Social conflict always leads to negative consequences. Consequences of the conflict

07.05.2020

Conflict is a very capacious concept. It is studied from different positions and in various aspects by many sciences: philosophy, sociology, psychology, jurisprudence, history and political science. The conflict underlies any contradiction, and it, in turn, is an incentive for any changes, sometimes constructive and progressive, and sometimes destructive, destructive. Most often, the concept of conflict is considered in the relationship of people and social groups, in psychology, conflict is also deep intrapersonal experiences and contradictions that give rise to life crises, depression, but this does not always lead to negative consequences. Very often, an internal conflict is a stimulus for development, opening up new life horizons and hidden potential hidden by a person.

The study of conflict is based on a combination of various concepts that make up this complex phenomenon: its dynamics, methods of conflict management and its typology. Moreover, these concepts can be correlated with various conflicts - social, interpersonal and intrapersonal, but in each of them they will have their own characteristics.

Dynamics of the conflict

Conflict is a dynamic, evolving process. The following main stages of its development are distinguished: the pre-conflict situation is an open conflict and the stage of its completion.

Previous open conflict the latent stage is the formation of all its structural elements. First of all, the cause of the confrontation arises and its participants appear, and then there is an awareness by the parties of the confrontation of the current situation as a conflict. The dynamics of the conflict may develop further if, at the first stage, the main contradictions are not resolved peacefully and amicably.

The second stage is the transition of its participants to conflict behavior, the features of which are defined in psychology and conflictology. The dynamics of the conflict at this stage is characterized by an expansion in the number of participants in the confrontation, disorganizational actions of the parties directed against each other, a transition from solving problems by business methods to personal accusations, and very often with a sharply negative emotional attitude, as well as a high degree tension leading to stress.

The dynamics of the development of the conflict at this stage is denoted by the term escalation, i.e. an increase in destructive, destructive actions of the conflicting parties, often leading to irreversible catastrophic consequences.

Finally, the dynamics of the conflict in the last stage is the search for ways to resolve it. Various methods, techniques and strategies for managing conflict are used here, conflict specialists and psychologists are involved. As a rule, resolution is carried out in two ways: the transformation of the reasons underlying it, and the restructuring of the subjective ideal perception of this situation in the minds of its participants.

It should be noted that conflict resolution strategies do not always lead to complete success. Quite often, everything ends with a partial result, when the visible forms of emergence and flow conflict situation eliminated, and the emotional tension of the participants is not removed, which may cause new confrontations.

The full resolution of the conflict situation occurs only when all its external contradictions and causes are removed, as well as all internal, emotional and psychological factors are eliminated.

The most difficult task at the last resolution stage of the conflict is the transformation, the change in the subjective ideal perception of the causes of the confrontation in the minds of the participants in each of the parties. If this goal is achieved by the mediators or the management of the organization, then the conflict resolution will be successful.

The conflict, interpersonal or intrapersonal, proceeds according to the standard scheme and has the same stages and methods of resolution, only, of course, with its own specifics.

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The concept of social conflict.conflict functions.

Generally conflict can be defined as a clash of individuals, social groups, societies associated with

existence of contradictions or opposing interests and goals.

The conflict attracted sociologists of the late nineteenth and early XX v. Karl Marx proposed a dichotomous model of conflict. According to her, the conflict is always bob- . two sides are treated: one of them represents labor, the other capital. Conflict is the expression of a given

confrontation and ultimately leads to the transformation of society.

In the sociological theory of G. Simmel, the conflict was presented as a social process that has not only negative functions and does not necessarily lead to a change in society. Simmel believed that conflict consolidates society, as it maintains the stability of groups and strata of society.

However, in the middle of the last century, the interest of scientists in the conflict has noticeably decreased. In particular, the reason for this was such a feature of the concept of functionalists as the consideration of culture and society as unifying and harmonizing mechanisms. Naturally, from the point of view of such an approach, the conflict could not be described.

Only in the second half XX century, or rather, starting around the 1960s, the conflict began to gradually restore its rights as a sociological object. During this period, scientists, based on the ideas of G. Simmel and K. Marx, tried to revive the consideration of society from the point of view of conflict. Among them, first of all, R. Dahrendorf, L. Koser and D. Lockwood should be mentioned.

There are two main approaches to understanding conflict.

The Marxist tradition considers conflict as a phenomenon whose causes lie in society itself, primarily in the confrontation between classes and their ideologies. As a consequence, the entire history in the writings of Marxist-oriented sociologists appears as the history of the struggle between the oppressors and the oppressed.

