This activity is a role play about social tensions in an apartment block.

Racist attitudes lead not only to violent attacks on foreigners or refugees but also to discrimination in housing and employment and other aspects of everyday life.
 

Issues addressed

• Conflicts between people from different cultures can be solved in a positive way.
• Our analysis of conflict and the way we deal with it differs depending on the origin of the social and cultural background of the people involved.
• Our own interests may distort our perception of the problem and make it bigger than it is.

Aims

• To analyse our attitudes towards people from different cultural or social groups
• To explore problem-solving strategies
• To reflect on the relationship between discrimination and conflicts of interest

Preparation / Materials

• Copies of the role cards
• Copies of the “Observers' notes”
• 1 copy of Card A – tips for finding a solution
• 7 copies of Card B – tips for finding a solution
• Pens and paper for the observers to make notes

Instructions

1. Tell the group that they are going to roleplay a situation that could happen in anyone's daily life; then read the following:
   “There is an apartment block near where you live. One of the apartments is rented to a foreign family who often have visitors from their home countries staying, especially during religious holidays. Some neighbours, especially those living in the apartments closest to the family, are complain that they make lots of noise, the cooking smells and that they clutter the stairway. The neighbours have called a meeting to try to solve the problems.”
2. Ask for volunteers to play the roles of the neighbours. You will need a minimum of 6 and a maximum of 9 volunteers. The rest of the participants act as observers.
3. Share out the role cards between the volunteers and give the observers each a copy of the “Observer’s notes”. Allow 5 minutes for participants to think about what they have to do.
4. Remind the players that their aim is to come up with a solution to the problem; then start the role play.
5. Allow the discussion to proceed for about 10 minutes and then, without interrupting, hand each of the players a copy of the “Clues for finding a solution”.
6. Let the role play continue for a further 10 minutes. However, you may stop or prolong it as you consider necessary.

Debriefing and evaluation

Call everyone together for the discussion; this should be divided into two parts:

1: The role play

Talk about what happened in the role play using the following questions as a guide:

• How did the actors feel about it? Was it difficult to get into the role they were given? What did they find the most difficult, and what was easiest?
• What did the observers record and what were their impressions of what happened during the role play?
• Did the participants perceive any difference between the first and second stage, in other words, after the actors had been given the “Clues for finding a solution”?
• What kinds of arguments were put forward and were they based on fact, reason, bias or emotion?
• Was it easier to find arguments for or against the family?
• Where did people get their arguments from?
• Was the problem resolved, and was everyone happy with the outcome?
• Was it a fair solution, or did one side have to give up more than the other?
• What alternative solutions could there have been?

2: The situation in real life

Once everybody has had a chance to speak, you should help the group analyse and reflect on the issues involved. You can launch the debate by addressing questions such as:

• Did the role play reflect the reality of daily life? What were the similarities and what were the differences? Did anything seem to be exaggerated?
• When we face a conflict do we look for a solution which may satisfy everybody, or do we rather try to impose our point of view and neglect those who think or feel differently from ourselves?
• To what extent does the conflict actually relate to differences in culture rather than to other things such as personal or economic interests?
• In real life, have you experienced any incidents where communicating with people across cultures has been problematic? Would the tips on card B have been useful?
• Does anyone have any experience of this sort of conflict? What were the circumstances? If this hasn’t happened to you, why is that?
• Do you know of any projects to promote and support diversity in housing?
• What could you do to promote better relationships with your neighbours?

Tips for the facilitators

Pay careful attention to how the role play is going because what happens will affect the way you facilitate; for example, you may not need to use the “clues for finding a solution” cards, and afterwards when you lead the discussion you will have to decide how to balance the discussion between analysing the group dynamics, group decision-making processes and relating the issues to real life.

Note that there are two different “Clues for finding a solution” cards: card 1 is for the “Chair” and card 2 is for the other players. The participant who gets card 1 will depend on what has happened in the role play so far. If it has already been democratically decided that a particular person should chair the meeting, then give card 1 to that person; otherwise give it to the “Leader of the resident’s committee”.

This activity aims to show how consensus decision-making can work. Consensus decision-making is an alternative to what is sometimes called “rule book decision-making”, where typically two sides of an issue are identified, discussed and then decided by a majority vote. Unfortunately, with rule-book decision-making, all too often people argue from the polarised positions of either “I’m for it” or “I’m against it”. If people then find they have to move from those positions, and give up something and compromise, then they do so reluctantly. In the end, often everyone feels they have lost something rather than gained, which makes the implementation of contentious decisions difficult. Consensus decision-making – by focusing on outcomes – encourages co-operation and trust between the parties, so that they seek creative solutions that everyone can agree on. The resulting decision is more likely to be implemented successfully because everyone has been involved in the decision-making process.

Coming to a consensus agreement about a problem is a difficult process. People need to be sensitive to the needs of others and to show imagination and trust so that they can explore the issues honestly. It is easier when people argue about their interests and try to find some common ground for mutual gain, so that each person has some of their needs met and a stake in the outcome.

You may prefer to run this role play using the Forum Theatre technique, where the “public” are encouraged to step up and take part to explore solutions. If so, try ‘Target and bystander’.

In relation to the question, “Do you know of any projects to promote and support diversity in housing?”, you may wish to read an article in The Guardian, where elderly, youth and refugees live together in a block: ‘It’s like family: the Swedish housing experiment designed to cure loneliness’.

As background reading, you may be interested in looking at the intercultural cities website.

Suggestions for follow-up

Take action: Ask the participants to consider, in the light of what they have learned from doing this activity, what practical steps they can take to improve the relationships between different groups who live in the local community. Put their plans into action.

Move on to another activity: If you want to follow up issues about national identity, you could use the activity ‘National Heroes’. Alternatively, if you are interested in exploring prejudice and conflict within the family, try ‘Guess who’s coming to dinner’.