Career At Columbia University
In 1963 he made what would be his final move between institutions, when he started at Teachers College, Columbia University after being invited to found a new social psychology doctoral program. The two major works that resulted of his studies during this period are considered to be The Resolution of Conflict (published in 1973) and Distributive Justice (published in 1985). However he also published the book Theories in Social Psychology (1965) and Applying Social Psychology (1975) during this same period. Deutsch was the first psychologist to use the Prisoner's Dilemma to study trust between small groups or pairings of individuals. During this period his work in conflict resolution continued to grow in influence, including his differentiation between constructive conflict and destructive conflict. The impact of his work was seen both in theory and in practice--for example, in 1989 both Janusz Grzelak (a leading figure of the Solidarity movement in Poland) and Janusz Reykowski (a leading figure of the Communist Party of Poland) cited Deutsch's work as part of the infrastructure for the peaceful transfer of power from the Communists to the people.
Deutsch was appointed Edward Lee Thorndike Professor of Psychology and Education in 1981, and delivered his inaugural address on April 22, 1982. Through his work during this phase of his career, he became known as an authority in the fields of conflict resolution, social justice, intergroup relations, and social psychology. In 1986 Deutsch founded the International Center for Cooperation and Conflict Resolution (ICCCR) at Columbia. The goal of the Center was to integrate the theory of conflict resolution with its actual practice. For example, in 1987 the Center was involved in training teachers in Long Island and New Jersey to deal with inter-student and gang violence in lower-income communities.
His work in this period also revolved around the concept of "distributive justice", relating to the distribution of goods and conditions affecting the well-being of individuals in a group, as a separate concept from procedural justice. This research culminated in his 1985 book Distributive Justice. Another major theme of his work was the concept of "Crude Law", which studied the relationships between attitudes, behavior, and relationships. Through his research Deutsch determined that the typical effects of a given relationship tend to induce that relationship. Thus, the typical effects of cooperation induce friendly, helpful behavior and friendly, helpful behavior will induce a cooperative relationship. His Crude Law as well as his research into distributive justice expanded the breadth of his body of work in the field of conflict resolution.
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