Personal Empowerment & Leadership Skills

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2b. Facilitation Skills: Decision Making and Conflict Resolution
The Art of Facilitation	How to Make Good Decisions	Understanding and Learning from Conflict

Rank Differences and Power Abuses

In Process Work, “rank” means the power we have relative to one another in relationships, groups, community and the world. This power depends on us having a quality appreciated by others like money, beauty, creativity, etc. Some kinds of rank are earned – we have worked on having that quality –, while others are unearned –acquired through birth, or by membership in a particular race, class, gender, etc. “Privilege” refers to the benefits and advantages that come from one’s rank.

Almost everybody has some kind of rank and privileges, although we are not aware of them. People are generally more aware of the areas where they feel disempowered than they are of areas where they have power. When we are comfortable or we have received benefits, we rarely consider how it feels to be without those comforts or benefits.

Types of rank

We can consider four different types of rank:

Unconsciousness of Rank and Power Abuses

Most people are not aware of their rank. Rank is very subtle and sometimes invisible. The more rank or power someone has, the more she or he is unaware of having it and how it affects negatively other people. For example, a man might be unaware of his sense of safety walking down a dark street, or a person with white skin may be unaware that it is a privilege to go grocery shopping without being followed and suspected of being a thief.

The unconscious use of power may have unexpected consequences and be the cause of many conflicts. When people assume that everyone has the same access to power, those with less access to power become furious. Unawareness of rank perpetuates conflict and blocks potential solutions.

We cannot hide our rank or get rid of it — it doesn’t depend on us but on how people see us — but we can use it consciously for the well-being of the whole group. If we use our power with transparency and with openness to people reactions when they feel attacked or hurt by our actions, then we can prevent power abuses.

To facilitate rank conflicts, it is necessary to be attentive, empathize and try to recognize the power and oppression feelings in all parts in conflict, and then help all discover by themselves their own power and how they can use it consciously to reach a lasting peace.

SITTING IN THE FIRE: Large Group Transformation Through Diversity And Conflict. - A dramatic text filled with examples about how to deal with abuse, revenge, anger and rage in multicultural settings.
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