Social work and peace and conflict studies: partnership with promise

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Social work and peace and conflict studies: partnership with promise

Dr. Maureen P. Flaherty

Peace and Conflict Studies, University of Manitoba,

Winnipeg, Canada

Др. Морін П. Флеєрті

Відділення вивчення та мирного вирішення конфліктів, Манітобський університет, Вінніпег, Канада

Соціальна робота та мирне вирішення конфліктів: партнерство з обітницею

Анотація

У світі, який заполонило насильство та розбрат, люди часто відчувають себе нездатними вплинути на ситуацію, що визначає їхнє мирне співіснування у глобалізованому просторі. Автор статті стверджує, що навіть незначні прояви позитивних відносин у громаді суттєво впливають на розвиток миролюбного співтовариства. Шукаючи шляхи подальшої розбудови таких стосунків у світі, ми зосереджуємо увагу головно на вивченні соціальної сфери, зокрема соціальної роботи та сфери мирного вирішення конфліктів, беручи до уваги спільність їхніх цінностей, теорій, вмінь та навичок, а також важливість співпраці та проведення подальших досліджень задля розвитку глобального співтовариства.

Ключові слова: соціальна робота; розбудова миру; конфлікт; вивчення можливостей мирного вирішення конфліктів; наснаження; розбудова громади.

Introduction

The purpose of the article is aimed at studying the contributions of social workers towards building a more just, verdant and peaceful world. Starting with a brief overview of the history of Social Work, the article examines the development of social work as a discipline over the past more than a hundred years; it also describes the current situation of the social work profession.

The view then turns into a new field of research, which is Peace and Conflict Studies. The definitions of «peacebuilding», as well as some basic and new theories in Peace and Conflict Studies are considered. It is determined that social work can be an extremely necessary resource for the further development of Peace and Conflict Studies theory and practice, and fosters active peacebuilding. The article argues that both Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies, based on values and theories related to human rights, human security and social justice can be inextricably interconnected. The conclusion of the article contributes to a more in-depth and focused dialogue between Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies in order to more methodically determine the appropriate analytical tools and skills that can help create and maintain a more integrated, fair, shared world.

Results: In time, Social work as profession, based on values and attitudes, shifted from the earlier patriarchal approach, into a field that is built on more collaborative relationships, wherein social workers still do indeed become involved in the lives of people when they are most vulnerable. However, now the social work profession espouses that all people have intrinsic value and the social worker facilitates the processes necessary to assist people to carry out the tasks required for a full, healthy life. Social work as a profession also aims to improve social conditions and structures that support a good quality of life for all.

In 2014, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of Schools of Social Workers (IASSW) agreed upon a global definition of social work.

The actual tasks of a social worker can be quite diverse. A social work professional may work with individuals, families, and/or communities in a variety of settings and roles that will facilitate their emancipation and empowerment. In addition to their practical work, social workers may also teach and train others working in the area of social policy development, simultaneously respecting cultural and other differences, collaborating for a new paradigm of social development.

It is mentioned in the article that Peace and Conflict Studies emerged from the study of war and the processes of de-escalating armament acquisitions is considered to be one tool in resolving conflict and diminishing the likelihood of further violence.

As the Peace and Conflict Studies field grew, it was acknowledged that peace must be built through the involvement of all layers of society, and that lasting peace comes through “multi-track diplomacy” - using a systems approach to work with people from the grassroots to mid-level elites, to the highest level of government and all of these levels or “tracks” must be involved in education, research, and even activism in an all inclusive, all encompassing approach to addressing conflict and building peace. Just as the role of the social worker has changed and developed over time, so too has the role of “peacebuilder”.

In 2007, the United Nations defined peacebuilding as a process that involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels of conflict management, and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development.

In 2009 the UN changed its definition of human security to... the need to protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfillment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms - freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people 's strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity.

The importance was emphasized to create cultures of peace - cultures of inclusion, where all people have their needs met, depending a great deal on relationships. School programs were developed to assist children to build empathy, a foundational quality for relationship building.

“Emancipatory peacebuilding”, focused on community development work done in participation with communities rather than for them gained further support.

It is mentioned that there are not many Peace and Conflict Studies university programs in the world, but those existing in the West focus on theory, conflict analysis, and practice, with the practice at the time of this writing, heavily dependent on skills of mediation and conflict resolution.

