodate

more participants.

Equipment needed: Projector with USB/HDMI connection, secure WIFI connection, environment conducive to discussions

(4-5 small tables are better than 4 rows of tables and chairs).

Key Words to describe the seminar: Organizational Attitudes; Assessment; Peace and Violence; Trauma.

Qualifications: Americano-Franco-Swiss psychologist, I have spent the past four years (PhD) and over 10 years of

graduate work in psychology (MS), humanitarian assistance (MS) and communication (MA) aligning

macro and micro peace initiatives. In my dissertation, I chose to study South African social workers

providing diversion services to young offenders because they were on the edge between peace and

violence on every level: living in a young democracy with a heavy heritage of segregation and

discrimination; providing restorative services within a retributive justice system; and their work involved

therapeutic interventions to foster forgiveness and civic duty in a population with a history of crime and

trauma. I have taught Psychology and Communication in Technical Colleges and Universities in South

Georgia, USA for the past 10 years.

Christine Leclerc-Sherling, PhD For contact: