Conflictology is a branch of knowledge of what kind: theoretical, applied or applied theory?

Some scientists argue that conflictology has relevance to virtually any branch of humanitarian knowledge. Conflictology is a branch of knowledge at the junction of various sciences, but above all it operates with methods and developments of philosophy, psychology and sociology. This science is now becoming more and more autonomous, but it originated in the bowels of these disciplines. Conflictology is a branch of knowledge (of what kind, it will be determined at the end of the article), which was formed at the intersection of many disciplines - applied, theoretical and applied theory.

Different approaches to conflict

First, it is necessary to understand what conflictsology is studying and what are the different approaches to the subject of this science. These views are due to different views on the nature of man. For example, T. Hobbes believed that for society it is natural to be in a state of hostility, he owns the phrase "the struggle of all against all." The interests of the individual will always face the interests of society for various reasons. This is an unequal distribution of benefits, and a different understanding of people's justice.

On the other hand, the ancient Greek scholar Aristotle believed that the interests of society should be given preference over the interests of man. After all, a person is an integral part of it and in loneliness is almost doomed to destruction in most cases.

Conflictology and Western society

Man has always sought ways to effectively resolve differences. Conflictology is a branch of knowledge that arose out of a desperate need to preserve peace between various social and ethnic groups and, as a result, many human lives. At the end of the nineteenth century, the theory of Marxism became very widespread in European countries. Its main postulates boil down to the question of the struggle between different economic classes. Therefore, since that time, the European civilization has been studying serious approaches to conflict resolution and taking into account the interests of various parties. The main feature of European politics is the ability to compromise.

Erasmus of Rotterdam rightly pointed out: "War is sweet for those who do not know it." Therefore, conflictology is gaining such importance today.

Conflictology in Russia

The principle of conciliarity was the main principle on which it was necessary to rely in resolving conflicts in Russian history. Man is always a part of the whole, and disagreements are heretical in nature and must be severely punished.

The revolution of 1917 brought a new attitude to the conflict: it encouraged the struggle for its own interests, the restoration of justice. In socialist times man, on the contrary, had a very weak voice - he was part of his larger system, for her own good and working.

If we talk about the Russian mentality in general, including the views of modern society, it is characterized by the ideals of altruism and sacrifice, disregard for one's own interests for the sake of the public. The main features of the domestic consciousness in relation to the conflict is silence and denial. This, scientists believe, largely explains the fact that Western methods of dealing with disagreements are very poorly adopted in Russian society.

The Disagreements and Paul McLean's Theory

Conflictology as a branch of scientific knowledge affects such seemingly remote areas of human knowledge as anatomy and physiology. How does this discipline relate to it?

To answer this question, it is necessary to consider what happens during a conflict at the level of processes in the central nervous system, and also to consider the structure of the latter. As is known, one of the differences between the human brain and the animal's brain is the presence of the neocortex - the cortex of the brain. This part is responsible for the processes of logical thinking, adequate perception of reality, drawing up correct conclusions. Neocortex, or a new cortex, is responsible for self-awareness, critical perception, analysis of the situation.

The theory of the three-part brain was developed and proved by the American scientist Paul McLean. It has the most direct relation to the processes that conflictology studies.

The next part is limbic, or emotional, the brain. This part is more ancient and responsible for social status, emotions. The limbic brain is found in mammals and birds.

And, finally, during the conflict, the activity passes to the more ancient departments, the so-called reptilian brain. This department is formed in a child of up to three years, and he answers - as the name implies - for the most primitive functions. In its most general terms, this is the pursuit of pleasure and the avoidance of pain. This system in an adult is responsible for satisfying the feeling of hunger, finding a sexual partner, reaction of attack or flight.

Therefore, human behavior is largely determined by how much is active at a given time. Being in conflict, it is necessary to realize that this process involves the most ancient departments of the brain. With this understanding, there are numerous recommendations for behavior in a conflict situation - it is necessary to focus on mathematical calculations, analysis of the environment, to recall any logical problems. This switching of attention helps to redirect the focus of excitation to more "humanized" zones.

Determining the object of conflict

This is the most important point in resolving any disagreement. And at the same time it is the most difficult. The object of the conflict very often can be veiled by one of the parties or both. Also, it is sometimes substituted for pursuing one's own goals and conducting manipulations. For example, in the overwhelming majority of cases, the object of the struggle between politicians is power. However, this motif is often replaced by another. For example, the struggle can take place under the guise of caring for the population. So the noble pretext masks deeper motives.

Conflictology as a branch of psychological knowledge is designed to isolate the true motives for disagreements among people.

The object of conflict must be distinguished from the object. The latter is called the contradiction that pushes participants of the conflict to enter into disagreements.

Structure of the conflict

Undoubtedly, to some extent conflictology is a branch of theoretical knowledge, because it can not but rely on the methods and achievements of theoretical sciences. Abstracting from a specific situation, the researcher isolates those components that are common to any conflict. Scientists on the basis of this abstraction identified several stages of the situation of disagreement.

1. Pre-conflict phase. It is characterized by an increase in tension between the parties not yet in the confrontation. The reasons for the beginning of this stage is either a virtual infringement of the interests of one of the parties, or a distorted perception of behavior, or a false information about the behavior of one of the opponents.
2. Then the conflict escalates. This is a very dangerous stage, since in the confrontation the process will only intensify, thereby aggravating the conflict. At this stage, it is necessary to apply the knowledge that is available in the arsenal of conflictology, and to prevent further escalation of the conflict.
3. The resolution stage. The achievement of this stage occurs when the parties understand that it is necessary to be aware of the situation as it really is. It is necessary to take into account the factual information, to understand that the price of success can be prohibitively higher than the possible losses.
4. Conversation. At this stage, disagreements are finalized. The possible solutions to the remaining issues are clarified, the necessary papers are signed, certain agreements are reached.

