Is Conflict
Bad?
When you hear the word, conflict, what immediately
comes to your mind?
·
Something bad – negative?
or
·
Something good - positive?
Most people choose the former, because
generally the word conflict signifies something harmful, conjuring up ugly
images or bad memories of violence, insurmountable differences, hatred and war.
It has also come to be associated with unpleasant protracted disagreements and
so has acquired a connotation of negativity.
Since conflict is a given in our daily
lives, conflict per se is not the problem. The real problem is the way we deal with conflict – the manner in which we handle conflict or resolve
conflict.
It is our chosen methods of resolving
conflict that make it bad or good. These methods which are broadly speaking
either violent or nonviolent are what give colour to conflict; characterizing
it as negative or positive. When we use violence to handle conflict, it is negative
/ bad; when we resort to nonviolence, it is positive /good – as depicted in the
following Illustration No.1
So, contrary to popular opinion Conflict
per se is neither Good nor Bad;
CONFLICT
is NEUTRAL
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