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Theories Of Social Conflict

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Recommended: The Importance Of Conflict Theory

Literature on conflict claims it righteous to be an inevitable disposition. Interaction, at any level of the social order; between individuals, within or among groups or organizations or at nations’ level, always have a prospective connotation of cropping up hostile attitudes of the interactants. Splinter groups interact in course of attaining their due objectives or get hold of certain resources. The relationship among the parties may become ill-assorted or inconsistent owing to the partially exclusive behavioral preferences of the diversified stakeholders, especially when they have differing set of norms, values and skills.
Conflict, though theme of today, itself is not a new topic under study. The topic has struck the human perception since …show more content…

For a better portrayal of the concepts let us have a brief outlook on the previous theories and some early concepts concerning social conflict:
The first ever theoretical know narrative about Conflict came from Plato (427–347 B.C.). Plato suggested that in a societal setting tension is hostile making conflict ‘inevitable’. A balance in society could be maintained only with appropriate leadership. “If a proper balance of the parts could be obtained, social conflict would be at a minimum. Each segment of society must know the part it must play and be guided in such a fashion that all segments work together in harmony” (Schellenberg, 1996, p. 89).
Moving ahead, John Dewey (1922-1957) significantly contributed to the theoretical literature on social conflict. According to Dewey, “Conflict is the gadfly to thought. It stirs us to observation and memory. It instigates us to invention. It shocks us out to sheep-like passivity, and sets us at noting and contriving” (p. …show more content…

He alleged that conflict in a society is ‘dysfunctional’ and ‘abnormal’. Society on the whole is integrated and functionally stable. Men are hostile by nature and have a soaring potential to hurdle the integration of society. On the contrary, Mills, 1959; Dahrendorf, 1959; Bernard, 1957 and Coser, 1956; presented the contrasting views about conflict as compared to Parsons.
In his book, ‘The Functions of Social Conflict’, Lewis Coser (1956) focused on the role of healthy conflict in the society. He showed the other side of the coin by expanding the Simmel’s view of embedded conflict in the society and particularly highlighted the positive facet of the trend.
His book has been quite influential in arousing the interest of social scientists in the phenomenon and escorted many scientists to advance the concept further. “His book was highly influential in reminding sociologists of ideas that had been central earlier in the century (in writings such as those of Park and Burgess and of Simmel), thus setting the stage for a remarkable rise in sociological attention to conflict in the period since then (Schellenberg, 1996, p.

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Jones’ book is conflict perspective. Leon-Guerrero (2009) writes, “conflict theorists consider how society is held together by power and coercion (Ritzer 2000) for the benefit of those in power” (Leon-Guerrero, 2009, p. 14). Leon-Guerrero (2009) goes on to state that Karl Marx was the first to make the argument of conflict theory. Marx focused on the conflict between social classes. There is at most times a tension between the proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (owners) (Leon-Guerrero, 2009, p. 14).

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“All conflict in literature is, in its simplest form, a struggle between good and evil.” - Anon. You may not realize this, however this quote is surprisingly true. An example of this can be found in the novel, “Before We Were Free” by Julia Alvarez, where the protagonist Anita, is living with her family in the Dominican Republic lead by El Jefe, the antagonist. Throughout the novel, several conflicts occur between Anita (and her family) and El Jefe.

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Conflict is a common topic in many aspects of life. In history, literature, and day-to-day experiences, you can see conflict around you. There are a few

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In the 1940s and the 1950s the conflict theory was ignored because sociologist thought it was solely economic. Today, sociologists see that conflict is found between many different groups in society. (Crossman) According to the conflict theory, inequality is the result of those who are wealthy, typically those in the upper one percent, which impose their mode of social order on the rest of the general society. In result, society is constantly competing for limited resources.

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Conflict theory has been used to describe the discrepancies in power and distribution of resources among the dominate group and the subordinate groups. Racial inequalities and racism among the groups has played a big role in the concept of conflict theory. Conflict theory examines the rising conflict between the dominate group, or white ruling class, and racial minorities, such as African Americans. This conflict and inequality among the races may be a reason why 20.2 percent of African American males die by homicide. In fact, African Americans are six times as likely as whites to be killed by homicide.

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Mean Girls The film being discussed with in this paper is Mean Girls. Relating this film to bullying as well show how it relates to the sociologic theory of conflict theory. When an individual would first watch the film Mean Girls they would first automatically think of today’s society and how they may have dealt with a similar situation in school. What an individual may not think about when watching this film is Karl Marx and conflict theory.

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