TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2007//
TI  - Intractable Conflict as an Attractor: A Dynamical Systems Approach to Conflict Escalation and Intractability
JO  - American behavioral scientist
A1  - Coleman, Peter T.
A1  - Vallacher, R. R.
A1  - Nowak, Agnieszka
A1  - Bui-Wrzosinska, L.
SP  - 1454
EP  - 1475
VL  - 50
IS  - 11
N2  - Decades of research on social conflict has contributed to researchers' understanding of a wide variety of psychological, social, and community-based aspects of conflict escalation and intractability. However, the field has yet to put forth a theoretical model that links these components to the basic underlying structures and dynamics that account for intractability and transformation. This article presents a dynamical systems approach to conceptualizing intractable conflict as a preliminary step toward developing a basic theory of intractability. The authors propose that it is particularly useful to conceptualize ongoing, destructive patterns of conflict as strong attractors, a particular form of self-organization of multiple elements of conflict systems. Their dynamical approach to conflict intractability is outlined, and some preliminary implications of this approach for conflict de-escalation are discussed.<p /> 
LA  - 
SN  - 0002-7642
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0002764207302463
ID  - ref1
ER  -