Handling Crisis

Crisis can be defined in many ways, but the simplest description is the point at which some decision has to be made, a standoff where one party or both have to come up with an immediate solution lest the situation turns into violent behaviour. It usually happens when people fail to agree on certain issues, or an individual decides to take the law into their own hands to push for what they want. In some extremes, one party would hold someone or a group of people captive so that their demands are met. The victims are said to be held hostage for as long as their detainers decide, unless they are satisfied with their needs, or there is intervention to prevent further damage. In such a condition, negotiation is the key to calm the parties that pull at each other, everything has to go smooth, slow and in a careful manner in order to get the control of things. Of course not anyone can handle such cases, and that is when negotiators, who are professionals have been trained on how to approach this (Moffit & Bordone, 2005).

Hostage negotiation is associated with changing the minds of people who act out of anger and frustration. Hostage negotiators’ main aim is to ensure the safety of everyone involved in the situation, including the captors, even if the latter’s demands are insensible. They have no other business with the matter after everyone is walks away free, and possibly the ones on the wrong taken down the station, the rest is left for the police and the law to deal with. They act as mediators, between the two parties, the detainers and whoever they are claiming something from This means that a negotiator has to understand why the enraged party decided to pull the stunt and what their demands are and whether they can be met at the moment or not. They need to tone down to the hostage-takers’ level, get find out quick who they are, and decide the best way to approach the situation and get to the solution with the utmost peace, no one or as few as possible injuries or loss of life. This profession can never be easier and could be one of the most stressful careers because the lives of people, bystanders and civilians are at the hands of the negotiators. The skills to stand between parties in a crisis situation, speak on behalf of the hostages, most of who they do not even know, and with everything left to them to take control of and come out with a solution are very important.

There happen a lot of different hostage situations and different types of captors, others armed with dangerous weapons, and so tactical application of negotiation skills is required for the more serious cases. The most important skill here is how to make the bad guys lose their armour or weapons, even if it means part of the demands have been fulfilled, for example a portion of the money they ordered has been handed to them. Weaponry such as guns and crude metal would be their most important tool in their zeal to get what they want, apart from the hostages, so it would be very difficult to disarm them. All tactics and skills have to be applied here and the negotiators need to think fast, expect for possibilities: suicide, loss of life, they have to be ready to put themselves in danger for the sake of others. Everyone’s calm has to be maintained, there should be no fluctuation of attitude and the negotiator maintains the trust of the captors at all times. This is one of the biggest step in the conciliation because they are rendered less harmful to the hostages and the public, in fact everyone would be relieved after this. After the weapons have been surrendered, the next step would be how to get free the hostages, one by one or all at the same time depending on the agreement (McMains & Mullins, 2010).

There is an increase in the number violent behaviour cases in schools, especially boarding institutions where students are subjected to their own independence with inactive rules that are rarely adhered to. The main reason why students resort to violence is because of certain rules that seem too harsh for them, and which often find many of them in trouble with the school administration (Ban & Ciminillo, 2010). The learning institutions do not usually involve students in various decisions about the school, whether students should be part of the board at times to input some ideas about how problems within the institution should be solved. If this is not the case, students would feel sidelined and not part of the school. Another issue about the rules is how the students elected to represent the rest handle disciplinary cases. Most of the time these school captains and student heads are not the favourites of many, and are usually treated as snitches and part of the school’s administration and therefore not one of them. Rowdy students who usually find themselves in trouble with the law are in constant enmity with the disciplinary committee, and would constantly cause trouble and disruptions within the school (Ban & Ciminillo, 2010).

Schools should come up with organized committee to handle uncouth behaviour and bad manners that affect learning procedures. They should employ professionals trained to handle such situations, and this should include part of the student body in the disciplinary board because they would connect the students and the school administration.

References:

Ban, J. R., Ciminillo J. M., (2010). Violence and vandalism in public education: problems and prospects. Interstate Printers & Publishers.

McMains, M. J., Mullins, W. C., (2010). Negotiations: Managing Critical Incidents and Hostage Situations in Law Enforcement and Corrections. Anderson Publishing Company.

Moffitt, M. L., Bordone, R. C., (2005). The handbook of dispute resolution. John Wiley and Sons.