EFFECTIVENESS OF INTEGRATIVE COUNSELLING APPROACHES ON CONFLICT MANAGEMENT IN MULTICULTURAL COMMUNITIES

Abstract

In today's interconnected world, multicultural communities represent the convergence of diverse cultural, ethnic and social identities within shared geographical spaces and present unique challenges, particularly in conflict management. This paper explores the effectiveness of integrative counselling approaches (culturally sensitive, narrative, and relational therapy) for conflict management in the Ogun and Oyo States, Nigeria multicultural communities. A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design was used with a sample of 371 residents. The instruments used to collect data included the Demographic Data Inventory (DDI) and Intercultural Conflict Scale (ICS). One hypothesis was generated and tested using analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) at the .05 level of significance. The results showed that participants who underwent integrative counselling interventions (culturally sensitive therapy, narrative therapy and relational therapy) showed a significant reduction in intercultural conflict compared to those who did not receive such interventions (F(1, 368) = 21.189, p < .0005). Specifically, the mean ICS scores for the treatment group were significantly lower post-intervention (M = 25.4, SD = 3.2) compared to the control group (M = 32.7, SD = 4.1). This suggests that integrative counselling approaches, including culturally sensitive therapy, narrative therapy, and relational therapy, were effective in managing and reducing conflict in multicultural Nigerian communities in Ogun and Oyo States. It was subsequently recommended, among other things, that psychologists and organizations working with diverse communities should consider integrating culturally sensitive approaches into their counselling frameworks. This includes training therapists to understand and respect cultural differences and tailoring interventions to meet the specific needs of different cultural groups. Key Words: Integrative counselling approaches, culturally sensitive therapy, narrative therapy, relational therapy, conflict management.