Understanding Conflict in Community What is Conflict Conflict

Understanding Conflict in Community

What is Conflict? Conflict refers to some form of friction, disagreement, discord • arising within a group when the beliefs or actions of one or more members of the group are either resisted by or unacceptable to one or more members of another group.

• Michael Nicholson defines conflict as an activity which takes place when individuals or groups wish to carry out mutually inconsistent acts concerning their wants, needs or obligations.

It may also be defined as a disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their: needs, interests or concerns.

According to Conflict Theory: • Conflict theory states that tensions and conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society and that these conflicts become the engine for social change.

Conflict Theory: • Conflict theory originated in the work of Kark Marx, who focused on the causes and consequences of class conflict between the bourgeoisie (the owners of the means of production and the capitalists) and the proletariat (the working class and the poor). • Marx theorized that this system, premised on the existence of a powerful minority class (the bourgeoisie) and an oppressed majority class (the proletariat), created class conflict because the interests of the two were at odds, and resources were unjustly distributed among them.

How does conflict manifest? • Manifestations of conflict behavior starts with disagreement, and followed by verbal abuse and interference • Conflicts can occur between individuals, groups and organizations • Examples are quarrels between friends or family members, labour strikes, competitive sports, or war.

Conflict is classified into the following four types: 1. Interpersonal conflict 2. Intrapersonal conflict 3. Intragroup conflict 4. Intergroup conflict

1. Interpersonal Conflict • refers to a conflict between two individuals. This occurs typically due to how people are different from one another. We have varied personalities which usually results to incompatible choices and opinions.

2. Intrapersonal conflict • Intrapersonal conflict occurs within an individual. The experience takes place in the person’s mind. Hence, it is a type of conflict that is psychological involving the individual’s thoughts, values, principles and emotions

3. Intragroup Conflict • Intragroup conflict is a type of conflict that happens among individuals within a team. The incompatibilities and misunderstandings among these individuals lead to an intragroup conflict. • It is arises from interpersonal disagreements (e. g. team members have different personalities which may lead to tension) or differences in views and ideas (e. g. in a presentation, members of the team might find the notions presented by the one presiding to be erroneous due to their differences in opinion).

4. Intergroup conflict • Intergroup conflict takes place when a misunderstanding arises among different teams within an organization. For instance, the sales department of an organization can come in conflict with the customer support department. • This is due to the varied sets of goals and interests of these different groups. In addition, competition also contributes for intergroup conflict to arise. There are other factors which fuel this type of conflict.

Types of conflict • Content conflict is where individuals disagree about how to deal with a certain issue or task. • Relational conflict is where individuals disagree about one another. It stems out of interpersonal incompatibility. • Process conflict refers to disagreement over the groups approach to a particular task

Can conflict be beneficial? ? ? • Content conflict can be beneficial, increasing motivation and stimulating discussion, • whereas relational and process conflict decreases performance, loyalty satisfaction and commitment, and causes individuals to be irritable, negative and suspicious

Internal conflict • A limited amount of internal conflict may indirectly contribute to group stability. • An occasional conflict within a group such as in a PUTA may keep its leaders alert and its policies up to date. • If there is no scope for occasional expression, of conflict and if it is deliberately suppressed, the accumulated discontent may explode and cause irreparable damage.

External conflict brings about social unity and ones among the members. For example during inter colleges

Personal conflicts also have their advantages. It is through constant struggling only that individuals can rise to a higher level. The verbal conflicts of friends, married couples and family members, except that they stop short of personal abuse and are restricted to specific issues; often clear the air and permit once again the acceptance of relationship

Negative effects of conflict Conflict is the most vigorous form of social interaction and evokes the deepest passions and strongest emotions which can disrupt social unity. it is a costly way of settling disputes. Conflict causes social disorder, chaos and confusion.

• War as a form of conflict often destroy the lives and properties of countless individuals. • it brings incalculable damage and immeasurable suffering to a number of people. • Conflict does a lot of psychological and moral damage also. It spoils the mental peace of man which can result in stress related illness.

Causes of conflict Superiority Injustice Vulnerability Distrust Helplessness Conflict in conflict resolution is therefore not only the presence of violence

According to Daniel Katz. According to Daniel Katz, conflict arises primarily due to these three: 1. Economic conflict is brought about by a limited of resources. The groups or individuals involved then comes into conflict to attain the most of these resources, thus bringing forth hostile behaviors among those involved.

Value conflict • Value conflict is concerned with the varied preferences and ideologies that people have as their principles. • Conflicts driven by this factor are demonstrated in wars wherein separate parties have sets of beliefs that they assert (in an aggressive manner at that).

Power conflict • Power conflict occurs when the parties involved intends to maximize what influence it has in the social setting. Such a situation can happen among individuals, groups or even nations. • In other types of conflict, power is also evident as it involves an asserting of influence to another.