Social Conflict Theory : Social Identity Theory And Conflict

Identity continues to be a major cause for many wars, both within and without a country. History has proven that conflicts within the borders mostly involve people with very little difference between them. Most of civil wars in nations often start as ethnicity feuds and end up to full scale wars. In the chapter, The Narcissism of Minor Differences, Blok argues that it is often the small differences that lead up to prolonged struggles (p115, 2000). Somalia is an example of a nation where majority of its people share the same cultural and religious background but for a third decade now, members

This essay will be looking to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses of the social identity theory with studies to support.

There are roughly 800,000 people living within the United States that is under the protection of an executive order during the Obama administration called Deferred Action Against Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. These children, commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” have grown up in the United States. They attended elementary school here, many graduated high school here, and many went on to become successful adults living in the United States, but as of September 5th, 2017 the DACA program was shut down by the Trump administration, pending a trial in Congress. This means that those hundreds of thousands of individuals living under the DACA arm will no longer be legal residents in the United States.

Subcultures of violence are mostly described by its norms, identifiable values or shared views for their communication which orders the use of violence in various circumstances. Subcultures are not entirely different from a larger culture to which they’re surrounded. On the other hand, the subcultural supporters contribute many social beliefs of the dominant culture and observe a separate set of principles and ideals that are not overlooked by the larger class of society. Observing to the beliefs of a subculture of violence or the use of violence in a particular situation isn’t just to tolerate it, but to expect it. This expectation promotes an ideal behavior, meaning that opposing agreements can occur if violence isn’t used in a situation for which subcultural rules request it.

In Cohen’s article,“Culture, Social Organization, and Patterns of Violence,” he examined a study, based on the use of violence. Whether it was seen as more culturally appropriate within South and West communities as opposed to less violence seen in tighter, more organized states within the North, he stated that it is a trend of commonplace within these areas and communities following this norm as it is part of that area 's

In order for conflict to be resolved both sides must understand one another’s concerns and be willing to compromise, thus understanding is the first step to resolution. According to Varshney (2001), “promoting communication between members of different religious communities, civic networks often make neighborhood-level peace possible. Routine engagement allows people to come together and form organizations in times of tension” (p. 375). Additionally, the Varshney (2001) article states that if institutions are created that cater to the cultural, economic, and social needs of both sides then the support for peace in the community become strong. Getting people to try to see eye to eye and co-exist without conflict is a great solution to ethnic conflict. According to constructivists ethnicity and in turn ethnic conflict is what people make of it and that race can be made and erased. According to this idea, resolution can come from getting people to see ethnicity and ethnic conflict differently by promoting communication.

A focus on culture can greatly inform the study of violence. Culture can be defined as the “norms” within a community, and a community really could mean anything – gender, location, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, to name a few. This essay will consist of the different ways culture can inform, and help grasp a more advanced understanding of violence in society. The culture of people living in poverty, of certain religions and of the hip-hop community can be great examples of how culture can inform the study of violence.

Conflict theory is a rather ambiguous theoretical example in sociological thinking. This theory was born in the 1950s by many sociologists like Lewis Coser and Ralf Dahrendorf. These sociologists and many others joined terms such as, phenomena of power, interests, coercion, and conflict to form this theory. In other words, Conflict theory is mainly about power divisions and class struggle lead to conflict. This theory plays an important role when it comes to sociological studies, since it proves that sociology also has focus on phenomena of power and conflict. Since conflict theory is mainly about class struggle, one important type of conflict theory is the Marxism Conflict theory. As stated before, this theory has led to many important

I wanted to let you know that I am doing well in school! There is one class that I enjoy in particular and it is called Communication & Conflict. This week we are assigned to write to a friend explaining three theories that we have learned so far in chapter 3. So, I decided to write to you. All of these theories have to do with managing a conflict using a theoretical perspective. The first theory I want to tell you about is the psychodynamic theory. This theory says that we as people experience conflict because of our mental, emotional, and psychological state. Basically, the conflicts that I experience might be different than the ones you experience because of our different mental states. For example, a child who had been physically abused

Who are you? Who am I? These are questions that we all ponder at some point or another in our lives. As human beings we are seemingly inundated with the desire to classify and categorise. We are constantly defining and analysing the differences that we observe in the world, it seems only natural that we would apply this method of classification to our position within our society. More specifically, we want to understand our social identities and this can be achieved by acknowledging which groups we identify most with.

In the 20th century, violence was a pervasive form of social and political change. From the two world wars to the numerous conflicts of the Cold War, it played a significant role in the creation, reformation, and protection of many nations. However, there were many interpretations of violence, as historic situations influenced the interpretation of the subject in leaders and common people alike. In places where it was an everyday norm, like war-torn Europe, one was led to believe that using it was the only path to victory. On the contrary, in places where the horrors of war were not a constant and pressing threat, like India, violence was seen as unnecessary and barbaric. Though these historic views can be organized on a vast spectrum, they

Cultural violence can be defined as a violence that is justified by using certain aspects of

Social identity theory, it is a person’s sense that is based around the group they are in, either by their personal identity or with different kinds of social identities. That is, people will try to improve their own image of themselves. The theory was proposed by Henri Tajfel. People can increase their self-esteem by both their own achievement and interaction with a successful group of people. This shows the importance of social belonging. This theory is based around three mental processes, social categorization, social identification and social comparison.

Violence can be divided into three types: self-directed violence, interpersonal violence, and collective violence. Violent acts can be: psychological, physical, sexual, or emotional. Violence has not a single form of activity, but rather a socially defined category of activities that share some common features. In general, racism, ethnic and religious, sexism, economic exploitation, and persecution are all possible sources of violence involving constraints that abuse people psychologically, if not physically. To consider an action is violence , it needs a victim or a group of victims. In the past, some violent acts were integrated into society by either attributing the actions to individual psychopathology or by justifying the violent actions . Consequently, theories of violence not only vary in their significance and validity, but also deal with different subjects and involve controversial assessments of the efficacy of possible strategies for remedying the problem. There are significant philosophical debates on violence include the French philosopher Georges Sorel’s Reflections on Violence (1908), the political theorist Hannah Arendt’s On Violence (1970), and Newton Garver’s essay “What Violence Is” (1975).

Ethnic conflicts are well rooted in the world's history and perhaps inherent in human nature. This type of conflict is difficult to resolve as is evident in the situation in the Middle East. The ethnic conflict theory explains that it is not territory, politics, or economics that prevents the achievement of peace between the Israeli and Palestinian peoples, instead, it is a deep-seated hatred of one another that neither group can overcome. The Camp David Summit in July 2000, the most recent attempt at fostering a lasting peace is a clear example of how ethnocentrism can prevents success.