Social conflicts are an inevitable part of social relationships. A modern developed society is making significant efforts to establish mechanisms for the favorable course of social conflict and ways to resolve it.
The essence of social conflict
Social conflict is understood as a clash of interests and needs of individuals or groups of the population, entailing the development of contradictions and sharp confrontation between the parties.
A conflict situation can concern one or more people, or affect the interests of large social groups or society as a whole.
Types of social conflicts
Types of social conflict and ways to resolve it are closely related to each other. In order to lead the parties out of the conflict, it is necessary to understand its cause and nature, to clearly see all its participants. All social conflictsare divided into groups depending on several characteristics:
| Signs | Types of social conflicts |
| The nature of occurrence and duration of development |
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| Scope of coverage |
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| Affected areas of society |
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| Number of participants |
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| Means used to resolve |
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| Consequences |
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Functions of social conflict
All possible functions of the socialconflicts are divided into:
- constructive - bringing a positive effect to the current situation;
- destructive - destructive to the situation and the relationship between the parties.
Constructive functions include defusing tension between the participants in the conflict, positive changes in interpersonal relationships, interaction between groups and society as a whole.
Destructive functions bring destruction and destabilize the relationship between the parties.
One of the most important functions of social conflict are the following:
- Signal - helps to regard the emergence of a conflict situation as a signal that in the relationship of individuals, groups and in society as a whole there are some problems that need to be eliminated or minimized.
- Informational - understanding the essence of the conflict contributes to the most accurate determination of the causes of its occurrence and ways out of it.
- Differentiating - rather refers to conflicts affecting the interests of a large number of members of society. Thanks to this function, social relations become more structured, people are divided into social groups.
- Dynamic - the role of the engine in the development of society and relations in it is attributed to social conflicts.
Causes of occurrence
The relationship between the causes and ways of resolving social conflicts cannot be ignored when resolving any conflict situation.
The basis of any social conflict is a contradiction - the confrontation of the interests of the parties, expressed in an acute form. The conflict is an open action of the parties aimed at achieving certain goals, as well as an aggressive response to these actions. The contradiction does not always imply a clash of participants, in society it can take the form of an implicit confrontation and is of a subjective-objective nature.
As objective contradictions stands the confrontation between superiors and subordinates, parents and children. Subjective reasons are born from the attitude towards the conflict of each of the parties involved.
In social science, the ways of resolving a social conflict and its causes are directly dependent. A variety of factors can act as the causes of a conflict situation, depending on its nature and scope:
- confrontation with the environment;
- inequality in the social and economic sphere;
- cultural controversy;
- aggression;
- confrontation in the sphere of material we alth, life values and many others.
Understanding the dependence of the definition of ways to resolve the causes of social conflict is necessary when resolving any emerging conflict situation.
Stages of social conflict
Finding ways and means of resolving social conflicts is impossible withoutunderstanding the process of disagreement. The following stages can be traced in the development of social conflict:
- Pre-conflict situation: emergence of contradiction, growing tension between the parties.
- Conflict: actions whose purpose is to satisfy interests, the achievement by the parties of results that are opposite to each other or incompatible with each other, they become the cause of confrontation.
- Conflict resolution: understanding the causes.
- The emergence of a social conflict and the search for ways to resolve it, reaching a compromise between the parties.
- Post-conflict stage: complete elimination of differences between the parties to the conflict.
Participants in the conflict
Social conflict and ways to resolve it also depend on the parties involved in the current conflict situation. All parties involved in the conflict play certain roles in the development and course of the current situation, but not all are in open confrontation with each other.
The main participants in the social conflict are people, social groups, whose various interests and needs led to the development of a conflict situation. Such participants are considered subjects of social conflict.
Witnesses do not take part in the conflict and observe the course of the conflict situation from the sidelines. Mediators are making efforts to resolve disputes and stopconflict, participate in the organization of the necessary events. Instigators have a provocative effect aimed at the development of the conflict. Accomplices in a conflict situation act on the side of one of the subjects, but do not participate in an open clash of the parties.
Conditions for finding ways to resolve
Social conflict and its development can only be stopped if certain conditions are met:
- all parties involved in the conflict must understand the interests, motives and needs of other participants;
- goals and contradictions between the parties should be as objective as possible;
- each of the parties involved in the conflict should be interested in getting out of the current situation and resolving the issue that caused the confrontation;
- the parties to the conflict must show respect and willingness to jointly resolve conflicts;
- joint actions of the parties to resolve the conflict should be focused on a specific result, which can be clear mechanisms for further interaction, mutual concessions or guarantees of compliance with agreements.
Social conflict and ways to resolve it
Briefly considering possible ways to resolve conflict situations, we can reduce them to several types:
- Compromise - resolution of a conflict situation by agreement of the parties on further peaceful cooperation based on mutual concessions.
- Negotiating is a peaceful solution to the problem by putting forward proposals and bringing arguments that can satisfy all the subjects of the conflict.
- Resolving the conflict with the help of intermediaries - the involvement of a third party, which, based on existing capabilities and experience, is able to resolve the current situation.
- Avoiding confrontation or postponing are similar methods that involve reducing the development of the conflict due to the temporary "leaving the stage" of one of the subjects.
- Arbitration is the resolution of a conflict situation by an authority with special powers and observing the norms of the law.
- Force actions - the involvement of the military and weapons.
