Interpersonal Skills and Conflict Resolution
Interpersonal Skills and Conflict Resolution tests your ability to defuse tension, gather information, and maintain cooperation with people who are angry, frightened, or intoxicated. The exam favors procedural justice: giving people voice, explaining the process, treating them with respect, and making decisions by neutral rules rather than personal reactions.
Core rules
- Listen before directing. Use open-ended questions, then paraphrase what you heard to confirm accuracy.
- Separate the person from the problem: address the behavior or dispute, not the person's worth.
- Acknowledge emotion without agreeing with a false claim ('I can see this is frustrating' is not 'You're right that the law is unfair').
- State limits clearly and offer lawful choices where possible.
- Use 'I' statements for your own observations and avoid blaming language.
Worked example
Two roommates argue over a damaged door. Rather than deciding who is lying, separate them, ask each for a sequence of events, and identify the underlying interest: one wants repair costs paid; the other fears being blamed. A resolution might be a written agreement to split repair costs and a referral to civil resources. This addresses the dispute without making an unsupported criminal finding.
Traps that cost marks
Interrupting; mirroring hostility; promising arrest or leniency to end a conversation; and treating a calm voice as agreement. Another common error is choosing 'tell them to calm down' as a resolution-it commands an emotion instead of changing the conditions that produced it.