Both Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies espouse values of social inclusion, social justice, human rights, and facilitation of personal agency - individual human security and citizen empowerment through which safe and healthy communities are built. Modern Social Work acknowledges that it is often not an individual or group that needs to change in order to get their needs met - it may be the system within which they live - structural change.

In the early 1990's Social Work education openly acknowledged the need for a gendered analysis in the work that social workers do - and some schools began to teach required courses on feminist perspectives to policy and practice. In its turn Peace and Conflict Studies has also realized the importance of a gendered views in analyzing and working in any context.

Originality: Currently Peace and Conflict Studies has focused less on stopping war per se and more on the grassroots - considering how communities solve conflict.

Social Work also teaches that those who work with challenged and traumatized individuals and communities must be self-aware and take special measures to monitor the impact of the work on themselves, for their own health 's sake as well as for the sake of the people with whom they work.

Conclusions: This paper began to examine the relationship between the two fields of study, which now include theory, practice and research related to social justice and genuine human security. Social Work has a longer history as a recognized discipline and profession, with schools and faculties, as well as training programs that teach not only theory, but also practical skills of working with individuals, families and communities, as well as self-care and personal management of a clinical social worker. Peace and Conflict Studies is a much younger field of education, borrowed from conflict resolution; there are some schools that teach courses in mediation and conflict resolution, conflict analysis and conflict transformation. However, since the Peace and Conflict Studies looks further to build a theory and to develop analysis tools and skills to go beyond the conflict to the establishment of peaceful communities, this paper points to the Social Work as an allied branch of training and practice that can be a wonderful resource in the practice of peacebuilding. In addition, since both areas recognize the importance of working with the gender issues using a culture-sensitive approach to practice and research, more research and reflection is needed in order to better use each of these areas to develop the research, practice and pedagogy needed to build more peaceful and just world.

Key words: social work; peacebuilding; conflict; peace and conflict studies; empowerment; community building

The problem statement

Why is it important to more openly ponder the connections between social work and peacebulding? In our very troubled world, people often feel helpless, and question what one person can do to make change, to build peace, often thinking only of the “big picture” - world peace. This article argues that what might be considered smaller acts of positive relationship are the essential components of peace building - individual and community acts. For this reason, we must examine individual responsibility and actions and how those actions and their influence contribute to the betterment of our world as a whole. Seeking resources that facilitate these actions and connections, we find that the profession of social work offers a code of conduct and teaches skills for practice that can facilitate positive change from the individual to the global (Canadian Association of Social Workers, 2005).

Purpose of the Article

peaceful communities social conflict

This article is a preliminary exploration of the contributions that social workers can and do make toward building a more peaceful, just world. Beginning with a brief examination of the history of social work, the article considers how Social Work as a discipline has grown and changed over the last more than one hundred years and where it is today. The gaze is then turned to the newer field of Peace and Conflict Studies. The definition of “peacebuilding” is considered, along with some of the foundational and emerging theories in Peace and Conflict Studies. Following, as some of the skills critical to peacebuilding are identified, we find in due course, that social work can be a much-needed resource to further develop theory and practice that contributes to active peacebuilding. The article argues that with both Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies grounded in values and theory connected to human rights, human security, and social justice, may be inextricably and positively linked. The article's conclusion encourages more in-depth and purposeful dialogue between Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies, to more methodically identify appropriate analytical tools and skills that can help build and sustain a more inclusive, just, shared world.

The main body of the article

Can a social worker also be a peacebuilder (Clarke, 2014)? Do the processes of peacebuilding need the skills of social workers? These are questions I have been asking myself for years. My own history is in social work - more than thirty-five years of practice in child-welfare, social welfare, child protection, family violence, crisis and trauma counseling, and community development. I first became aware of Peace and

Conflict Studies when I was seeking ways to further my education, inspired to do so by my friends and social work colleagues in Ukraine.

