Peter Stephenson

Divergent Hallways: Resident Advisors'' Perspectives on the Management of Cross-cultural Conflict Peter Stephenson

This thesis explores the management of cross-cultural conflict by ResidentAdvisors (RA) at the University of Victoria in British Columbia, Canada. A total oftwelve RAs were interviewed on the policies and expected practices of RAs, how thesepolicies are implemented and whether these policies are effective in resolving crossculturalconflict. This research analyzes and demonstrates that besides conflict itself, thediscourse of conflict--how one speaks about conflict--and its representation are equallyimportant. In many circumstances, the cultural discourse and its representation are notonly a major part of the problem, but even a source of it. I argue that a narrowconceptualization of culture in the expected dispute resolution practices of RAsconstrains the management of disputes between residents. Examples of disputespertaining to nationality, racial and sexual discrimination, drugs, and alcohol illustrate theuse of culture as a controlling factor in conflict, defining culture as bounded and discrete. This neglects the underlying structural issues at play, serving only to reproduce conflictand to ensure that social and economic inequities are passed on.