Family Conflict and Managing Strategies: Implication for Understanding Emotion and Power Struggles

Abstract

Family which is the main trust of socialization is faced with many challenges in the contemporary world. Couples no longer fancy each other. Children are in constant struggle with parents. Many marriages are experiencing either divorce, separation or face off as a result of conflict. The present study deals primarily with causes, consequences and strategies in managing family conflict and how it applies to one’s understanding of emotion and struggling of power. The study made use of descriptive survey design. The sample of the study was 300 parents from different States of the Federation on Masters and Bachelor sandwich programme in the Department Educational Foundations who offers Sociology of Education in the Faculty of Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka drawn through random sampling technique. A 54 item Strategies for Managing Family Conflict Questionnaire (SMFCQ) developed by the researchers was used for data collection. Data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation. Result indicated that infertility, financial difficulties, poor communication between family members, lack of sexual satisfaction/gratification can lead to conflict in the family. Family conflicts inflict people for the course of their life and prevent them from experiencing their full potential. It causes feeling of fear, of insecurity, rejection, and guilt which may lead to the development of ill-health, separation, divorce or even death. Strategies for dealing with conflict which such as focusing on the area of interest, striving to stay positive focusing on cooperation instead of control, approaching conflict with the aim to understand, resolve and respond are identified among others. It was recommended that conflict education be giving to couples at the period of courtship.Keywords: Family; conflict; Family conflict; Emotion and Power Struggles