As a social worker, I was fortunate enough to be part of a Canadian International Development Project, Reforming Social Services: Canada-Ukraine. One of the main goals of that project was to develop an accredited Faculty of Social Work at Lviv Polytechnic National University (Hayduk, & McKenzie, 2012) and I was provided the opportunity to spend a good portion of two years working with the new faculty members in Lviv, developing and delivering courses for the faculty and supporting new community social service projects that would eventually also provide placements for the student social workers (Innovations in Social Development). While working in Ukraine, I learned more about the complex history, cultural differences and sometimes-apparent animosity between different groups in the country (Marples, 2007, Reid, 1985, 1997, 2003). Still, the relatively new democracy had little overt conflict at that time. That fact in itself seemed like a topic worthy of research, and so I was encouraged, by my Ukrainian colleagues, to focus my doctoral research in Peace and Conflict Studies on Ukrainian women - considering how they built bridges to do collaborative work across what from the outside at least seemed like a great divide.

Throughout that doctoral research (Flaherty, 2012) and studies that followed (Flaherty, 2016), I discovered that it was the clinical and community social work background, and the skills I had learned through my social work education and practice that made the research relevant and possible. During the research process, I also began to understand that the social work being done by Ukrainian colleagues was very much connected to what I was learning in Peace and Conflict Studies where we talked about systems theory, work with communities, advocacy, and empowerment. These were areas of theory and practice that both disciplines value highly. The related skills were a further resource when conducting research with another social work colleague on another project that considered the positive influence of Indigenous grandmothers in Manitoba, Canada (Flaherty, & Rocke, 2016).

In her seminal text, Social Work: Theory and Practice for a Changing Profession, Lena Dominelli (Dominelli, 2004) aptly captures the gradual shift the profession of social work continues to make from the well-intentioned, somewhat paternalistic “caring” provided by the friendly visitors of my grandmother's generation, to social workers being control agents of the state, and then agents of individual and community empowerment. In my grandmother's day, someone called a “social worker” (Barker, 1995) might bring food to the hungry, or find housing for those in need. The issue of child welfare became another focus of the job as government departments were established to attend to the needs of children, and see that they did not become “delinquent” (Barker, 1995). As the profession developed, those who were in need of social services help were still often seen as somehow “deficient” human beings, and the job of the social worker was generally, “to protect vulnerable people, control deviant populations, and improve the life circumstances of society's most disadvantaged individuals”(Dominelli 2004). In time, the field shifted attitudes and values from the earlier patriarchal approach, into a field that is built on more collaborative relationships, wherein social workers still do indeed become involved in the lives of people when they are most vulnerable. However, now the social work profession espouses that all people have intrinsic value and the social worker facilitates the processes necessary to assist people to carry out the tasks required for a full, healthy life. Social work as a profession also aims to improve social conditions and structures that support a good quality of life for all. The Canadian Association of Social Workers ' Code of Conduct (The Canadian Association of Social Workers' Code of Conduct, 2005, p. 3) outlines a recent definition of the social work profession:

The social work profession is dedicated to the welfare and self-realization of all people; the development and disciplined use of scientific and professional knowledge; the development of resources and skills to meet individual, group, national and international changing needs and aspirations; and the achievement of social justice for all. The profession has a particular interest in the needs and the empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and/or living in poverty. Social Workers are committed to human rights as enshrined in Canadian law, as well as in international conventions on human rights created or supported by the United Nations.

This Code of Conduct goes on to note that social workers must respect the lifestyle of others “without prejudice” and “not tolerate any discrimination based on age, abilities, ethnic background, gender, language, marital status, national ancestry, political affiliation, race, religion, sexual orientation or socio-economic status” (United Nations Centre for Human Rights, 1992).

Shifting even farther to an ethos of interdependence, respect, and social justice, in 2014, the International Federation of Social Workers (IFSW) and the International Association of Schools of Social Workers (IASSW) agreed upon a global definition of social work as follows:

Social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and the empowerment and liberation of people. Principles of social justice, human rights, collective responsibility and respect for diversities are central to social work. Underpinned by theories of social work, social sciences, humanities and indigenous knowledge, social work engages people and structures to address life challenges and enhance wellbeing (International Federation of Social Work, 2014).

