12 Angry Men
The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the movie "12 Angry Men" relative to conflict resolution. I will discuss how the character played by Henry Fonda was able to effectively use conflict resolution skills to bring the jury to their final verdict. I will also discuss some of the issues contributing to the climate of conflict in the jury room. Henry Fonda's character is an architect named Mr. Davis. He happens to be juror number 8. I will refer to this character from now on as "Fonda" for ease of writing and understanding. I have attached Appendix A listing the jurors in order of their juror number. This may help to better identify the jurors and references the order in which they voted not guilty. The group of jurors experiences the spectrum of the conflict continuum from difference to contention. Throughout their deliberation, they fluctuate between difference, disagreement, dissonance, controversy and contention. They, of course, never reach the far right of the continuum, which is war. The points on the continuum are reached at different times between different jurors and groups of jurors. This is based on their backgrounds and their assumptions and how these i
Fonda realized that many of the jurors were not listening at first. He systematically broke down the psychological processes that were interfering with their listening. He continually pushed the jurors from casual and attentive listeners into empathic listeners. He got them to understand each other and to understand the defendant. Fonda took the effective approach through confrontation to raise questions and change perceptions. Fonda was able to bring out some prejudices in some of the jurors that finally got them in touch with their "blind self". Juror #10 finally realized he was prejudiced to slum dwellers, juror #7 realized he was prejudiced to foreigners and juror #3 realized in the end that he was letting his poor relationship with his son effect his decision. The physical environment also contributes to the climate of conflict. The room is very small causing a very close interaction zone. It is the hottest day of the year and the fan does not work at first. Fonda got all the jurors to clarify their positions and allowed the other jurors to see those positions and provide their own inputs. He treated all the jurors with genuine concern. Even down to the end when he helped Juror #3 put on his jacket before they returned to the courtroom. He won the respect of Juror #2 with something as simple as accepting a cough drop from him.
Some common words found in the essay are:
Resolution Fonda, Basis Conflict, Henry Fonda's, Henry Fonda, , juror #10, conflict resolution, juror #3, climate conflict, fonda able, realized prejudiced, verdict fonda, raise questions, treated jurors, able bring,
Approximate Word count = 1228
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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