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Introduction:
Sanda Kaufman, professor of planning and public administration
at the Levin College of Urban Affairs at Cleveland State University, recommends
that practitioners be aware that parties are likely to frame information in a way that
favors their own interests or concerns. Obtaining balanced, trustworthy information is
an important part of effective interventions.
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This rough transcript provides a text alternative to audio. We apologize for occasional errors and unintelligible sections (which are marked with ???).
Interests
Sanda Kaufman
Professor of Planning and Public Administration at the Levin College of Urban
Affairs, Cleveland State University
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One of my observations as an
intervener, as a practitioner, as well as a thinker about conflict issues is
that I have yet to see somebody who speaks in ways that are against their own
interests. So we need to be cautious about the fact that the stories that we
hear, even when we're very eager to hear what the people themselves have to say,
are going to be frames that put peoples' interests and desires in the best
light. Therefore, if it were possible at all, I'd get all these sources of
information, and I'd be skeptical about them at the same time, and I would also
be skeptical about my own take. I don't know that this is possible. I'm one for
information and I'm one for facts. I really think that the more one knows about
the situation, the more helpful they can be. So not about the myths, not about
what's nice to think about it. You know, it's always nice to think that
everybody is people too, but on the other hand it's good to see when somebody
actually does not have somebody else's best interest in mind, to recognize those
things, even if we were made uncomfortable by it. So I think that information is
really important.
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