The competencies of popular mediators and community organizers in resolving community conflicts: an exploratory study for a sample from members of customary committees in Assiut Governorate

Summary of the Study: The review literature of social work in the field of settlement conflict highlights that mediation is the only practice raised and relevant social workers. It became recognized that mediation has become a means of social work practice to conflict resolution. In the current years social workers are working increasingly in the informal community mediation programs of local communities to conflict resolution at all levels of practice. At the level of micro practice, working in direct practice with individuals, families, and dealing with personal and family conflicts taking advantage of their skills in counseling and development of relations assistance, evaluation and diagnosis of complaints, and promote exploration and understanding, and the design and implementation of action plans. At the level of mezzo and macro practices, working with small groups, and with the institutional issues, management, planning
and social policy, research, supervision and training of social workers, others or volunteer organizations, and organizing the grassroots, and development actions of local community, manage the programs sponsored by local and national organizations.
The popular Mediation through customary committees deployed in different parts of Egypt. In the countryside, in particular , its role in community conflict resolution
within the limits of what was made available to researcher from informed sources - not to mention the lack of apparent heritage of social work written by Arabic and In
all disciplines of Social Work, Sui some peels simple and not depth in addressing the role of mediator in some of these writings of community organizing and social case
work and group work, however, the lack apparent of any reference data base about these committees and their members and quality , it was necessary to study introductory Pilot study in the context of current exploratory study for determining intentional sample, which a number of social workers resulted in the landscape are working in NGOs as volunteers and as members of customary committees. The activities of these NGOs relating to community organizing. Their members of these
committees not due to specialize as much as social reasons related to prestige and status, and move up as social ladder in rural communities with tribal nature .
Then the study methodology has been modified to added comparative style between popular mediators and community organizers within those committees. And based upon, The study addressed the reality of customary committees in terms of the competencies levels of those mediators at those committees, and their personal, social characteristics, and justifications of people for using that kind of mediation, and are there disadvantages to popular mediation, and whether are there difficulties faced
them, and the proposals to activate these committees from the viewpoint of the mediators themselves.