Social Conflict: lt's Prevention and Management

Armstrong Abebrese

ABSTRACT

Country:
Ghana

Language:
English

This paper defines conflict and discusses the value of conflict in a society. The author reviews the traditionalist and the interactionalist views about conflict and the conflict -survival model. Again, the sources of societal conflict are thoroughly examined. Here, the author looks at the levels of conflict and the sources of conflict. More importantly, the mediation process: the definition of mediation/mediator; examples of successful mediations from as early as the nineteenth century; caution to mediators; managing conflict in a society - study of the mediation process; and managing conflict in a society - resolution technique is examined.

Index

Introduction
Review of the two
viewpoints about conflict
Mediation process
Reference

Introduction

In as much as we appreciate that conflict is inevitable, there is the need to facilitate a constant exchange of new experience and new knowledge in conflict resolution. Again, we need to favour the expansion and the practice of mediation in all corners of the world.In this way the inevitable(conflict) can either be eliminated, reduced or minimised.

Social conflict can be defined using three main criteria:

1. Organisation - imbalance in a web of patterned relationships that exist among individuals and groups. Here, we look at roles and statutes of individuals.
2. Institutions - instability in the ordered social relationships that grow out of the values and norms of society.
3. Structure - unstable patterned relationship that exist among social institutions within society.

What is Conflict?

Cooper et al (1988), defines conflict as the existence of opposing forces that create tension and demand a response.Hess et al (1985), defines conflict as a situation where parties try to meet their needs by destroying or disabling their opponents. That is , a situation where social order is withdrawn to make existing order oppressive or unfair.It could be deduced from the aforementioned definitions that conflict occurs when there is inconsistencies in attitudes ,values , skills ,and beliefs.

A working definition of conflict can be narrowed down to embrace four dimensions, namely:

1. Conflict can be defined as a "concomitant of social interaction" - Mazrui, 1962.
2. "that behavior by organisation member which is expended in opposition to other members"-Mugubane, 1963,p 532.
3. It starts when one party perceives that the other has frustrated ,or is about to frustrate some concern of his" - Diesing et al (1977)
4. "whenever incompatible actions occur" - Orwa (1995).

Values of Conflict

According to the functional approach to social analysis, when something (a social variable ,a pattern of behaviour, a process of interaction , a belief) is designated as functional, the implication is that , the phenomena is useful and serves specific purposes for the particular social system being analysed. Contrary, a dysfunctional phenomenon is a detriment to a social system and tend to cause social and cultural disorganisation.

It has been noted that, conflict results in cooperation. That is, it provides the fundamental basis for social cohesion and integration.

Again, extreme form of social conflict performs social functions. For example it solidifies and strengthens the bond and structure within the interacting groups.Intragroup differences and hostilities are lessened; issues and goals are clarified and common commitment and mutual support are stressed.

Moreover, during periods of warfare, symptoms of social disorganisation such as crime, suicide, to mention but a few frequently fall to their lowest levels.

Another point is that , it creates a context within which creativity(social, intellectual and technological) can often reach it's highest fulfillment.

American civil right movement of the 1950's and the 1960's were disruptive and threatening to many people at that time but ultimately helped bring a social change that has led to greater stability.

However, intense and unrestricted conflicts result in violent interaction which lead to annihilation .This aspect makes conflict a global concern and needs strategic plans to prevent it's emergence or escalation.

REVIEW OF THE TWO VIEWPOINTS ABOUT CONFLICT

Traditionalist viewpoint about conflict

This proposition assumes the stand that, all conflicts are bad and has negative impact on the existence, stability and effectiveness of the organs of society.The proponents view conflict
as synonymous with such terms as violence, destruction and irrationality. They posits that people in positions of stewardship in society have major responsibilities to try and ensure that conflicts do not arise and if they do , to acct promptly to resolve it.