The actual tasks of a social worker can be quite diverse. A social work professional may work with individuals, families, and/or communities in a variety of settings and roles that will facilitate their emancipation and empowerment. Social workers are service brokers (connecting people to appropriate resources), advocates (championing the rights of others), case managers, educators, facilitators, organizers (for community action, economic development, research, etc.), and managers of organizations that provide services (http:/www.csc.edu/dpsw/sw/careers/roles.csc). Social workers are also cast in the roles of advocate, community change agent, counselor, mediator and researcher (www.ssw.chhs.colostate.edu/students/undergraduate/bsw-practice-roles.aspx).The CASW (http://www.casw-acts.ca/en/Code-of-Ethics) adds that social workers often work as part of a team of professionals, and along with the roles mentioned above, they develop social policy that will improve people's lives. In addition to their practical work, social workers may also teach others hands on social work skills as well as teach and train others working in the area of social policy development.

Reaching beyond the local to more global responsibilities for social workers, social development and social welfare scholar, James Midgley (Midgley, 1997) noted that international development, or global development involves not just the goals of a government or state, but also the goals and needs of the individuals who make up that state, addressing inequities in social and economic resources. This is a people-centered process that assists communities to construct places where people can develop to their full potential (http//hdr.undp.org/en/humandev/). Social work scholar, Lena Dominelli (Dominelli, 2003) noted that social workers have a major role to play in human development and social justice worldwide, respecting cultural and other differences, collaborating for a new paradigm of social development.

As referenced earlier, faculties of Social Work at a variety of universities offer courses in theory and practice related to child welfare, crisis intervention, family services, social policy, community development and health care (https://umanitoba.ca/student/admissions/programs/social-work.htmn. Some also offer programs geared specifically to facilitate work with older adults and in the mental health and social justice fields (https://www.sgs.utoronto.ca/prospectivestudents/Pages/Programs/Social- Work). Social workers learn early and often about trauma, empathy, inclusion, cross-cultural and multi-cultureal work, and facilitating empowerment.

Peace and Conflict Studies. History

Having learned a bit about the older field of Social Work, this section outlines the origins of the field, Peace and Conflict Studies, noting the work of some of the early scholars and the trajectory of the field. Even though peace is much more than simply, “not war,” (Galtung, 1964) Peace and Conflict Studies emerged slowly from the study of war, reportedly with Quincy Wright's studies of war in the 1940s (Wright, 1942), followed in the post-World War II period by the work of Lewis F. Richardson who developed mathematical models of the arms race and war and examined the interactive processes leading to armed conflict (Richardson, 1960).In this same time frame, Anatol Rapoport, a mathematical psychologist provided a different perspective though his work on Game Theory which considered early analyses of conflictual interactions as a means of preventing nuclear war (Rapoport, 1960). A couple of decades later, with much diverse work done in the ensuing years between, Louis Kriesburg (Kriesburg, 1998), studied, among other topics, the processes of de-escalating armament acquisitions as one tool in resolving conflict and diminishing the likelihood of further violence.

As such, the disciplines of International Relations and Conflict Resolution eventually gave birth to Peace and Conflict Studies (Sylvester, 2002). International Relations focused mostly on high profile violent conflicts between nations - conflicts to be analyzed and attended to by experts in international diplomacy. Historically, war and violent conflict have been studied mostly for the purpose of resolution, and then prevention of further conflict. Some earlier scholars considered Peace and Conflict Studies to be a sub-field of International Relations (Simpson, 2016).

Looking deeper, however, the field of Peace and Conflict Studies is also founded on the work of structuralists such as Karl Marx (Marx, & Engels., 1976) followed by Max Weber (Weber, 1947) who joined Marx in seeing that economics and power, which could so easily be corrupted, were supported by class differences. In order to even out or flatten hierarchies of power, it would be necessary to “shake up” the structure of such societies. Following, Critical theorists examined, among other things, the role that economic policies can have in maintaining not only the economic status quo in a society, but also the associated power dynamics (Horkheimer, 1979). In other words, they looked at social and economic structures and the power related to them.

It is fitting therefore, that the study of conflict and peace has shifted to include efforts that affect and are constructed not only by and for nations and elites, but also by and for the non-elites - those personally and directly impacted by destructive conflict (Tongeren, et. al, 2005). As the Peace and Conflict Studies field grew, it was acknowledged that peace must be built through the involvement of all layers of society, and that lasting peace comes through “multi-track diplomacy” - using a systems approach to work with people from the grassroots to mid-level elites, to the highest level of government and all of these levels or “tracks” must be involved in education, research, and even activism (Diamond, & McDonald, 1996) in an all inclusive, all encompassing approach to addressing conflict and building peace. The practical aspects of this work are discussed in the next section.

