Theories of Social Conflict

Abstract

Conflict results from purposeful interaction among two or more parties in a competitive setting. It refers to overt behavior rather than to potential for action and to subjective states. According to Deutsch (1973:10), competi­ tion implies an opposition in the goals of . . . interdependent parties such that the probability of goal attainment for one decreases as the probability for the other increases. Whereas a competitive situation might exist with­ out any awareness of it by the parties concerned, according to Boulding (1963:5) conflict a situation of competition in which the parties are aware of the incompatibility of potential future positions and in which each party wishes to occupy a position that is incompatible with the wishes of the other. conflict refers to conflict in which the parties are an aggregate of individuals, such as groups, organizations, communities, and crowds, rather than single individuals, as in role conflict. Group conflict is used as a synonym of conflict in this essay. Finally, conflict refers in common usage to interaction in which the means chosen by the parties in pursuit of their goals are likely to inflict damage, harm or injury, but not necessarily in every case. With this small proviso, Coser's definition of conflict conveys its meaning very well (1967:232): social conflict [is] a struggle over values or claims to status, power, and scarce resources, in which the aims of the conflict groups are not only to gain the desired values, but also to neutralize. injure, or eliminate rivals. Social conflict encom­ passes a broad range of phenomena: class, racial, religious, and communal conflicts; riots, rebellions, revolutions; strikes and civil disorders; marches, demonstrations, protest gatherings, and the like.