Interactionalist viewpoint about conflict

They hold the view that any society totally devoid of conflict is probably static, apathetic and nonresponsive to the need for change.They opine that conflict is functional when it initiates the search for new and better ways of doing things and undermines complacency within a society. Change does not happen by chance. It needs a stimulus(conflict).There must be dissatisfaction of the statuaquo before conditions are right to initiate change. In this respect , a society that is conflict free has no internal forces to initiate change. One thing that should be understood is that, no society exists in vacuum and that there are internal and external forces that stimulate change and help create the climate for growth. Change occurs in a society either by design, spontaneously or by default.

Figure 1: Conflict-Survival Model

Conflict Change Adaptation Survival

Reference: Stephen .P. Robbins -
Managing Organisational Conflicts Nontraditional Approach, 1994,p20

Fig 1.illustrates that change does not happen out of the blue .It needs a stimulus - conflict.
It is worthsaying that the interactionalist approach does not admit that all conflict are functional, rather, there are dysfunctional aspects of conflict that affect social stability. In such cases people in authority should seek to reduce the conflict. It behooves on managers to create an environment in which conflict is healthy but not allowed to run to pathological extremes.

In the interactionalist view, it is undesirable for conflict levels to be high or low.Situation B (fig. 2) represents the optimal level.

Sources of Societal Conflict

1. Competition for societal resources eg. Raw materials, personnel etc.
2. Differences in goals ,values, beliefs, needs, attainments, behavioural practices and perspectives.
3. Situation of interdependency
4. Failure in communication process leading to lack of information or misinformation.
5. Bureaucratic structure of the society.

Levels of Conflict

Conflict occurs between:

1. Societies
2. Two groups
3. Individual and a group
4. Individuals
5. Within individuals

MEDIATION PROCESS

What is Mediation?

Mediation can be defined as:

Any attempt by an impartial third party to help settle disputes.It involves active efforts to help parties reach agreement by clarifying issues, asking questions and making proposals.
The intervention of a third party in an attempt to resolve a conflict, especially an international conflict.
A practice under which in a conflict, the services of a third party are utilised to reduce differences or to seek solution.

Examples of successful mediation from as early as the
nineteenth century

1. Of Great Britain in 1825 between Portugal and Brazil
2. Of the great powers is 1868-69 between Greece and Turkey when relations were
strained over Crete.
3. Of Pope XIII in1885 between Germany and Spain in the matter of Caroline Island.
4. Of U.S.A between the Israelites and the Arabs.
5. Of ECOWAS in the Liberian civil war
6. Of U.N peace keeping forces in all parts of the world.

Caution to Mediators

Mediators should be cautious of the following:

1. They take initiatives in proposing terms of settlement but opposing parties are not bound by prior agreement to accept the suggestions made.
2. They should not personalize conflicts and be bias towards one party in a conflict.
3. They have no power but that of persuasion.
4. They should deal away with their prejudices and misconceptions.
5. They should be fair and just in their dealings in conflicts.

Managing Conflict in a Society:Study of the Mediation Process

There are five main processes in mediation .These are :avoidance; dorminance;smoothing over;compromise;and confrontation.

Avoidance

This is the method used by mediators if the solution to a particular conflict is not critical to the functioning of the social organisations ,institutions and structures and the affected parties are willing to play down the causes of the conflict.Mediators may simply avoid dealing with the conflict by physically separating the conflicting parties completely.This is done in either of the following ways:
By limiting their contact and watching any interactions;
By encouraging the parties involved in conflict to ignore the fact that conflict exist, pretending that there is no conflict, or that it will go away by itself.
Though avoidance saves time ,it may lead to severe problems later.

Dominance

When intervening in a conflict, mediators use persuasive and advisory powers to impose a resolution. This may however lead to resentment and may not deal with the causes of conflict.

Soothing Out

This method of mediating in conflict is effective if mediators have information that conflicting parties do not have.With this method, the mediators attempt to minimize the importance of the disagreements between the conflicting parties so that accord and peace can be maintained. Hre, since the causes of conflict is not address, they will likely surface.

Compromise

With this method, mediators attempt to find a middle ground between the disagreeing parties. Each side 'wins" something but neither is completely satisfied and resentment as well as the underlying causes of the conflict may linger.For compromise to be effective, both parties must be on the same level in the social hierarchy.Sometimes, mediators in an effort to arrive at a compromise may try to compensate one party for giving in and ending the conflict.

