Managing
Conflict and Crisis:
A
Student Affairs professional needs to have the ability
to respond effectively in a variety of crisis and
conflict situations among students, the campus, and/or
other community groups. In order to do this, the
Student Affairs professional must be able to respond
calmly and thoughtfully in crisis/conflict situations,
provide leadership and positive solutions in the midst
of the crisis/conflict, and play a supportive role for
students and co-workers who have been adversely affected
by a crisis/conflict.
Mediation Training
Roommate Mediations
Confrontation Training at Cal Poly
Pomona, Foundation Housing Service
Behind Closed Doors
Crisis Response
Student Death
Suicide Attempts
Self Harm
Mediation Training:
During RA training
at Cal Poly Pomona, FHS, I had the opportunity to
participate in and help lead mediation training for the
Community Advisors (CAs). This training provided
the CAs with information about styles of responding to
conflict, ways to help prompt conversation with all
parties involved, and a model of how to facilitate a
mediation. During this training, we had the
students role play with one another mock mediations.
This training gave the CAs tangible information for how
to manage conflict between their residents, roommates,
and/or other people they may come in contact with.
Because the CAs often deal with conflict between
roommates, the RDs wanted to make sure that they were as
prepared as possible to deal with the situations they
may face.
After my year at
Cal Poly, I came to APU as an RD. One of the
aspects of Resident Advisor training that had not been
developed was mediation training. Because of my
experience in presenting and walking students through
mediation training, I have been able to provide other
RDs and RAs information on how to conduct a mediation
with their residents. Below is a copy of the
training that I used at Cal Poly Pomona and has now been
adjusted to fit the needs of the RAs at APU.
Mediation Training Model
Roommate Mediations:
I discussed in an
above section that I have had the chance to lead
training on mediation for my student staffs. At
times, the mediations that residents need are more
complex and difficult than my student staff can handle
alone. As a result, I end up conducting a
mediation between roommates, friends, etc. Often,
I will have my student staff member sit in with me to
watch and be another set of eyes and ears. Some of
the residents that I have had the chance to talk with in
mediation settings have been dealing with issues of
cleanliness with their roommate, lack of understanding
of cultural differences, and a plain dislike of the
other person. During these mediations, my hope is
to help students understand one another and see from
someone else's viewpoint. I also want them to
openly talk about their frustrations as well as what
they appreciate about their friend or roommate. At
times, I will help the students develop a contract that
discusses in detail the behaviors and actions that they
will take in an effort to help the situation at hand.
These contracts include details about the cleanliness of
the room, times that visitors can be present, language
that can be used in the room, and many other things.
Confrontation Training at Cal Poly Pomona, Foundation
Housing Service:
As an RD at Cal
Poly Pomona, FHS, I had the opportunity to co-present a
session titled "Crisis and Confrontation". The
training consisted of three parts. The first part
of training taught the Community Advisors (CAs) how to
effectively manage crisis situations by teaching them
how and when to contact the RD on duty, when to call the
Campus Police, and when and for what to contact
Facilities Management. During the second part of
training, we discussed the cycle of assertive
confrontation, which shows how to approach residents and
people who may be violating policy. The third
section of the training noted the differences between
"CONfronting and CAREfronting".
Crisis and Confrontation Training Model
Behind Closed Doors:
At both Cal Poly
Pomona, FHS and Azusa Pacific University, I have been
able to facilitate hands on training that helps the
Community Advisors (CAs)/Resident Advisors (RAs) learn
how to confront other students. This training is
called "Behind Closed Doors" and consists of various
scenarios that the CAs/RAs must confront. The
scenarios that the RAs/CAs confront include a party,
drugs being used, a roommate conflict, a medical
emergency, and a suicidal student. After the
confrontation occurs, a Residence Director (RD) debriefs
the scenario with all the CAs/RAs involved. During
the debriefing time, the RD makes sure that the CAs/RAs
understand the policies involved as well as how to
appropriately handle the situation.
