Conflict

Theory

Reported by
Charls John Ercillo
• Conflict  a clash between ideas, principles
and people
• Conflict theorists • Examine conflicts of
interest and the coercion that holds society
together in the face of these stresses.
• The Conflict Theory • According to Horton and
Hunt (1984), focuses on the heterogeneous
nature of society and the differential
distribution of political and social power •
sees society as a dynamic entity constantly
undergoing change as a result of competition
over scarce resources
• The Conflict Theory • A struggle between
social classes and class conflicts between the
powerful and less powerful groups occur

• The Conflict Theory • Groups which have

vested interests and power work for rules and
laws, particularly those that serve their own
interests, to be passed to the exclusion of
others.
• Conflict theorists ask how schools contribute
to the unequal distribution of people into jobs
in society so that more powerful members of
society maintain the best positions and the
less powerful groups (often women, racial and
ethnic groups) often minority groups, are
allocated to lower ranks in society
• The Conflict Perspective assumes that social
behavior is best understood in terms of
conflict or tensions between competing
groups. Such conflict need not to be violent; it
can take the form of labor negotiation s, party
politics, competition beteen religious groups
for members, or disputes over the budget.
• Conflict theory grew out of the work of Karl
Marx and focuses on the struggle of social
classes to maintain dominance and power in
social systems
• The conflict model is concerned with the
stresses and conflicts that emerge in society
because of competitions over scarce
resources. It focuses on the inequalities that
are built into social structures rather than on
those that emerge because of personal
characteristics. Social Structures produce
patterns of inequality in the distribution of
scarce resources. Conflict Reorganization and
Change
• The discourse of conflict theories is on the
emergence of conflict and what causes
conflict within a particular human society.
• Conflict theory deals with the incompatible
aspects of society. Conflict theory emerged
out of the sociology of conflict, crisis and
social change.
• The conflict theorists are interested in how
society’s institutions – the family, government,
education and the media – may help to
maintain the privileges of some groups and
keep others in a subservient position.
• Conflict theory sees social life as a
competition, and focuses on the distribution
of resources, power and inequality. This
perspective is derived from the works of Karl
Marx, who saw society as fragmented into
groups that compete for social and economic
resources. Social order is maintained by
domination, with power in the hands of those
with the greatest political, economic, and
social resources.