BernhardSchieber

Conflict Spiral Model of Escalation

Knowledge

The Conflict Spiral Model traces how retaliation or protective actions become fresh threats that provoke further escalation. It examines sequences, interpretations, and changing goals to identify possible interruptions, while distinguishing reciprocal processes from unilateral coercion and avoiding the assumption that both parties bear equal responsibility.

What these mean

Editorial orientation · Family

Model

In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.

Editorial orientation · Category

Theories & Explanatory Models

Explains how or why a communication process works by relating mechanisms, conditions or variables. Its value is an account that can guide inquiry into what produces an outcome, rather than a name for the outcome alone.

Executive Insight BriefConflict Spirals: Interrupt the Sequence That Sustains EscalationRead the brief →

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