Behind Closed Doors Scenarios
Behind Closed Doors Guidelines
Crisis Response:
As I discussed in
the competency on counseling and personal development, I
serve in a rotation as the first response person in
crisis situations both in my living area and within
other living areas on campus. Crisis situations
may include medical emergencies, severe eating
disorders, fights, suicidal students, and many other
things (I have dealt with all of these situations).
In my role as the crisis responder, I work directly with
the students involved - students who may gather to see
what is going on, the student in crisis, and any friends
that may be involved in the situation. The
following sections of this competency will highlight
crisis situations including student death, suicide
attempts, and self harm in which I have served as the
first response person.
Student Death:
Probably the
hardest situation that I have had to deal with in my
time as an RD was responding to the death of one of my
residents. During my first year as an RD at APU, a
woman in my building was killed in a car accident.
I was the first staff or faculty person to learn of her
death. This was a difficult situation because I
had no training in this area. My first response
was to talk with the friends who had come and told me.
They were devastated and did not have any idea of what
to do. I talked and prayed with them and simply
made myself available for them. After dealing with
the initial response, I told the friends that I needed
to contact my supervisor so that we could notify the
appropriate people, make sure everyone in the community
was taken care of, and do our best to help in the
situation. After talking with the appropriate
people, I did my best to talk with residents in my
building, go with my RA to tell the women on the wing
that a friend of theirs had passed away, and provide a
safe place where people could meet together to tell
stories, cry, laugh, and pray. During the time of
dealing with this crisis, I made specific efforts to
talk with the woman's roommate and my RA to make sure
that they were both taken care of. I also spent a
lot of time talking with my supervisors and following
their lead as to how to deal with this crisis.
This experience helped me learn a lot about the needs of
an entire community and how to facilitate a safe place
for people to break down. I was stretched in my
role as an RD, a friend, and a support to the students
in my building. I was also stretched in my ability
to ask for help and take the support from others around
me.
Suicide Attempts:
Another difficult
situation that I have responded to every year that I
have been an RD is a suicide attempt. Every one of
these instances has looked different and has been at a
different extreme. As the RD dealing with the
situation, it is important that I notify the appropriate
people: my supervisor, Campus Safety, Counseling Center,
etc. If the student is not already at the
hospital, one of my actions is to talk with the
counselor to determine if the student needs to be taken
to the hospital for medical attention and a psychiatric
evaluation. If it is possible, I also spend time
talking with the student who tried to take his/her life.
In my experience,
the follow up from dealing with a suicide attempt can
often be just as draining as the actual attempt.
If the student comes back to campus, it is important to
make sure that he/she is alright and in a healthy state
of mind. One of the ways that we work with
students who have attempted suicide is to place them on
a behavioral contract that defines for them who they can
contact if they are feeling suicidal as well as action
steps they can take to help deal with their feelings (go
to counseling, journal, talk with friends who will
contact needed people, etc). At times, it is also
necessary to follow up with roommates and friends to
make sure they are dealing with the situation alright.
One of the biggest conversations that I have had with
friends emphasizes helping them draw appropriate
boundaries and not take on the situation as one they can
fix themselves.
Suicide attempts
are scary situations for all people involved. I am
very thankful that the residents that I have had to work
with because of a suicide attempt are doing alright and
seeking the help they need.
Self-Harm:
The last crisis
situation that I want to discuss is that of self-harm.
This is becoming a much more common issue among
students. It is important to note that self-harm is not
a suicide attempt, but a cry for help of some sort.
In my time as an RD at APU, I have talked with several
women who are classified as cutters. My response
has been to talk with my supervisor about the situation.
Ultimately, our response has been to get these women
connected with the Counseling Center as well as place
them on a behavioral contract. The contract tells
them who they can talk to if they are feeling the need
to cut; it also outlines steps that they will take if
they want to remain residents in the building. The
steps they will take most often include going to the
Counseling Center or an outside counselor on a weekly
basis as well as checking in with me on a semi-regular
basis.
While at NASPA in
2004, I had the chance to attend a seminar of self-harm.
It was very helpful in understanding reasons why
students may choose to self-injure as well as responses
that institutions can take to help these students.
NASPA Presentation on Self Harm
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