Representatives of the non-Marxist tradition (L. Koser, R. Dahrendorf, and others) consider conflict as part of the life of society, which must be managed. Naturally, there are substantive differences in their approaches, but it is fundamentally important that non-Marxist sociologists view conflict as a social process that does not always lead to a change in the social structure of society (although, of course, such an outcome is possible, especially if the conflict subjected to conservation and was not resolved in a timely manner).

Elements of a conflict situation. In any conflict situation, the participants in the conflict and the object of the conflict are distinguished. Among participants in the conflict distinguish opponents(i.e. those people who are interested in the object of the conflict), involved groups and interest groups. As for the involved and interested groups, their participation in the conflict is caused by two reasons or a combination of them: 1) they are able to influence the outcome of the conflict, or 2) the outcome of the conflict affects their interests.

Object of conflict- this is the resource to which the interests of the parties apply. The object of the conflict is indivisible, since either its essence excludes division, or it is presented within the framework of the conflict as indivisible (one or both parties refuse to divide). Physical indivisibility is not a necessary condition for a conflict, since it is not uncommon for an object to be usable by both parties (for example, one party forbids the other from using a particular parking space without having the right to do so).

All of these criteria refer to the static consideration of the conflict. As for its dynamics, the following are usually distinguished stages of the conflict:

1. Hidden stage. At this stage, the conflict participants are not aware of the contradictions. Conflict manifests itself only in explicit or implicit dissatisfaction with the situation. The discrepancy between values, interests, goals, means of achieving them does not always result in a conflict: the opposite side sometimes either resigns itself to injustice, or waits in the wings, holding a grudge. Actually the conflict begins with certain actions that are directed against the interest of the other side.

2. Formation of the conflict. At this stage, contradictions are formed, claims are clearly recognized that can be expressed to the opposite side & in the form of requirements. Groups taking part in the conflict are formed, leaders are nominated in them. There is a demonstration of one's own arguments and criticism of the opponent's arguments. At this stage, it is not uncommon for the parties to conceal their plans or arguments. Provocation is also used, that is, actions that are aimed at forming a public opinion that is beneficial to one side, that is, favorable about one side and unfavorable about the other.

3. Incident. At this stage, an event occurs that transfers the conflict to the stage of active actions, that is, the parties decide to enter into an open struggle.

4. Active actions of the parties. Conflict requires a lot of energy, so it quickly reaches a maximum of conflict actions - a critical point, and then quickly subsides.

5. Completion of the conflict. At this stage, the conflict ends, which, however, does not mean that the claims of the parties are satisfied. In reality, there may be several outcomes of the conflict.

In general, we can say that each of the parties either wins or loses, and the victory of one of them does not mean that the other has lost. On a more concrete level, it is fair to say that there are three outcomes: win-lose, win-win, lose-lose.

However, this representation of the outcome of the conflict is rather inaccurate. The fact is that there are options that do not fully fit into the original scheme. As for the “win-win” case, for example, a compromise cannot always be considered a victory for both parties; a side often seeks a compromise only to prevent its opponent from considering itself victorious, and this happens even if the compromise is as unfavorable for it as losing.

As for the “lose-lose” scheme, it does not fully fit the cases when both parties become victims of some third party that takes advantage of their discord for gain. In addition, the existence of a conflict may cause a disinterested or little interested third party to transfer value to a person or group that was not involved in the conflict at all. For example, it is easy to imagine a situation in which the head of an enterprise refuses to two employees in a position they dispute and gives it to a third party only because, in his opinion, only a person who does not enter into conflicts can perform these duties.

According to L. Koser, the main functions of the conflict are:

1) the formation of groups and the maintenance of their integrity and boundaries;

2) establishment and maintenance of relative stability of intragroup and intergroup relations;

3) creating and maintaining a balance between the opposing sides;

4) stimulating the creation of new forms of social control;

5) creation of new social institutions;

6) obtaining information about the environment (more precisely, about social reality, its shortcomings and advantages);

7) socialization and adaptation of specific individuals. Although the conflict usually brings only disorganization and harm, the following can be distinguished: positive functions of conflict:

1) communicative function: in a situation of conflict, people or other subjects of social life are better aware of both their aspirations, desires, goals, and the desires and goals of the opposite side. Thanks to this, the position of each of the parties can both be strengthened and transformed;

2) tension discharge function: expressing one's position and defending it in confrontation with the enemy is an important tool canalization of emotions, which can also lead to finding a compromise, since the “emotional feed” of the conflict disappears;

3) consolidating function: the conflict can consolidate society, since an open clash allows the parties to the conflict to better know the opinion and claims of the opposite side.

