Lewis Coser Functional Conflict Theory

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

A basic view about conflict is that it is a bad and destructive. However, conflict is not something bad at all times, sometimes if a conflict’s outcome can increase group performance and improve the quality of decision, according to Organizational Behavior, it is considered as a functional conflict outcome. Conflicts can help solve problems better and increase the understanding of the team. “Remember the Titans” is seen to have a functional conflict outcome, which is why they won every game they played.

In “A Call for Unity” it is argued that matters such as this should only be pursued in the courts. In this it says that the citizens need to “find the proper channels,” which they believe can only be through court. They are in clear disapproval of demonstrations, saying “that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully

Starting with the state-centered institutions, their system is a hierarchy system that takes a top-down approach. They were also able to choose who gets arrested and when as they had absolute authority over others. This was seen when some of the members of the state centered institution agreed with the chief that their point has been made, but he has no choice but to follow through with his orders. Usually, in these forms of government, it is okay to take away the rights of the few in order to sustain the peace of the many. Even though there may be peaceful protests, the police used more force as time went on, even breaking some of the glass windows in vehicles and being more violent towards people.

What is conflict? Even something as basic as a universal definition for the word conflict seems to vary from source to source. A literature review focusing on conflict defined it as “the interaction of interdependent people who perceive incompatibility and the possibility of interference from others as a result of this incompatibility” (Brinkert 2010). Often times the disagreement results not from a concrete difference, but rather a difference in perception (Ellis & Abbott 2012). One of the most important factors effecting conflict management is the resolution style used. The most often used tool for classifying how conflict is managed is the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument (Iglesias & Vallejo 2012).

Protest have been used throughout our nation’s history in order to reform or implement the ideas that seem just to our nation’s people. The history of protest in America would mainly be because of the government, either the government would be at war or it would be legalizing and denying laws people just don’t like. Nowadays there are laws that have established Americans’ right to protest. As indicated by the article, Amending the Protest Law ”On January the Legislative and Constitutional Affairs Committee approved government-drafted changes to the protest law (law no.107/2013) following a Supreme Constitutional Court (SCC) verdict on 3 December requiring the Interior Ministry to seek a judicial order before banning any

Protests riots in the United States has proven to an issue for both the country’s financial strength and the unity of the nation. With the presence of social injustices, combined with the increased impact of social media propaganda, protests riots are beginning to reach an all time high. Protest riots destroy individual communities and businesses, jeopardizes the safety of others and taints the protest’s cause by resorting to civil disobedience. Action must be done in order to prevent these random acts of violence from continuing after every social hot topic. The goal is not to prevent citizens from protesting; in fact, this should be encouraged. The goal is to change the way the protests are handled from both the citizens and authority perspectives, in order to prevent these protests from escalating into something dangerous.

Protests can start out peaceful but quickly turn violent. Though protests can be amazing and cause social change and change within the government they can also turn violent and leave behind a huge mess. An example of this is the Dakota Access Pipeline protest. It started out as a peaceful protest against the pipeline being built close to Native American land and along the way turned into a violent protest. Everything was going fine and as planned then things started going south. The sheriff’s office said, “According to numerous witnesses within five minutes the crowd of protesters, estimated to be a few hundred people became violent. They stampeded into the construction area with horses, dogs and vehicles” (Peralta). In this case, the protest

becoming violent and during parts of the protest attack dogs were set upon the protesters just like

So, while peaceful protest is allowed, and even encouraged sometimes, violence and chaos is never welcomed. For example, one of the most recent protests was on the day of the Inauguration of Donald Trump. Most of the protesters were peaceful and cooperative, some people even say not to judge these pretests based on one burning car, but we have to! For the safety of everybody around, better be too careful than not careful at all. This point is civil disobedience at its worst. All that this violence does is cause a state of chaos and confusion, where then communities are vulnerable, and vandalizing and looting take place. The night of Donald Trump's election, when there was also protests, people were seen burning the United States flag, which is a crime, but not this night when there was already turmoil everywhere you looked. This is how "peaceful" protests can negatively affect a society, because there is not order and only

You have those people who want their voices heard in a positive way. You always have to cause destruction and chaos when you feel strong about something; because you think it will help. You can partake in your freedom of speech and peacefully protest. If you do this you do not have to worry about much because it’s your constitutional right to do so. Peaceful protesting in many cases can solve more problems than violence can. It is a simple and easy way to release your frustration in a calm peaceful manner.

This event was well planned over a period of many weeks, and was even discussed with the local police department. This specific group of protestors had many signs expressing their opinions toward the war in Iraq and the passionate act eventually lead to the arresting of over 40 protestors on the misdemeanor charge of Demonstrating without a permit. This modern example was a good model for one of the main reasons why Peaceful resistance is so effective. Even though the people fighting for change remain civil and nonviolent they are still willing to face the consequences for challenging a supreme authority. Although there are many positive outcomes that come from the practice of Civil Disobedience, there can also be a great number of negative effects. When a ruling is overturned or a goal is finally reached there is often a period of healing that has to take place, people don’t want to change, and it takes time for something new to become truly accepted. The idea of struggling for change should not be romanticized or taken lightly. Millions of people have died peacefully battling for a new beginning or the freedom to be who they

Conflict theory sees societies comprised of groups with conflicting values and interests. (Vold et al. 1998)

protesters were arrested or had tear gas sprayed at them. Joshua Wong was arrested and claimed he was beaten by police when he was protesting. Since some people disagree with him he gets hate sometimes people try to attack him. For example at a speech he was holding, two men started throwing eggs at him. The men got arrested and were fined 3000 dollars. One incident he was in that was on the news was that he was going to Thailand, when he arrived police arrested him told him he was blacklisted and stuck there for 12 hours.(theguardian) The people of Hong Kong were scared and hoped that Joshua was okay I read on twitter. Even though Wong has been arrested and attacked many times he still protests in thing he believes

The traditional view of conflict is that conflict is intrinsically negative, produces negative consequences, and has a detrimental effect on organizations. Like the other two viewpoints, the tradition al view realizes that conflict is essentially inevitable. However, this viewpoint strives to minimize if not outright avoid conflict because it deems it to produce noxious consequences. This outright avoidance of conflict is not necessarily adhered to in the human relations view of conflict. This viewpoint posits the notion that conflict is and of itself natural, or organic in nature. Whereas the traditional viewpoint of conflict is that it is always bad, the human relations viewpoint sees conflict as a natural