Peacebuilding and Human Security

Just as the role of the social worker has changed and developed over time, so too has the role of “peacebuilder”. The term seems to have emerged primarily f rom the work of Johan Galtung who purported that peacebuilding means attending not only to direct international and even interpersonal violence - the direct violence of armed conflict and physical violence; peacebuilding must also attend to the structures that keep inequality amongst people in place - structural violence (Galtung, 1975). Growing out of the collective knowledge of other disciplines, the study of peacebuilding or Peace and Conflict Studies as a way of looking at the world is only beginning to be established as a discipline in its own right (Paffenholz, 2001).

Even as Social Work shifted its focus over time, what is considered to be peacebuilding is also rapidly shifting. As recently as 2007, the United Nations' definition of peacebuilding was as follows: “[peacebuilding involves a range of measures targeted to reduce the risk of lapsing or relapsing into conflict by strengthening national capacities at all levels of conflict management, and to lay the foundations for sustainable peace and development” (www.un.org/en/peacebuilding/pbso/pbun.shtml). The definition goes on to describe how peacebuilding efforts must be tailored to the “specific needs” of the context in which the work is being done.

Many scholars within the Peace and Conflict Studies field acknowledge that the United Nations (UN) definition of peacebuilding does not seem to reach quite as far as Johan Galtung's stated intentions. While the 2007 UN definition appears to focus on the security of national borders, within which there is no overt violence, Galtung focused more on what some peace scholars are now calling human security, which in this case means not only protecting human beings from harm, but also assuring conditions for their needs to be met such that they can develop to their full potential (Reardon, & Hans, 2010). Two years after the 2007 of peacebuilding, the UN changed its definition human security to the following:

... [the need]to protect the vital core of all human lives in ways that enhance human freedoms and human fulfillment. Human security means protecting fundamental freedoms - freedoms that are the essence of life. It means protecting people from critical (severe) and pervasive (widespread) threats and situations. It means using processes that build on people's strengths and aspirations. It means creating political, social, environmental, economic, military and cultural systems that give people the building blocks of survival, livelihood and dignity (Commision on Human Security, 2003).

There are still those who focus on the narrow definition of security, but many current scholars in Peace and Conflict Studies now ally with the UN 2009 definition (Reardon, & Hans 2010), a statement that is also congruent with present-day social work values and principles, as outlined earlier. These same scholars also identify gender as one of the points of intersection of identity that may impact the way the world is experienced by people - along with age, race, ability, and others (Flaherty, & Hansen, 2015). These different identities and experiences must also be considered in context when looking at varying human needs and issues of social justice.

Peacebuilding Processes

How do peace studies scholars discuss the processes for building the blocks that serve as the foundation for human survival? Another peace scholar, John Burton (Burton, 1990) used Abraham Maslow 's Hierarchy of Needs as the scaffold upon which to develop his Human Needs Theory. Burton, however, argued that, unlike Maslow's premise of a hierarchy founded on physical safety and security, human relationship and belonging might be almost as important or as important to people as food and a place to live. Burton noted that conflict often develops when people's needs are not being met. The list of essential needs according to needs theorists within the Peace and Conflict Studies field are: safety and security; belongingness/love; self-esteem; personal fulfillment; identity; cultural security; freedom; distributive justice; participation - or the need to actively participate in civil society (Marker, 2014). For Edward Schwerin (Schwerin, 1995), volvement in civil society was vital for personal empowerment. Breaking this down more clearly, Schwerin (Schwerin, 1995), identified eight components that are required in the process of empowerment: self-esteem, self-efficacy, knowledge and skills, political awareness, political participation, political rights and responsibilities, and access to resources. These components require interaction and interrelation amongst humans - social inclusion.

