This Fourth Edition of Managing Conflict Through Communication has been updated to reflect advances in the study of conflict. New chapters on group conflict, organizational conflict, intractable (social) conflicts, and creativity have been included to provide you with a greater variety of examples and real life context for the study of conflict and communication. In addition, many changes have been made to the content to make the material more accessible, clear, and engaging, including: 1. The first four chapters have been reworked to help you gain an understanding of the nature of conflict, how it unfolds, what your options are, and how to best engage others. 2. Tighter organization has been implemented throughout the text to help you better understand the broad outlines of conflict before delving deeper into the subjects. 3. Some chapters from the previous edition have been combined to create a more coherent communication approach, including: o Chapter 2,A Process View of Conflict," combines chapter 9 and a portion of chapter 6 from the previous edition o Chapter 3,Communication Options in Conflict" combines chapters 4 and 5 from the previous edition o Chapter 4,Responding to Conflict: The STLC System," combines chapter 3 and portions of chapter 6 from the previous edition o Chapter 12,Managing Conflict from a Theoretical Perspective" combines chapters 2 and 8 from the previous edition 4. Separate chapters on anger and stress have been created from the formerly combined chapter, providing a wider range of skills and practices for managing stress and anger in conflict situations. 5. Four new chapters have been added to provide a broader perspective on conflict, including: o Managing Group Conflict, Chapter 13 o Managing Organizational Conflict, Chapter 14 o Managing Social Conflict, Chapter 15 o Creativity and the Ideal Conflict Manager, Chapter 16