Interrupting the Path to Violence: Using Deep Democracy to Identify and Mitigate Precursors to Violence

Join us at the Frontiers of Democracy conference!

Violence doesn’t just happen. There are often warning signs that appear long before a situation erupts. All too often, we don’t pay attention to these warning signs. We brush them off, discount them, or otherwise ignore them. Other times, we see the warning signs, but hesitate to intervene out of fear of making something bigger than it is, lack of confidence in our skills, or worries about ruining relationships. Our avoidance can backfire as tension grows and leads to separation or violence.

In this session, we will explore the Resistance Line, a tool developed by the Lewis Method of Deep Democracy, and use it to help us diagnose and intervene before conflicts become intractable. The Lewis Method of Deep Democracy was created by Myrna and Greg Lewis to help South African companies and individuals recover and heal from the traumatic legacy of apartheid. The Lewis Method of Deep Democracy offers concrete, proven methods that support effective decision-making, problem-solving, and conflict resolution. The techniques surface undercurrents, engage all voices, and work through differences to find resolutions to seemingly impossible-to-solve issues.