A holistic model of conflicts in a multicultural urban congregation in Britain: towards a comprehensive and systematic approach

This study investigates conflicts in a multicultural congregation in an urban area in the U.K. Although diverse types of conflict occur in the research field, there is no theoretical framework to analyse and interpret them from a combined range of perspectives that could produce a comprehensive account of conflict. Furthermore, there is no systematic method to classify the various types of conflict and to employ appropriate approaches to deal with them effectively. This research uses an ethnographical methodology not only to provide a thick description of conflict in the research field, but also to develop an original analytical tool for categorizing the multidimensionality of conflicts and to propose practical suggestions as application. For a comprehensive understanding of conflict, I used a multidisciplinary perspective synthesizing a sociological and theological approach to conflict in order to analyse and interpret not only people’s social and cultural beliefs and behaviours, but also the structural and contextual issues in the organization. I also used a multidimensional perspective to analyse and interpret multifactorial and multifaceted conflicts in order to provide a more profound explanation of the dynamics of conflict phenomena. For practical application, I established a typology as an analytical process to classify diverse conflict types according to their scales, intensity and nature. I also created a systematic formulation to suggest the most effective conflict approach and its strategies to a particular conflict type. The significant contribution of this research is to establish a holistic model which provides not only rich details of ethnographic stories for a comprehensive understanding of conflict, but also a practical demonstration from analysing conflicts to handling them for peace-making, peace-keeping and peacebuilding in a multicultural congregational setting. This thesis is generalizable to similar multicultural Christian congregational settings in urban areas in the UK as it offers theoretically informed professional practice as well as a theoretical framework to analyse and interpret diverse conflicts in multicultural congregations.