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Case Study of Tekoa Institute

Illustration of Nonviolent Communication Training’s Effect on Conflict Resolution

Master’s Thesis by Nash, A.L. in English (2007)
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. VTechWorks

The purpose of this study involved illustrating how Nonviolent Communicationsm (NVC) training affected conflict resolution in a case study of Tekoa Boys Institute, a juvenile residence and school institution. Resolution was defined as “the process of resolving a dispute or a conflict, by providing each side's needs, and adequately addressing their interests so that they are satisfied with the outcome” (Dictonary.LaborLawTalk.com 2006).

The following predictions concerning this research are:

  1. At the Tekoa Boys Institute, the NVC trained residential staff’s involvement in nonviolent resolution will increase more from the pretest to the two year posttest than the no-NVC trained residential staff.
  2. At the Tekoa Boys Institute, the NVC trained residential staff’s involvement in violent resolution will decrease more from the pretest to the two year posttest than the no-NVC trained residential staff.
  3. At the Tekoa Boys Institute, the NVC trained residential staff’s involvement in instigating conflicts will decrease more in the two year posttest when compared to pretest than those residential staff not trained in NVC.

Results were found confirming the first two predictions in this sample with a statistical significance at the .05 level. As for the third prediction, no to little effect was found in this sample.