Four Myths Of Conflict

Conflict is an inevitable fact of life. Conflict is everywhere on a global scale as well as on a personal scale. Some may not be able to endure one day without conflict, while others may not even go five minutes without encountering conflict. Some conflicts are ongoing for years, never to be resolved, while some conflicts are short and resolved in a matter of minutes. Conflicts can be internal, meaning a struggle with one’s impulses or mind, or conflicts can be external, meaning a struggle with an outside force.

When a couple has been together for at least forty years, one may ask them, how have you put up with one person for so long, or what is your secret to marriage? Unfortunately, a secret may not even exist, but learning how to deal with everyday relationship conflicts, maybe the answer to a lasting marriage. “Gottman and Declaire, discovered that couples have conflict over the same issues sixty-nine percent of the time” (1997) (pg.214) Gottman quotes “We need to teach couples that they will never solve most of their problems, and that couples need to” establish a dialogue” about the problems.”(1997) (pg.214) Validating, volatile, and conflict avoiding, are three approaches couples use, when resolving conflict. Gottman studies show how managing conflict could lead to lasting marriages. Communication practices are also important when trying to resolve conflict. Gottman’s Four Horseman of the Apocalypse are “four communication practices that have very negative outcomes for the particular interaction and for the relationship.”(pg.225) Conflicts are going to occur in every relationship, but learning how to communicate with one another is essential.

Encountering conflict is an inevitable facet of human existence, which by definition is the opposition of intangible entities. From conflict individuals and societies may be challenged and furthered in terms of social and moral values and beliefs, as each comes to encounter the underlying and intangible elements of conflict and through this, humanity.

Write an essay in which you examine the different kinds of conflict present in any of the stories studied thus far. How does the conflict(s) affect the theme of the story?

2A., 2B. List two specific things you learned about conflict as a result of this exercise. Reference material from the text, threaded discussions, lecture, terminal course objectives, and so forth. Answers that demonstrate application of the course material and effective critical thinking will earn the greatest amount of points.

One thing that is a part of every person’s life on every day of every week of every month of every year is conflict. Conflict is something that people, no matter how they strive, cannot escape from. Whether the conflict on a certain day is on a large scale or it is a miniscule bump in the road, it can be said that there will always be conflict. When people encounter conflict, the sole thing on their minds is to devise a way to be rid of it. The way that a person responds to whatever conflict they are faced with is what determines success or failure. If a person meets the conflict head on and with a positive attitude, then it is almost certain to end in success. If a person meets the conflict with a negative attitude and tries to avoid it, then

For centuries, violence has been the go to way to settle conflicts, but it has also been very controversial throughout the years. While some say war is important in order to maintain our freedom, it is actually a very unnecessary and destructive way of settling conflicts because it kills so many innocent people and it hardly ever accomplishes anything for such a hefty price.

The contemporary social issue I have selected is the discrimination of Muslims in America. I selected this issue because it appears to be a growing problem in the United States, and I believe it is rooted in racism, making it a two-part issue. Muslim is not a race, but in many Middle Eastern countries, Islam is the majority religion. Even though anyone from any race could be Muslim, it is only Middle Eastern Muslims that are targeted. As someone who is in the social work field, it is distressing for me to see a group of people be treated unjustly and experience many societal challenges based on their faith and race. Conflict theory is one theory that can improve people’s understanding of this issue. One of the main concepts of conflict theory is that “power is unequally divided and some groups dominate others” (Overview of Theories, 2008). In the social issue I chose, white Christians are the dominant group, and they hold more power than Middle Eastern Muslims. Power is not

The social approach of conflict is described by Witt (2014) as focusing on power and the allocation of valued resources in society. Examples of resources include material, social, and cultural resources. Those that have resources are held as privileged while others are seen as inferior. The view of society in the conflict perspective is associated with tension and struggle between groups. (Witt 2014:17)

“The ethos of conflict has over the decades become a catalyst for an ethos of hate,” Page 280. Ethos means “the configuration of central societal shared beliefs that provide a particular dominant orientation to a society.” This means that ethos is a set of goals and beliefs that help define and keep a society together. It also creates a sense of social identity for a country and its people. Those beliefs stem from the history of the area and the people of the land, and history often shapes the present and future conditions and beliefs. An ethos of conflict comes into play when conflict with another, in this case country, has been so on going that the animosity shapes the societies beliefs and actions. Israel and Palestine are both caught in

4 possible sources of conflict could be the individual themselves, family or friends, colleagues or policies.

In the words of Stephen Moyer, “Conflict is drama, and how people deal with conflict shows you the kind of people they are.” People face many conflicts every day, many different conflicts. Correspondingly, conflict changes the people it affects. Additionally, conflict shapes and molds people into different versions of themselves. Life is filled with conflicts such as; deciding what youth group to go to, being bullied, and indecisiveness.

Conflict seems to find us in the most unexpected moments. Along with the many people living in this world, there are also many types of responses to conflict. The responses can be split into two main types; those who are uncomfortable in the faces of conflict and those who choose to challenge it. The way in which we perceive the conflict can help or hinder us as a person. Conflict doesn't always have to be a negative battle, so why not choose the positive approach? Accept it, and challenge yourself for the better.

Conflict is defined as the behaviour due to which people differ in their feelings, thought and/or actions. Collins (1995) states that the conflict is a ‘serious disagreement and argument about something important’ and also as ‘a serious difference between two or more beliefs, ideas or interests’ (cf. Kumaraswamy, 1997, p. 96). In general it is believed that conflicts are the underlying cause of disputes. In other words, dispute is a manifestation of the deep rooted conflict. A dispute is defined as ‘a class or kind of conflict, which manifests itself in distinct, justifiable issues. It involves disagreement over issues capable of resolution by negotiation, mediation or third party adjudication’

Conflicts which lead to unresolved issues can influence the quality of the marriage. Although several research was made on marital relationships, the factors which influence the arising of continuous conflicts are still not clear. Unresolved issues are problems which are continuously brought up in a marriage. However, marital conflicts are not the only source of unresolved issues in a relationship. Unresolved conflicts within the marriage can affect the longevity and quality of the marriage, but personal background and individual trauma contribute to marital problems more often than conflicts within the marriage. In fact, marital conflicts are usually started because of personal unresolved issues. If a person develops a behavioral property