Peace scholar, Elise Boulding (Boulding. 2001) wrote about the need to create cultures of peace - cultures of inclusion, where all people have their needs met, depending a great deal on relationships. Peacebuilder Peggy Chinn (Chinn, 2004), a nurse by background, described concrete steps for inclusion and decision-making within community - building community. Another scholar often cited in peace studies, Mary Gordon (Gordon, 2005), developed a school program to assist children to build empathy, a foundational quality for relationship building. Peace practitioner, John Paul Lederach focuses on building peaceful societies through dialogue and shared visioning - relationship building. He and his daughter Angela Lederach are now focused additionally in assisting people and their communities to heal after trauma (Lederach, & Lederach, 2011).

Other Peace and Conflict Studies scholars write about “emancipatory peacebuilding”, focused on community development work done in participation with communities rather than for them. Oliver Richmond, in his assessment of what is essential in post cold-war, post “liberal” peace-building processes, notes, “[W]e know that military security and law and order are required... [W]e know that empathy for everyday conditions and assistance with sustainable development are needed” (Richmond, 2015). Richmond is adamant that sustainable peace involves not only assisting fragile communities to build a strong state with its accompanying institutions; lasting peace can only be built with full recognition of the different community identities. Peacebuilding work with communities involves facilitating development of their own ability to build their capacity and/or assisting citizens to access the capacity for peace that is hidden under oppressive structures. For example, Maschietto (Maschietto, 2015), reflecting on her own research, questioned who should presume to be “emancipating” whom. She challenged the disconnect that may occur between academic knowledge and on-the-ground policy development and implementation. In other words, working with, rather than working for or working over people is the only way to do research and build peace.

Learning to do Peacebuilding

So how does one learn to do peacebuilding work and how is the field growing? There are not many Peace and Conflict Studies university programs in the world, but those existing in the West focus on theory, conflict analysis, and practice, with the practice at the time of this writing, heavily dependent on skills of mediation and conflict resolution. The Kroc Institute for International Peace Studies identifies three areas of focus for their program: 1) understand the causes of armed conflict; 2) develop ways to prevent and resolve war, genocide, terror, gross violations of human rights; and 3) build peaceful and just systems and societies (www.croc.nd.edu/about-us/what-peace-studies). Peace Studies at the University of Waterloo focus on “unconventional, non-violent ways to transform conflict and work for positive social change.” The focus is on teaching students to “[T]hink critically about peace and culture. Explore theories of conflict resolution, human rights and international development” (https://uwaterloo.ca/peace-conflict-studies). From a practical perspective, this university offers courses in mediation and conflict resolution. Going a little further, another well-known peace education resource, Eastern Mennonite University, offers a special course to work with people who have experienced trauma and proclaims core values such as “awareness of other cultures, sustainability, community, and peacebuilding” (Eastern Mennonite University, 2017). This is a much-needed, practical course of study; however, it is not yet a common course in Peace and Conflict Studies as a whole. To build further peacebuilding resources, practitioners may turn to collaborate with the more established field of Social Work.

Social Work Tools for Peacebuilding

One way to frame the work of peacebuilding might be to describe the work necessary to build civil society - communities inclusive of people in all their diversity such they each is supported to develop to their full actualization. Such processes require careful examination and application of all resources available. The discipline of Social Work has much in common and much to offer. Reflecting upon the trajectories of Social Work and of Peace and Conflict Studies as fields, their origins seem to be almost opposite and yet their present-day foci have much in common. Social Work is an older discipline, and grew out of the practice of helping people meet their basic needs - a kind of humanitarian approach with focus on individuals and small communities. It was a person- to-person approach, sometimes patronizing, but centered on helping the individual nonetheless. In contrast, Peace and Conflict Studies, interdisciplinary in its origins, grew out of a need to analyze and put an end to armed conflict between large groups of people, usually nations. Building a lasting peace as defined by different communities followed. Still, considering the fields today, both espouse values of social inclusion, social justice, human rights, and facilitation of personal agency - individual human security and citizen empowerment through which safe and healthy communities are built. I will use the term “discipline” for ease of reference, though some might argue that Peace and Conflict Studies as a field is not yet a discipline in its own right.

Both Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies scholars often cite the work of Karl Marx as influential - the notion that all people deserve to have their basic needs met. They also see relationship building as key to personal and community development, and a way of meeting basic needs (Burton, 1990, Maslow, 1954, Staub, 1989). Slightly different from Peace and Conflict Studies, Social Work as a discipline is practice based - with a focus historically on individual, group and community. At the same time, modern Social Work acknowledges that it is often not an individual or group that needs to change in order to get their needs met - it may be the system within which they live - structural change (Dominelli, 2004.). Both Social Work and Peace and Conflict Studies refer often to the work of Paulo Freire (Freire, 1970) who emphasized the need for empowered citizens to be the source of change - the only way to challenge oppressive systems.

