Conflict According To Lewis Coser: The Function Of Conflict

The function of the conflict, according to Lewis Coser, is reinforcing group solidarity, including serving as a safety-valve, channeling tensions in constructive ways rather than letting them build up to such a point that when conflict is unleashed, it is unleashed with destructive force (211). In other words, Coser, argued that the function of conflict serves as a solution to unite a group or help reestablish unity where it has been threatened by an unfriendly feeling among the members of the group. However, this might not always be the case, due to the fact that it depends on the type of social structure that the group consists of. In sum, conflicts serve several functions in which include social change, innovation, and an increase of power

However, if the social group fails to understand one another on the goals, values, or interests, it is not surprisingly true that it will be damaged and not functional. A real life example, of an internal conflict, in my sense, would be that of an intimate soccer team that has multiple years playing together. Everybody in the team has knowledge of each other extremely well, including the coach that instructs the team. In addition, let’s suppose that a particular teammate starts becoming envious of the team captain, due to the fact that he feels that he would be much better off leading the soccer team than his current teammate. Next, the jealous team player goes up to the captain, and starts insulting him and accusing him of the team’s losses. The former captain, including other teammates, calmly talk civilized to this hostile teammate, although the insults have been going on for quite a while. The team captain has finally had enough and leaves the team. Now, the social structure has been torn apart. In this circumstance, the intimate soccer team had gone years playing as a whole, but as one teammate was challenging for a scarce resource, it had consequences on the very root of the relationship. My real life example was caused by the fact that a team player

For instance, the Black Lives Matter movement, which debuted after the exploitation of police brutality, this, could ultimately be considered an external conflict due to its characteristics. The movement that came about, which mainly consisted of a major minority group that was demanding absolute justice for people of color. The videos that were going viral had an incredible impact on the African-American community which led them to become a united group that became quite strong. Hence, the external social conflict that creates boundaries between different groups. The African-American community became united as one to overthrow an opposed group, which would be group of law enforcement. As a result, the individual group in this instance, the African-American community, produced a strong unity within themselves. It promotes cohesion and coalitions with outside groups as well as within the group. Hence, the production of an external conflict will produce integration. Moreover, individuals that try to solve conflicts will ultimately produce integration, which a main function that external conflict produces. On this note, this particular conflict did in fact utilize the benefits of external conflicts. This real life example utilized the benefits by providing the individuals of a group with a sense of unity to one another in order to overcome the