Confrontation

This method deals with the causes of conflict.The conflicting parties are allowed to state their case in the hope of attaining mutual understanding.They are guided in emphasising overall societal goals over individual or group goals to resolve conflicts.
Confrontation requires a great deal of mediators time and energy. This may lead to emotional outbursts and bad feelings but it can be successful if all parties are willing to cooperate in the process.

Managing Conflict in a Society: Resolution Techniques

A society becomes dysfunctional when forces of conflict are too great. This has a negative impact on the organisations ,structures and institutions of a society. Something therefore needs to be done to bring the conflict to an acceptable level hence the adoption of the following will help resolve conflicts:

Correctly Perceiving the Conflict

Conflict occurs when one party sees other(s) as a threat or competitor or when one party's gain is the other party's loss.
Tilly(1975), opines that, attempts to resolve conflict should begin by the parties listing their specific goals: refrain from taking positions on how these goals would be met. Here,the parties should discuss how goals can be achieved.This makes conflict to be integrative problem solving situation rather than a competition.

Knudson ,Sommers and Golding (1980) assert that conflict resolution is enhanced when parties share their perceptions about the situation.This enhances the development of a plan to reduce their disagreement(s) and encourages communication.

Reducing Threat

Conflict motivates the use of threats. Osgood(1962) posits that negotiations in the cold war between the
U.S.A and Russia were proceeding on a path directly contrary to conflict resolution. Each side was amassing threat potential and the huge increase in weapons was making the possibility of accidental war more likely.

Osgood,1962, suggests a way out of this spiraling increase in conflict, that is Graduated Reciprocation in Tension (GRIT) reduction policy.This means of resolving conflict has three phases and it is elaborated below:

Phase One

This is a phase where one of the parties in conflict publicly announce that it intends to reduce tension and having that side clearly state the unilateral initiatives that it plans to take to do so.That party should invite the other party to reciprocate with it's own initiatives.

Phase Two

This phase aims at establishing the initiators credibility and authenticity.Here, the initiator is expected to carry out the announced tension-reducing moves in a way that is ambiguous and open to verification.These steps must be taken even in the absence of reciprocation.

Final Phase

The initiator should retain enough power to avoid being exploited by the other party. Though the initiative is risky and create vulnerability in the initiator yet they should not be so drastic that the initiator loses the ability to protect itself or retaliate if the opponent responds aggressively.

Lindskold,1986, is of the view that, the idea behind GRIT is that moves by one nation ,person, or group to reduce threat capabilities would be met with similar reductions by others.The aim of the GRIT strategy is to reduce the threat potential in conflict situations, so that the parties would communicate and work toward resolution of their differences.Lindskold and Annoff ,1980, reveals that GRIT is most likely to be successful when the opponent has equal or less power than the initiator.

Co-optation

This is a situation where members of a dissenting group are absorbed by the dominant group.This makes the dissenting group have a stake in the peaceful settlement of the conflict.Cooptation occurs when the idea of the opposition filter into the main stream so that there is no longer a need for confrontation.

Appeal System

Conflicts in societies can be handled by creating formal channels for grievances to be heard and acted upon.If an individual, group etc believe that their rights have been jeopardised by a second party's action, an appeal system provides the rights of formal complain.
.
Unionised organisations. Ombudsman, Committee for Human Rights and Administrative Justice are excellent illustrations of the appeal technique.

Mutual Problem Solving

This technique has been described as the soundest method for resolving intergroup conflicts.It requires that, the conflicting parties come face to face with the underlying causes for their conflict and share responsibility for seeing that the solution works.The purpose is to the problem rather than merely accommodating the different points of view. This technique requires that the conflicting parties have "the potential to achieve a better solution through collaboration".

Superordinate Goals

This is a common goal held by two or more parties.The shared goals can not be achieved by the resources of a single group.It shows that without the help of the contending parties, the goal can not be achieved.They act to reduce conflict by requiring the disagreeing parties to work together in achieving these goals they mutually seek.

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