Conflict Perspectives Research Paper

Whether we like it or not, conflict is a part of everyday lives. It can happen to anyone, from your friends to your family.

As displayed in these stories, there is not always a mutual agreement within the family about several situations. Even I have faced conflict within my family, while I was growing up a time or two. Whether the issue involved something that you felt wasn’t fair or it was simply because you were told to do something in which you did not want to abide; the fact remains in every culture, family, life, or relationship, there will come a time where a conflict will arise.

In general, conflict theory is to explain the conflict between authority groups and powerless groups through the uneven distribution of power and resources in society (Lai, 2013). It is based entirely in power and how those in power do all they can to hold the majority of the population down and to keep them from gaining power, so as to secure their own position. Conflict theorists all assume that the existing social order is not a product of consensus and mutual benefit but rather a function of power differentials in society. These perspectives recognize that societal resources are limited and contend that opposing groups are in a constant struggle for a greater share of the resources and power that comes with them. As groups struggle to gain

The person in the family who usually has more access to the money, power and resources, usually the men in the family, they also have more control over the subordinate parts of the family in most cases the females. Conflict perspective has an idea that there is a power differential and the families themselves are constructed in an order to maintain this power differential. This concept means the children have less power, the females have more power than the children but less power than the males. This truly reinforces the power differentials and the values that are taught within the family and also stabilize the family. The family has the same conflicts that we all have in the greater society.

With the example provided above, I got a glimpse as to how issues are handled in the household. Elina seems to talk about the issues in a way that overwhelms Carolyn. Carolyn on the other hand, seems to bottle up all her emotions and explodes into what could become verbally aggressive. Carolyn also seems to have been raised with different values than Elina. This combined with the difference in communication styles could make for a fiery argument. Finally, there seems to be an age difference between Carolyn and Elena that might be a contributing factor to the dynamic that is taking place. Often, a difference in communication styles and parenting could be a reflection of the generation a person is born

When deciding what prompt to write my term paper on, I couldn’t help but lean towards family conflict and dynamics because it’s an area that we as a society all have experience in. When someone thinks of conflict, we think about the strains or disagreements that can occur and how as a result that conflict can alter the relationships we have. Which is why within the two stories I decided on, the conflict between the characters scream through every written word and show how that conflict affects the family dynamics. More specifically, the stories are; I Stand Here Ironing by Tillie Olsen and Everyday Use by Alice Walker. The reason that I gravitated towards these two particular stories is that the family dynamic between the mother and her children

families, and the different conflicts each household goes through like; how parents aren 't really apart of

The conflict theory approach emphasizes issues of inequality and change in relation to social class, money, race ethnicity and gender. The conflict theory pinpoints the belief that these social classifications are parasitic: only benefiting one group while negatively affecting another. In particular, the social conflict approach focuses on the struggles that lower-class people face in a world where the rich and powerful benefits at their expense. Persons of the lower-class are often disadvantaged, since they are not given a chance to move ahead and are always stuck at the bottom of the social ladder. Upper-class individuals are able to fully educate their children, and hence, their generation will always be rich and powerful. However, a weakness

Conflict theory is the theory that human behavior in social contexts is the result of conflicts between competing groups, as different social groups, be they class-, gender- or race-defined, have unequal power and access to power, yet all groups compete for limited resources. This inevitably gives rise to tension and conflict, albeit often of the subtle variety, as oftentimes the conflicts between groups have been institutionalized in society to such a degree that the conflicts and tensions are such an expected part of society that the conflict, and inequality, itself disappears from public sight, and consciousness. For example, an adherent of a world systems theory of conflict would point to the global competition for resources, particularly the inequality between rich and poor nations struggling to provide the basic necessities of life to their inhabitants, as evidence of global conflict. Conflict theories seek to explain the interactions of groups within society, and assert that social order is preserved involuntarily through the exercise of power one social class holds over another (Lindsey, 2010, 7). The conflict between groups is not always obvious or apparent, so it must be unraveled and examined in order to identify and establish the impact of such conflict on society as a whole, as well as individual members and social groupings.

Conflicts in the family are usually considered as an undesirable symptom of a problem that need to be solved by family members. 1 In the family relationships, the parent-adolescent relationship represents an involuntary association, an imbalance of power and resources, and an obligation for the parent to function as caregiver.

The modern society is a kind of an organization that consists of individual participants and social groups. These groups are engaged in a constant struggle the primary objective of which is to maximize individual profits of people and social groups. The struggle for maximizing the profits has become the main feature of modern capitalist society. The situation like this inevitably leads to conflict.

Beaton, Norris, and Pratt (2003) support this by claiming that unresolved issues do not necessarily cause tension in the family. “From our perspective, conflict refers to those issues in relationships that couples overtly verbally or nonverbally express continually” (Beaton, Norris, & Pratt, 2003, p. 144). Although they focus on intergenerational communications within the family, they point out that unresolved issues concerning intergenerational differences can create problems in marital relationships. So it is more important to focus on reasons why individuals choose to create continuous conflict, and why it is so important to impose personal opinions and beliefs on other people. Understanding what determines human behavior is the only way to understand why

When faced with decisions or crises, healthy families involve all family members to come to solutions for the mutual good. Conflicts are settled through rational discussion and compromise instead of open hostility and conflict. If one family member feels strongly about an issue, healthy families work to accommodate his / her views in a satisfactory way. As unhealthy families suffer conflict and disagreements, so do healthy families. However, a healthy family deals with conflict much more rationally and effectively. Families can be compared and evaluated on many other dimensions and variables. The specific variables involved are not as important as the concept that children learn how to behave or are socialized according to the makeup of their individual family environments. The family environment is important in that children are taught what types of transactions are considered appropriate. They learn to form relationships, handle power, maintain personal boundaries, communicate with others and feel that they are an important subset of the whole family

First, conflict theory derives from politics, in which self-interest, egotism, and competitionare dominant elements. People’s behavior is also characterized by self-sacrifice andcooperation. Love is an important quality in relationships. Conflict theorists don’t often talk about the power of love or bonding; yet the presence of love and bonding may distinguish the family from all other groups in society. We often make sacrifice for the sake of hose we love. We will defer our own wishes to another’s desires; we may even sacrifice our lives for a love done. Don’t we? Second, conflict theorists assume that differences lead to conflict. Differences can also be accepted, tolerated or appreciated. Differences do not necessarily imply conflict. Just think that who cooperate with each other? Whether without differences would there be cooperation? If there won’t be any difference with whom would you cooperate, both would become the same. Third, conflict in families is not easily measured or evaluated. Families live much of their lives privately,

Families have their own ways of getting along and getting through tough and emotional times. Some talk it out and some even just give nothing but silence to each other. Some can't even forgive each other for years and years. All of that sounds so bad to go through. Even though there are those times of disagreement there are families who have a blast with each other. Theres so many different ways problems can be solved, but I love how unique my family gets through things. Now your views of a family being happy and my views are gunna be different. You may even say my views sound like an unhappy family. Even if you don't agree with my family ways doesn't mean it doesn't work. In this essay I'm going to try and show you my views both happy and unhappy families in my experience.