Factors affecting the formation, course and resolution of the conflict, associated with the state of the social systems in which it unfolds (the stability of the family, etc.). There are a number of such conditions:

1) features of the organization of conflict groups;

2) the degree of identification of the conflict: the more the conflict is revealed, the less intense it is;

3) social mobility: the higher the level of mobility, the less intense the conflict; the stronger the connection with social position, the stronger the conflict. And indeed, the renunciation of claims, the change of place of work, the ability to obtain the same benefit in another place are the condition that the conflict will be ended at the cost of getting out of it;

4) the presence or absence of information about the real resources of the participants in the conflict.

The consequences of the conflict are highly controversial. On the one hand, conflicts destroy social structures, lead to significant unreasonable expenditure of resources, on the other hand, they are the mechanism that contributes to the solution of many problems, unites groups and ultimately serves as one of the ways to achieve social justice. The ambiguity in people's assessment of the consequences of conflict has led to the fact that sociologists involved in the theory of conflicts have not come to a common point of view about whether conflicts are beneficial or harmful to society.

The severity of the conflict to the greatest extent depends on the socio-psychological characteristics of the warring parties, as well as on the situation requiring immediate action. Absorbing energy from the outside, the conflict situation forces the participants to act immediately, putting all their energy into the collision.

The duality of people's assessment of the consequences of the conflict has led to the fact that sociologists involved in the theory of conflicts, or, as they say, conflictology, have not come to a common point of view about whether conflicts are beneficial or harmful to society. Thus, many believe that society and its individual components develop as a result of evolutionary changes, and as a result, they assume that social conflict can only be negative, destructive.
But there is a group of scientists, consisting of supporters of the dialectical method. They recognize the constructive, useful content of any conflict, since as a result of conflicts new qualitative certainties appear.

Let us assume that in every conflict there are both disintegrative, destructive, and integrative, creative moments. Conflict can destroy social communities. In addition, internal conflict destroys group unity. Speaking about the positive aspects of the conflict, it should be noted that a limited, private consequence of the conflict may be an increase in group interaction. Conflict may be the only way out of a tense situation. Thus, there are two types of consequences of conflicts:

disintegrated consequences that increase bitterness, lead to destruction and bloodshed, to intra-group tension, destroy normal channels of cooperation, divert the attention of group members from pressing problems;
integrative consequences that determine the way out of difficult situations, lead to the resolution of problems, increase group cohesion, lead to the conclusion of alliances with other groups, lead the group to understand the interests of its members.

Let's take a closer look at these implications:

Positive Consequences of the Conflict

A positive, functionally useful result of the conflict is the solution of the problem that gave rise to disagreements and caused clashes, taking into account the mutual interests and goals of all parties, as well as the achievement of understanding and trust, strengthening partnerships and cooperation, overcoming conformism, humility, striving for advantage.

Socially (collectively) - the constructive impact of the conflict is expressed in the following consequences:

The conflict is way to identify and fix disagreements, as well as problems in society, organization, group. The conflict indicates that the contradictions have already reached the highest limit, and therefore it is necessary to take immediate measures to eliminate them.

Thus, any the conflict performs an informational function, i.e. provides additional impulses to the awareness of one's own and other people's interests in the confrontation.

The conflict is form of conflict resolution. Its development contributes to the elimination of those shortcomings and miscalculations in the social organization that led to its emergence. The conflict contributes to the removal of social tension and the elimination stressful situation, helps to "let off steam", defuse the situation.

The conflict may perform an integrative, unifying function. In the face of an external threat, the group uses all its resources to unite and confront the external enemy. In addition, it is the task of solving existing problems that unites people. In search of a way out of the conflict, there is mutual understanding and a sense of involvement in the solution of a common task.

Conflict resolution contributes to stabilization social system because it eliminates sources of discontent. The parties to the conflict, having learned from the "bitter experience", will be more cooperative in the future than before the conflict.

In addition, conflict resolution prevent more serious conflicts from arising that might have arisen if this were not the case.

Conflict intensifies and stimulates group creativity, contributes to the mobilization of energy to solve the problems assigned to the subjects. In the process of finding ways to resolve the conflict, mental forces are activated to analyze difficult situations, new approaches, ideas, innovative technologies, etc. are being developed.

