Learning Lessons from Waco : When the Parties Bring Their Gods to the Negotiation Table

Jayne Docherty

ISBN 10: 0815627769 / ISBN 13: 9780815627760

Published by Syracuse University Press Nov 2001, 2001

About this Item

Neuware - This intensive case study derives lessons for negotiation theory, research, and practice from the Waco disaster. The siege at Waco simply refuses to disappear. Recently uncovered evidence, an ongoing civil suit, and the Danforth investigation fuel public interest and controversy. Heated debates about ''what really happened in Waco'' are a recurring public drama. Yet, little or no attention has been given to the work of the negotiator who talked with the Branch Davidians. This important book utilizes largely unexplored sources of data to explain why fifty-one days of negotiations by federal officials failed to get Branch Davidians to exit the compound, as desired. Learning Lessons from Waco applies a theory of worldview conflict to the more than 12,000 pages of negotiation transcripts from Waco. Through perceptive analysis of the situation, Jayne Seminare Docherty offers a fresh perspective on the activities of law enforcement agents. She shows how the Waco conflict resulted from a collision of two distinct worldviews - the FBI's and the Davidians' - and their divergent notions of reality. By exploring the failures of the negotiations, she also urges a better understanding of encounters between rising religious movements and dominant social institutions. Finally, the resulting model is applicable to other conflict resolution processes such as mediation and facilitated problem solving.

Seller Inventory # 9780815627760

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Learning Lessons from Waco : When the Parties Bring Their Gods to the Negotiation Table
• Publisher: Syracuse University Press Nov 2001
• Publication Date: 2001
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0815627769
• ISBN 13: 9780815627760
• Binding: Taschenbuch
• Condition: Neu
• Dimensions: 227W x 154H x 21D millimeters 227 millimeters width by 154 millimeters height by 21 millimeters depth
• Weight: 513 grams

About this title

Synopsis

Heated debates about "what really happened in Waco" are a recurring public drama. Yet, little or no attention has been given to the work of the negotiators who talked with the Branch Davidians. In this important book, Jayne Seminare Docherty utilizes largely unexplored sources of data to explain why fifty-one days of negotiations by federal officials failed to get all of the Branch Davidians to exit the compound. <i>Learning Lessons from Waco </i>applies a theory of worldview conflicts to the more than 12,000 pages of the negotiation transcripts from Waco. Through perceptive analysis of the situation, Docherty offers a fresh perspective on the activities of law enforcement agents. She shows how the Waco conflict resulted from a collision of two distinct worldviews—the FBI's and the Davidians'—and their divergent notions of reality. By exploring the failures of the negotiations, she also urges a better understanding of encounters between rising religious movements and dominant social institutions. Finally, the resulting model is applicable to other conflict resolution processes such as mediation and facilitated problem solving.

About the Author

Jayne Seminare Docherty is the Academic Programs Director at the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding at Eastern Mennonite University. She is also the Chief Knowledge Officer and a founding partner of CJP IKON, a software development company created with graduates of CJP.

Docherty earned her undergraduate degree at Brown University in 1978. She has been working in peacebuilding education since 1980, when she developed a peace and social justice curriculum for a Catholic high school. Since earning her doctorate in conflict analysis and resolution from George Mason University, she has taught at George Mason University, Columbia College (South Carolina), and Eastern Mennonite University. Docherty has also guest taught with programs in Lebanon, Somaliland, and Belgium. Much of her professional practice has involved training and supporting negotiators as they navigate complex negotiation processes in unstable settings.

More details can be found at her LinkedIn profile and her academia.edu page.