BASIC WORKING DEFINITIONS*

AGGRESSION

"Aggression is defined as an action by one person or group designed to harm another person or group."

HARM

"Harm is defined to include emotional harm such as embarrassment or humiliation, social harm such as isolation or exclusion, economic harm such as infliction of fines, and physical harm ranging from pain caused by a slap to death."

CONFLICT

"Conflict is defined as a dispute between two or more individuals or groups over access to or control of resources. These resources might be economic in the form of food, land, or wealth; political in the form of leadership or power; social in the form of prestige or status; or personal in the form of self-esteem."

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

"Conflict management is defined as the process and mechanisms used to prevent conflict from developing."

CONFLICT RESOLUTION

"Conflict resolution is defined as the processes and mechanisms used to end conflict."

WAR

"War is defined as armed combat between different political communities and includes war between different societies, between different groups within a society, raiding, and feuding."

PEACE

"Peace is defined as the absence of violent conflict between different political communities."

*Source: David Levinson, 1994, Aggression and Conflict: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia, Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, pp. vii.