Causes of Conflict
Discuss about the Review of the Conflict Resolution Theory for Humanity.
Conflicts entail two or more opposing entities with dissimilar ideas. From the early epoch of humanity, conflict is said to have originated from the first brothers when either has different beliefs. Following this, a conflict has been an inevitable part of life. With this in mind, we extract a segment from the movie Dr. Martin Luther King whereby we try to understand the conflict it contains and properly understanding its causes with the resolutions that could have taken to end the quarrel. Palpably, this article brings to light the cause of conflict and how the segment from the movie relates to conflict resolution.
In the movie, ideologist and activist, Dr. Martin Luther King, plays the lead role as a protagonist. Moore, C. W. (2014) claims a protagonist is an individual that states an argument. In the segment, the producer draws the audience to understand Dr. King efforts in airing the oppressions that the common black man faced in the unjust society, and more often than not the doctor gets in conflict with the government. As a result of activism, by using his basic right to freedom of free speech Dr. King inspires crowds of protesters that often face the wrath of the law enforcement when they collide. For instance, some protesters were beaten with whips while others were hit with tear gases, just to mention a few incidences. Nonetheless, after all the efforts the protagonist Dr. King, meet his fatal assassination before the conflict between him and the state was resolved.
It is important to understand as an individual the causes of conflict that faced Dr. King to be in a place to mirror his frustrations. Moore, C. W. (2014) illustrates, there are mainly three distinguished causes that lead to a quarrel between parties. Firstly is the economic conflict. Due to scarce resource competition motivates this type of conflict in efforts to maximize their goals and gains. Secondly, the value conflict states the dissimilar ways of life and beliefs that an individual can possess. It is by this conflict that the protagonist Dr. King had divergent ideology whereby his asserted rightness is questioned and put in conflict with the law. Lastly is the power conflict, of which is caused when either side tries to manipulate the level of influence that one commands in its political, social, and economic system Wallensteen, P. (2015). What is more, it is by this type of cause of conflict that the law retaliated to the ideology of the protagonist.
Consequently, Wallensteen, P. (2015) states, there are types of conflict that can face deviating parties. These conflicts can be illustrated at different levels.
- Interpersonal conflict occurs when two individuals differ due to personalities. It shows how people are different in choices and opinions due to the varied lifestyle and individual growth. This type of conflict is quantifiable and also very easy to detect as it includes an initial opposition, the tactics, resolution, and outcome. The conflicts consist of three different components;
Behavioral Components – This type of conflict occurs when one party is interfering.
Cognitive component – This involves two parties who are illustrating differences in interests and objectives of the conflicting parties.
Affective component –This is associated with the negative emotional state of the two parties conflicting. An example is when a colleague makes you feel anger, demotivation, stress, and frustration.
- Intrapersonal conflict refers to a personal conflict that is experienced by the individual. This type of conflict is between should and want and it’s mostly driven by values, religious beliefs, upbringing and the society. It is essential to note, this type of conflict is often quite difficult to handle especially to those who have inner battles. The type of mind quarrel that one can have when in self-conflict can leave one restless and uneasy.
Types of Conflicts
A good example is a conflict between oneself consuming alcohol or not, a conservative Muslim whose upbringing says they should abstain from alcohol versus a surrounding that’s enticing to consume alcohol.
- Intergroup conflict happens when there is a misunderstanding among different levels in an organization. An example is when the human resource department is in logger’s heads with the procurement department. It often occurs when goals and principles are different among the levels.
- Intragroup conflict occurs when persons from the same team or department conflict. This conflict is often stared by individuals who have interpersonal differences arising from their separate personalities in views and ideas.
- Multiparty conflict occurs when different cultures that have unrelated priorities over the management of resources and development of policies. The complexity of this conflict is way beyond tradition, and collaborative building measures might reach a compromise
- International conflict refers to a disagreement between nations and states. International conflict is divided into two major conflicts;
Private-sector International conflicts – involves disagreements between individuals and business entities who are in different countries or conflicts between national governments. This type of conflict is more different from the first one because of the distance, culture, language, and laws for the conflicting individuals. This is usually resolved through arbitration involving one or several international arbitration organizations to reduce complications and also judicial disputes.
Public international conflicts – This the conflict between two sovereign countries/states. They are usually hard to resolve as it’s a conflict of a specific ethnic group or region
The global dispute is engineered by competition for resources, and sometimes thirst for power intertwines in its diplomacy. What is more, propaganda is used a social-psychological mechanism to distort peace when stakes are raised as stated by Wallensteen, P. (2015).
An in-depth assessment of the segment of the movie reveals the advantages and disadvantages of the actions that the protagonist activist faced during his conflict with the law. From my point of view, Dr. King started his activism on a motivated note highlighting social injustices that had blanketed the black community at that particular time (Barsky, 2017). On this basis, the protagonist lobbied a devoted fellowship that was ready to fight the cause. Nonetheless, dissimilar to their arrangement going against the laws of the government that was harshly imposed on the colored Americans turned out to be a weakness that the good doctor couldn’t handle due to power and control of the government.
As shown from the film, Dr. Martin Luther King. The protagonist and activist started his conflict journey when he realizes the injustices that he faces while growing up in the same community that the law diminished. These injustices for the African Americans include police brutality during the protests, segregation in residential areas n buses, denial to vote e.t.c. It is by this internal conflict that grew into the value conflict, occurs when there is a dissimilarity in the beliefs in the way of life.Martin Luther King was in conscious struggle between the bound of struggles of the black people in the United States. It came from the deep longing of motivation for the oppressed people all over the world (Woodhouse, 2015). There was so much complaining and discontent all over the world including Asia and Africa which are clear indications of a quest for freedom and human dignity by people who have been victims of colonialism and imperialism. This value conflict is what drove Dr. King to inspire other people to share his ideology. Moreover, despite the level conflict it had reached with the law, Dr. King could have set up the suitable approach to deal with the problems that existed at the time. As a result, the destructive outcome that was demonstrated in the movie segment during the conflict couldn’t have occurred.
The creative outcome that the activist could have used towards dealing with the conflict could have been at levels of win-lose, where the protagonist wins the conflict. Obviously, before compromise from both parties they both lose-lose, after a compromise, both sides are a win-win. However, this strategy could only have been possible if the parties involved were independent of the other to be able to influence into an understanding (Lussier & Achua, 2016).
Conclusion
In summary, although conflict is said to be inevitable to mankind, it is our duties to find resolve. From the segment in the movie the protagonist Dr. King, was clearly out of options and had to start a conflict to be heard. Accordingly, his conflict was not resolved following the failure to find neutral ground. However, in this current times, conflict resolution can be made through a mediator for one to limit or neutralize interpersonal conflict and for other levels of conflict on is to encourage efficient communication among other. Needless to say, all conflicts have to be healthily resolved with a win-win where both parties are satisfied.
References
Barsky, A. (2017). Conflict resolution for the helping professions (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Jackson,Thomas F(2007).From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice.Philadelphia, University of Pennslyvania Press.
Lussier, R., & Achua, C. (2016). Leadership. Australia: Cengage Learning.
Moore, C. W. (2014). The mediation process: Practical strategies for resolving conflict. John Wiley & Sons.
Shelby,Tommie & Terry, Brandon (2018).To Shape a New World:Essay on the Political Philosophy of Martin Luther King,Jr.:Haverd University Press.
Starr,Simon (2017) Letter from a Birmingham Jail:Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr:16 April 1963:CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
SWallensteen, P. (2015). Understanding conflict resolution. Sage
Woodhouse, T. (2015). The contemporary conflict resolution reader. Cambridge: Polity.
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