Conflict is “the incompatible needs, differing demands, contradictory wishes, opposing beliefs or diverging interests which produce interpersonal antagonism and, at times, hostile encounters” (Bonta 1996: 405). Conflict resolution can be defined as the ability of individuals or groups of people to settle or avoid disputes through strategies that stop violence and bring people together in one peace (Bonta 1996: 406). A society in which interpersonal harmony is of a relatively high degree, with little or no physical violence occurring among both adults and children and strategies that work towards resolving conflicts and against violence (Bonta 1996: 405) is said to be a peaceful society. This paper will be working towards giving the reader a better understanding on the ways in which conflict is handled in two distinct societies- Semai and Paliyan. In order for this to be achieved, background information like the locations of and gender relations in the two societies will be touched. My focus will be based on the avoidance and resolution of conflict in both societies.
In the densely forested central mountains of the Malay Peninsula, in Malaysia, Southeast Asia lived about 18,500 people of Semai, which is an Orang Asli society as of 1983 (Peaceful Societies n.d). According to Dentan, the largest linguistic group Orang Asli has the official name ‘Semai,’ Also, in scattered small hamlets in the heavily forested and deeply dissected spine of the Malay Peninsula lived about15, 000 people of the Semai society (Robarchek, 1997: 52). Through fishing, the cultivation manioc and rice, hunting and trade in what the Semais referred to as ‘minor forest products’ like rattan, the people of Semai were able to support themselves (Peaceful So...
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...dner, Peter M.
2004 Respect for All: The Paliyans of South India. In Keeping the Peace: Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Societies Around the World. 53-71.
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1992 Cultures of War and Peace: A Comparative Study of Waraoni and Semai. In Aggression and Peacefulness in Humans and Other Primates. 189-213.
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"Peacekeeping and Peacemaking." Reading and Remembrance . N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2014. . (tags: none | edit tags)
“Friend by Day, Enemy by Night” shares an in depth look into the lives of the Kohistanis who live in Thull, Pakistan. The author of the text, Lincoln Keiser, goes into great depth in explaining the life of these people before and after mar dushmani. Mar dushmani can be directly translated as “death enmity.” This social relationship between the Kohistanis causes for many problems. As a general principle death enmity allows men to retaliate whenever another man wrongs them, though the act of revenge itself should not exceed the original wrong. The example stated in the book is, “a blow should answer a blow and a death answer a death.” For such offenses as attacks on men through their wives, sisters, and daughters retaliation usually occurs in deadly violence. Killing the offender is considered the most appropriate response. Although violence usually takes place during retaliation, it is not the only way to handle it.
...l to socio-economical. Even more fascinating is the similarly consistent trend that states which deployed peaceful negotiations with the colonialists were much more successful than their violent counterparts in achieving or maintaining sovereignty and peace- despite at times having to sacrifice one for the other. For reasons that are beyond the scope of this paper, Boahen makes a conscious decision not to emphasize this ostensible tendency. Ultimately, peaceful responses did not bring about a harmonious relationship between the colony and the colonial power; however, in contrast to their violent counterparts, they did not result in nearly the equivalent number of deaths, injuries and devastating consequences to the infrastructure of the colony.
Pruitt, Dean G, and Sung Hee Kim. Social Conflict: Escalation, Stalemate, and Settlement. 3rd ed. 2004. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2004.
Violence has been recorded down in our history from the dawn of time; it seems that in the past, violence was the answer for all disputes. Though time has progressed, “violence has been in decline … and today we are probably living in the most peaceful moment of our species’ time on earth” (Pinker). This decline in violence helps illustrate that mankind has been able to change, by dealing with conflicts in a peaceful manner, for violence is now not the first option to deal with issues. This turnaround also shows an evolution in mankind’s thinking process and ethics. Mankind now has understood value in living; thus, this has allowed for peace to play an integral part in society’s culture today.
Some people believe that the use of violence is the best way of achieving substantial change. I argue that non-violence is the key to achieve lasting change, because some of the greatest acts of non-violence have led to changes which have not changed and have transformed the lives of many people. However, I understand that violence may have to be used in certain circumstances.
