Mutual Ground

Why Mutual Ground

As a young black male growing up in a Judeo-Christian society, my thoughts were given over to a belief system that influence my social, economic, political, and educational future. I was in conflict trying to find my way like most young black males. I grew up in a two-parent household and adjusted quite well to the violence in my neighborhood but little by little something was happening and in ways beyond my comprehension. But it was a sign pointing me to the depth of my being. And in the darkness of my being, I discover a light, and it took all the strength of my being to find resolution to years of conflict.

I didn't know resolving my own conflict and countless others in the future would require a means to achieve the end. The end to achieve is conflict resolution. The means for such an achievement would be Seeing Eye to Eye. This feat is called mutual ground. How do you achieve mutual ground? Where do we begin to get opposing party to calm down, to sit down and in order to get down to the business of Conflict Resolution?

The history of conflict theory can be traced back to thinkers such as Machiavelli or Thomas Hobbes, both of whom viewed humanity cynically. In its current form, conflict theory attempts to refute the functionalist approach, which considers that societies and organizations function so that each individual and group plays a specific role, like organs in the body. There are radical basic assumptions (society is eternally in conflict, which might explain social change), or moderate ones (custom and conflict are always mixed). The moderate version allows for functionalism to operate as an equally acceptable theory since it would accept that even negative social institutions play a part in society's self-perpetuation.

The essence of conflict theory is best epitomized by the classic "pyramid structure" in which an elite dictates terms to the larger masses. All major social structures, laws, and traditions in the society are designed to support those who have traditionally been in power, or the groups that are perceived to be superior in the society according to this theory. Conflict theorists would argue that all groups in society are born from conflict. An example might be that of labor unions, which are developed to fight for the interests of workers, whereas trade organizations are made to fight for the interests of the moneyed classes. This theory of groups is opposed to functionalism in which each of these groups would play a specific, set role in society. In functionalism, these groups cooperate to benefit society whereas in conflict theory the groups are in opposition to one another as they seek to better their masters.

"It is in the interests of those who have wealth to keep and extend what they own, whereas it is in the interests of those who have little or no wealth to try to improve their lot in life."[1] This can also be expanded to include any society's morality, and by extension their definition of deviance. Anything that challenges the control of the elite will likely be considered "deviant" or "morally reprehensible." The theory can be applied on both the macro level (like the U.S. government or Soviet Russia, historically) or the micro level (a church organization or school club). In summary, conflict theory seeks to catalog the ways in which those in power seek to stay in power.