As already mentioned, the most sensitive part of the conflict process is the escalation stage. On it, disagreements can follow a completely different scenario.

Conflict and law

At the intersection of two sciences - conflictology and jurisprudence - another private branch of science about disagreements has formed: legal conflictology. This is a branch of knowledge that studies ways to prevent conflict resolution arising from collision of legal entities. It is called upon to identify patterns that are characteristic of a given category of disagreements.

Legal conflictology is a branch of knowledge of the nature of both psychological and legal. This duality is due to its inalienability from both disciplines. The field of its application demonstrates the uniqueness of legal norms. It also operates with sociological and psychological knowledge and is, for the most part, an applied discipline.

Types of conflict in psychology

By type, the following types of conflicts are distinguished: intrapersonal, interpersonal, between personality and group, between groups, and international conflicts.

Intrapersonal conflict is a disagreement between different elements of a person's internal structure. He carries in himself simultaneously motives of a different character, which contradict each other. Such conflicts are the cause of neurotic states.

Interpersonal conflicts can arise for a variety of reasons. Their course largely depends on the psychological characteristics of individuals entering into disagreement, on the degree of their compatibility.

The conflict between the individual and the group is due to the discrepancy between the views of the group and the individual. It can be both destructive and creative.

Intergroup conflicts are also characterized by a very diverse nature. This type of conflict is notable for its scale. They can arise for various reasons: political, economic, social.

International conflicts arise between countries or groups of states.

There are also two types of disagreements among conflictologists. These two sub-categories are allocated depending on the disadvantaged needs of one or both parties: conflicts of interest and cognitive conflicts. The latter are connected with disagreements of opinions, points of view on various issues. Conflicts of interest are of an excellent nature. They are associated with a violation of immediate needs.

Methods of conflict resolution

Conflictology is a branch of theoretical knowledge, on the one hand; But on the other - it is aimed at solving quite application issues. And its main goal, of course, is to eliminate conflicts and restore peace. In total, several of these methods are distinguished.

1. Compromise. It is characterized by mutual concessions of the parties.
2. Avoiding the problem. At the same time one of the participants in the conflict begins to ignore the conflict and refuses to realize its interests. Such a method, rather, will not speak about permission, but about extinction of the situation of disagreement.
3. The concessions of one of the parties. In fact, this is an adaptive way of solving, but with great losses it is inevitable and more profitable.
4. Involvement of third parties. People or social groups that are not interested in the object of disagreement help to resolve the conflict situation. This is often the only way out.
5. Cooperation. The most productive way. He is characterized by the ability to see the interests of the other side and help the opponent achieve his goal. This happens on a reciprocal basis.

The identified ways of resolving the conflict, on the one hand, can be applied to many types of conflict situations, that is, they are of a theoretical nature. On the other hand, conflictology is aimed at solving concrete real problems. Therefore, it can be partly said that conflictology is also a branch of applied knowledge. But, as you can see, this is only a partial description of it.

Coercion as the outcome of conflict

This method is the worst, because in the process of its action, the interests of one of the parties are completely ignored. This type of conflict resolution - although it is very difficult to call it a way out of the situation - is often inherent in marital life. One of the partners may consider that they have the right to force the other to take any action at their discretion - for example, to wash clothes in the time for rest. Of course, the second spouse may agree to carry out this order, but within himself he will feel humiliated, which generates only a series of responses and a desire to take revenge.

The method of coercion is also often used in the relationship between the leader and the subordinate. Unfortunately, many managers are not aware of the limits of their powers or their motives do not really coincide with the productive values of certain companies. Unjustifiably infringing on the interests of the employee, the manager will not receive anything, except constant turnover of personnel, poorly executed work or sabotage.

Next, the next area where coercion is used is the relationship between the parent and the child. And here, as in the previous examples, the constant imposition of his will authoritarian parent will not achieve any positive results. He will either educate a person with a multitude of psychological complexes, than he will signify in his own failure as a parent and adult person in general. Either - in the near future or more distant - he will face the fact that the child will begin to show rebellion.

Conflictology is a branch of knowledge, theoretical comprehension and application in practice of the received information. Therefore, it is possible to apply conflict resolution methods developed by conflictologists in any specific sphere - from international relations to family ones.

Actions in a conflict situation

In the conflict, there are two types of actions. They are distinguished on the basis of their attitude toward achieving the goal of each of the parties. These are the main activities and support. The main ones are directly aimed at obtaining the required result. Auxiliary actions are those that are complementary to the first type: for example, distraction of the enemy's attention, attraction of allies.

All actions that are aggressive or violent are called conflictual.

So, it is necessary to answer the question: is conflictology a branch of knowledge of what kind? Is it completely theoretical or does it deal only with private conflicts?

Conflictology is a branch of knowledge of a theoretical or applied nature?

It is much easier to find a solution in other disciplines. Mathematicians study abstract numbers. The subject of studying physics or chemistry is also the phenomena of the real world. But when it comes to conflictology, the researcher is very difficult even to confirm his status as a scientist. However, from this the given science is no less (and maybe even more) important than other branches of scientific knowledge. After all, who knows if humanity will be able to make use of scientific and technological progress wisely, using also knowledge about how to avoid conflicts?

Conflictology is an industry (of what kind - applied or theoretical, follows from the direction of its research), which has its roots in philosophy and psychology. She uses the methodological apparatus of these sciences. Conflictology is a branch of knowledge of a theoretical and applied nature. It is aimed at solving specific problems, solving social problems, practical issues related to politics, economics, law.