Many people enjoy working or participating in a group or team, but when a group of people work together chances are that conflicts will occur. Hazleton describes conflict as the discrepancy between what is the perceived reality and what is seen as ideal (2007). “We enter into conflicts reluctantly, cautiously, angrily, nervously, confidently- and emerge from them battered, exhausted, sad, satisfied, triumphant. And still many of us underestimate or overlook the merits of conflict- the opportunity conflict offers every time it occurs” (Schilling, nd.). Conflict does not have to lead to a hostile environment or to broken relationships. Conflict if resolved effectively can lead to a positive experience for everyone involved. First, there must be an understanding of the reasons why conflicts occur. The conflict must be approached with an open mind. Using specific strategies can lead to a successful resolution for all parties involved. The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument states “there are five general approaches to dealing with conflict. The five approaches are avoidance, accommodation, competition, compromise, and collaboration. Conflict resolution is situational and no one approach provides the best or right approach for all circumstances” (Thomas, 2000).
Before understanding how to deal with conflict, one must understand what conflict is. Conflict can be defined as, “any situation in which incompatible goals, cognitions, or emotions within or between individuals or groups lead to opposition or antagonistic interaction” (Learning Team Toolkit, 2004, pp 242-243). Does the idea of conflict always have to carry a negative connotation? The growth and development of society would be a great deal slower if people never challenged each other’s ideas. The Learning Team Toolkit discusses three different views of conflict: traditiona...
Generally, there are three means being used to settle clan conflicts: the Muslim customary law, the Philippine laws including the Sharia’h, or the combination of these laws. However, a 2007 study of clan feuds by The Asian Foundation shows that 64% of the 1,266 recorded cases from 1930 to 2005 remain unresolved while 637 cases occurred from 2000–4 (Torres III, 2007). These figures show that despite efforts of different organisations, both government and non-government, as well as influential individuals to solve the problem of clan feuds, the prob...
Freud believes that aggression is a primal instinct, and civilization thwarts this instinct, making man unhappy. Civilized society controls man's tendency toward aggression through rules and laws and the presence of authority. These mechanisms are put in place to guarantee safety and happiness for all individuals in a society. However, the necessity of suppressing the aggressive drive in m...
(Asawo, 2011). Conflict can occur in any setting and as leaders in organizations guide and
Violence. Just mentioning the word conjures up many images of assault, abuse, and even murder. Violence is a broad subject with many categories. Some types of violence are terrorist violence and domestic violence. Violence can arise from many different sources; these sources whether biological, cultural, and social all can evoke violent behavior. All cultures experience some sort of violence, and this paper considers violence as a cultural phenomenon across a range of various settings. Violence plays a part in both Islamic and Indian cultures according to the articles “Understanding Islam” and “Rising Dowry Deaths” by Kenneth Jost and Amanda Hitchcock, respectively. From an anthropological perspective, violence emphasizes concerns of meaning, representation and symbolism.
Furthermore, religion can be a tool for either unifying a nation or a group or it can lead to the destruction of nations as well as internal state conflicts. However, the relationship between religion and conflicts is very complex (Barnard 1). Therefore, one must take into consideration many other factors before considering religion as the main cause. Most religions actually teach people that war is wrong and violence must be considered as a last option. Religious writings and books give guidelines on how people should act and when to use violence and when not to. Most people interpret these guidelines in their own different way, and end up abusing these religious scripts which may lead to conflicts (Barnard 1). However in many parts of the world, people from different religions live in harmony and coexist in peace yet in other parts of the...
Despite this diversity, Indonesia today has a common bond that united them all into one nation, one language, and one people. Due to this diversity, conflicts are unavoidable. However, the people of Indonesia have been able to overcome their differences. The spirit of musyawarah (to deliberate or confer), mufakat (to agree), and gotong-royong (mutual assistance) that have been instilled by their fore-father have helped in achieving peace between the people's groups. We have yet find this quality in any other nations of the world.