Competence in Interpersonal Conflict

Extensively updated with expanded and newly added chapters, the second edition of Competence in Interpersonal Conflict continues to present a conceptual framework for why communication competence is central to conflict management. Although no checklist of communication behaviors can guarantee success, the authors offer constructive guidelines that provide a basis for grappling with future conflicts in five unique settings: intercultural, organizational, familial, mediation, and violence in intimate relationships. Within any conflict interaction adept communicators embrace the notion that adopting an ethical stance is both desirable and practical. Conflict between people is a natural feature of the human condition; when people interact and form relationships, conflicts inevitably emerge. How individuals manage conflict, and how they perceive both the opportunities and challenges it provides, will define their interpersonal relationships in more ways than any other kind of interaction behavior. Collaboration and adaptation are the hallmarks of a competent communicator, therefore how partners communicate during conflict can be more important than the frequency of their disagreements.

Titles of related interest from Waveland Press: Holmes-Gan, Nonviolence in Theory and Practice, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577667605); Littlejohn-Domenici, Communication, Conflict, and the Management of Difference (ISBN 9781577665038); and Smith-Tague-Busler, The Key to Survival: Interpersonal Communication, Third Edition (ISBN 9781577664239).