Conflict can serve as a means of clarifying the balance of power of social groups or communities and thus can warn against the following, more destructive conflicts.

The conflict may become the source of new norms of communication between people or to help fill the old norms with new content.

The constructive impact of the conflict on the personal level reflects the impact of the conflict on individual traits:

fulfillment by the conflict of a cognitive function in relation to the people who take part in it. In difficult critical (existential) situations, the real character, true values and motives of people's behavior are shown. The possibility of diagnosing the enemy's strength is also connected with the cognitive function;

promotion of self-knowledge and adequate self-esteem of the individual. The conflict can help to correctly assess your strengths and abilities, to identify new, previously not famous parties the nature of the individual. It can also temper the character, contribute to the emergence of his new virtues (a sense of pride, dignity etc.);

removal of unwanted character traits (feeling of inferiority, humility, compliance);

increasing the level of socialization of a person, his development as a person. In conflict, an individual can gain as much life experience in a relatively short period of time as he may never get in everyday life;

facilitating the adaptation of the employee in the team, since it is during the conflict that people open up to a greater extent. A person is either accepted by the members of the group, or, conversely, they ignore it. In the latter case, of course, no adaptation takes place;

reducing mental tension in the group, relieving stress among its members (in case of a positive resolution of the conflict);

satisfaction of not only primary, but also secondary needs of the individual, its self-realization and self-affirmation.

Negative Consequences of the Conflict

The negative, dysfunctional consequences of the conflict include people's dissatisfaction with a common cause, a departure from solving urgent problems, an increase in hostility in interpersonal and intergroup relations, a weakening of team cohesion, etc.

The social destructive impact of the conflict manifests itself in various levels social system and is expressed in concrete consequences.

When resolving the conflict, violent methods can be used, resulting in large human casualties and material losses. In addition to the direct participants, those around them can also suffer in the conflict.

The conflict can lead the parties to the confrontation (society, social group, individual) into a state of destabilization and disorganization. The conflict could lead to a slowdown in the pace of social, economic, political and spiritual development society. Moreover, it can cause stagnation and crisis community development, the emergence of dictatorial and totalitarian regimes.

The conflict can contribute to the disintegration of society, the destruction of social communications and the socio-cultural alienation of social formations within the social system.

The conflict may be accompanied by an increase in pessimism in society and a disregard for customs.

The conflict can cause new, more destructive conflicts.

The conflict often leads to a decrease in the level of organization of the system, a decrease in discipline and, as a result, a decrease in the effectiveness of the activity.

The destructive impact of the conflict on the personal level is expressed in the following consequences:

negative impact on the socio-psychological climate in the group: there are signs of a negative mental state (a feeling of depression, pessimism and anxiety), leading a person to a state of stress;
disappointment in one's capabilities and abilities, deintensification of the face; the emergence of a feeling of self-doubt, the loss of previous motivation, the destruction of existing value orientations and patterns of behaviour. In the worst case, the consequence of the conflict can also be disappointment, loss of faith in former ideals, which gives rise to deviant behavior and, as an extreme case, suicide;
a person's negative assessment of his partners in joint activities, disappointment in his colleagues and recent friends;
a person's reaction to conflict through defense mechanisms that manifest themselves in various forms of bad behavior:
indentation - silence, separation of the individual from the group;
information that scares with criticism, scolding, demonstrating one's superiority over other members of the group;
firm formalism - formal politeness, the establishment of strict norms and principles of behavior in a group, observation of others;
turning everything into a joke;
conversations on extraneous topics instead of a business discussion of problems;
constant search for the guilty, self-flagellation or accusations of all the troubles of the members of the team.

These are the main consequences of the conflict, which are interconnected and are concrete and relative.

Depending on how effective conflict management is, its consequences will become functional or dysfunctional, which, in turn, will affect the possibility of future conflicts: eliminate the causes of conflicts or create them.

There are the following main functional (positive) consequences of conflicts for the organization:

1) the problem is solved in a way that suits all parties, and as a result, people feel involved in solving an important problem for them;

2) jointly decision faster and better implemented;

3) the parties gain experience of cooperation in resolving disputes and can use it in the future;

4) effective resolution of conflicts between the leader and subordinates destroys the so-called "submission syndrome" - the fear of openly expressing one's opinion, different from the opinion of seniors;

5) relations between people improve;

6) people cease to consider the existence of disagreements as "evil", always leading to bad consequences.

