THE CONCEPT OF CONFLICT:
Over the years, the prospects and challenges of defining conflict have manifested in
different dimensions from power bargaining techniques, normative and legal approaches, to
psychological attempts to change attitudes of participants in simulation groups, problem solving;
conflict management to conflict resolution, structural approaches to the study of conflict
emphasized the influence of objective conditions in the generation of conflict social-structure is
there by seen as casually related to the emergence of conflict. Galtung in his conceptual construct
of
'structural violence stretch
to the material conditions of social life that constrain the
development of human potentiality. Conflict represents a condition of disharmony in international
process. Scholars has generally agreed that conflict is inevitable and disastrous to human,
interactions between, beings, either individually or in groups of all human societies, communities,
organizations and inter-personal relationship experience conflict at one time or the other. The
challenges of defining, conflict IS enormous almost every field of discipline has its theoretical
approach of understanding conflicts. The Economists focused on games theory of conflict and
decision making, psychologist explore inter personal conflicts, sociologist centred on power and
structure of the state as the basis for conflicts, international relations is concerned with inter-state,
internal, international conflicts and state formation conflict. The international community
however, has become increasingly concerned with the rise in frequency and intensity of internal
and state-formation conflicts. e.g ethnic wars, anti-colonial struggles, secessionist, territorial
conflicts, and the battle over the control of government.
Today attention has also focused on 'global conflict, where non state groups combat
international and regional organizations. Other scholars in the conceptualization accepts this
definition that conflict is not simply as a pathological phenomenon to prevent or adjust, but rather
as an essential ingredient in the balance and vitality of group life, which emphasizes that conflict
is positive sometime negative and will always be a part of human nature. It is also a struggle or
contest between people with opposing needs, ideas, beliefs, values of goals. Coser (1956:232) sees
conflict as a struggle over -values, or claims" to status power and scarce resources. Chaplin (1979:
109) define conflict as "Simultaneous occurrence of two or mutually antagonistic impulses or
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motives" While Wilson and Hanna, (1990:255) describe it as "a struggle involving ideas, values
and or/Limited resources.
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