Social Work education teaches theory and skills that train the practitioner to work with individuals, families and communities to analyze problematic situations, consider what needs are yet to be met, and work with them to build strong, healthy relationships with self and others. This means working on empowerment and agency, and social workers are trained to assist individuals, families, groups and communities in their own empowerment and agency. In the early 1990 's Social Work education openly acknowledged the need for a gendered analysis in the work that social workers do - and some schools began to teach required courses on feminist perspectives to policy and practice (Pennell, et. al., 1993). Peace and Conflict Studies has also realized the importance of a gendered lens in analyzing and working in any context (Enloe, & Berkely, 2000, 1989, Reardon, 1996). Peace and Conflict Studies, where the level of analysis historically was more on the macro level, is more recently moving to include a focus on the grassroots and individual involvement in peacebuilding. Coming out of conflict resolution and international relations, peace studies often refer to mediation and conflict resolution techniques, in solving conflict, but less to the tools necessary to build peace in communities, although more scholars now write about a systems approach (Diamond, & McDonald, 1996.). Consider again the work of John Paul Lederach who writes about elicitive methods of peacebuilding, with a focus on assisting parties in conflict to share their stories or narratives for the purpose of building a foundation for finding common ground between adversaries (Lederach, 2005).

The tools for grassroots peacebuilding are also found in the discipline and profession of Social Work. Listening to people's stories - their narratives have long been a tool for empowerment and relationship building in social work (De Groot, 2016). Social work researchers have experience working with communities to assess their needs and find ways of ameliorating them through local and international community development work (Heinonen, & Drolet, 2012), and social workers have long worked with people who have experienced trauma. Peace and Conflict Studies scholars like Zelizer (Zelizer, 2008) recognize these Social Work skills and social workers themselves as essential in working with communities who have experienced trauma rather than consider trauma and conflict resolution separately as has sometimes been the case.

Conclusion and further research prospects: Moving Forward Together

In the past twenty years, Peace and Conflict Studies has focused less on stopping war per se and more on the grassroots - considering how communities solve conflict. Even more recently, the field realized the importance of considering Indigenous approaches and methods of peacebuilding. For some time, Social Work as a profession has emphasized sensitivity to culture and multi-cultural approaches to problem solving, and working from a strengths perspective - that is, understanding that the “client” - person, family, or community has strengths that they themselves may not yet realize or have had acknowledged. Social Work also teaches that those who work with challenged and traumatized individuals and communities must be self-aware and take special measures to monitor the impact of the work on themselves, for their own health's sake as well as for the sake of the people with whom they work (Jones,2013, Zelizer, 2008).

This paper has begun to consider the nexus of two fields of study, both now involving theory, practice and research connected to social justice and true human security. Social Work, as a discipline has had a longer history as a recognized discipline and profession in its own right, with schools and faculties of Social Work, and programs of study that teach not only theory, but also practical skills for working with individuals, families and communities, as well as self-care and personal management for the social work professional. Peace and Conflict Studies, a much younger field of study, borrowed from Conflict Resolution and some schools taught mediation and conflict resolution courses, developing the areas of conflict analysis (Rothman, & Olson, 2001) and conflict transformation (Lederach 1995); however, as Peace and Conflict Studies looks further afield to build theory, and develop tools of analysis and skills to go beyond solving conflict to building peaceful communities (Lederach 1995, 1997), this paper points to Social Work as an allied field of study and practice that can be a great resource in the practice of peacebuilding. Further, as both fields acknowledge the importance working with a gendered lens (Dominelli, 2004; Enloe, 2000/1989) and a culturally sensitive approach to practice and research (Tuso, & Flaherty 2016, Flaherty, & Rocke 2016, Bishop, 1994/2000, Sinclair, Hart, & Bruyere, 2009) more research and reflection are needed to use the best of each of these fields together to develop the research, practice and pedagogy necessary to build a more peaceful, just world.

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