The main dysfunctional (negative) consequences of conflicts:

1) unproductive, competitive relationships between people;

2) lack of desire for cooperation, good relations;

3) the idea of the opposite side as an "enemy", of one's own position as exclusively positive, of the opponent's position as only negative. And people who think that they alone own the truth are dangerous;

4) curtailment or complete cessation of interaction with the opposite party, which impedes the solution of production problems.

5) the belief that "winning" the conflict is more important than solving the real problem;

6) feelings of resentment, dissatisfaction, bad mood, staff turnover.

Of course, both the negative and positive consequences of conflicts cannot be absolutized, considered outside the specific situation. The real ratio of functional and dysfunctional consequences of the conflict directly depends on their nature, their causes, as well as on the skillful management of conflicts.

4. Handling conflicts.

4.1. Leadership attitude towards conflict.

There are four types of manager's attitude to a conflict situation.

1. The desire to avoid trouble, suffering. The elder acts as if nothing happened. He does not notice the conflict, avoids resolving the issue, lets things take their course, does not violate apparent well-being, does not complicate his own life. His moral infantilism often ends in disaster. Discipline violations grow like a snowball. More and more people are drawn into the conflict. Unresolved disputes destroy the team, provoke its members to even more gross violations of discipline.

2. Realistic attitude to reality. The manager is patient, sober about what is happening. He adapts to the requirements of the conflicting ones. In other words, he follows their lead, trying to mitigate conflict relations with persuasion and exhortation. He behaves in such a way that, on the one hand, he does not disturb the team and the administration, and, on the other hand, does not spoil relations with people. But persuasion, concessions lead to the fact that the elder is no longer respected and laughed at.

3. active attitude to what happened. The leader recognizes the presence of a critical situation and does not hide the conflict from superiors and colleagues. He does not ignore what happened and does not try to please "both ours and yours", but acts in accordance with his own moral principles and beliefs, ignoring the individual personality traits of conflicting subordinates, the situation in the team, the causes of the conflict. As a result, there is a situation of external well-being, cessation of quarrels, violations of discipline. But at the same time, the lives of members of the team are often crippled, their destinies are broken, and a steady hostility to the boss and the team, and sometimes to the organization as a whole, is caused.

4. Creative attitude to conflict. The senior behaves in accordance with the situation and resolves the conflict with the least losses. In this case, he consciously and purposefully, taking into account all the accompanying phenomena, finds a way out of the conflict situation. He takes into account the objective and subjective causes of the conflict, for example, not knowing the motive for insulting one employee to another, he does not make a hasty decision.

A creative attitude, a thorough analysis of what happened is especially necessary when perceiving criticism. If the critic seeks to improve work efficiency, correct shortcomings that interfere with full-fledged work, social work, it is necessary to record valuable advice, try to correct omissions, and in your free time, when the speaker cools down, if necessary, criticize him for tactlessness, explain what criticism should be , and be sure to praise for a serious attitude to work, for the desire to correct shortcomings.

If the critic is settling personal scores or seeking to present himself, to show his integrity, it is best to try to enlist the support of those present and avoid further contact with the speaker. It is useless to explain anything in this case. It is better to calmly explain to those present the reason for the indignation of the critic, to show what caused the desire to “boldly” speak out against the gaps in the work.

Particularly unpleasant forms of criticism are performances in order to improve one's status in the team and criticism in order to receive an emotional charge. In both cases, the conflicting party is not at all interested in the matter. The reason is frankly selfish motives or love for squabbles, the joy of emotional discharge, the need for it. In both situations, one should not succumb to emotional influence, become a target for the critic. If possible, you should leave the room, if not, calmly, with dignity, talk with the team on interesting topic or engage in some business, in no case demonstrating contempt for the critic, without stimulating even more his emotional intensity.

These forms of criticism are rarely found in their pure form and are by no means always used consciously and deliberately. Therefore, they are difficult to recognize and correctly interpret. However, having understood their causes, it is easier to determine the goal of the critic and outline tactics for preventing a quarrel and getting out of a conflict situation.

The manager's indifferent attitude to the events in the team, the passive reaction to the seemingly insignificant friction of the employees often cause stable uncontrollable conflicts. Therefore, it is advisable not to bring things to serious clashes, not to wait until good relations are established by themselves. It is necessary, setting a specific goal for the subordinate, organizing his activities aimed at achieving this goal, cultivating camaraderie, friendship in the team, increasing the cohesion of its members, making the team resistant to disagreements and conflicts.

If this is not possible, the conflict has arisen, it is necessary to eliminate it with the least losses for the participants, the team, the manager himself.