CHAPTER 5

CONFLICT THEORY
 INTRODUCTION

• SOCIAL WORKERS CAN EASILY POINT TO THE MANY CONFLICTS THAT EMERGE
FROM
PRACTICE SETTINGS. PARENTS HAVE CONFLICT WITH A CHILD; A CHILD HAS
CONFLICT
WITH A TEACHER; AND A CLIENT HAS CONFLICT WITH A DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL
SERVICES. SOCIAL WORKERS MAY BE INVOLVED IN THE CONFLICT OR MAY BE
CALLED
UPON TO RESOLVE THE CONFLICT.
•
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT

• CONTEMPORARY CONFLICT THEORY HAS ROOTS IN CLASSICAL MARXISM, A

POLITICAL ECONOMIC THEORY TERMED DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM,
PROVIDES THE FOUNDATION FOR UNDERSTANDING AND DISTINGUISHING
POWER DIFFERENTIALS IN RELATIONSHIPS

• WRITTEN AT THE HEIGHT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

• TYPICALLY THOUGHT OF AS A MACRO THEORY
• IS A SORT OF TREATISE AGAINST CAPITALISM DUE TO ITS PROFIT MOTIVE
 ASSUMPTIONS

• CONFLICT IS INEVITABLE
• THERE IS AN ONGOING STRUGGLE FOR SCARCE RESOURCES
• THERE IS AN UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF POWER IN RELATIONSHIPS
• WHOEVER CONTROLS THE DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES HAS THE MOST POWER
 DIALECTICAL MATERIALISM

• AN ONGOING DEBATE
• PREFERENCE FOR TALKING ABOUT REAL (MATERIAL) THINGS, NOT ABSTRACTS
 THE NATURE OF PEOPLE

• NATURAL POWERS AND NEEDS ARE THINGS THAT PEOPLE AND ANIMALS SHARE : NATURAL POWERS ARE ALL
ABILITIES AND FACULTIES. NATURAL NEEDS ARE DESIRED BUT ARE NOT IMMEDIATELY AVAILABLE. ALL LIVING
CREATURES NEED FOOD, SHELTER, WATER, AND EXERCISE OR THE ABILITY TO MOVE FREELY, FOR EXAMPLE. BUT
HUMANS HAVE A GREATER CAPACITY TO THINK AND REASON BEYOND WHAT ANIMALS POSSESS. HUMANS CAN
THINK ABOUT AN ACTION IN THE FUTURE, PROCESS OTHER POSSIBLE ACTIONS, ANTICIPATE CONSEQUENCES OF
THEIR ACTIONS, AND DECIDE WHETHER TO ACT. MARX CALLED THESE SPECIAL CAPACITIES AND NEEDS OF
HUMANS
• SPECIES POWERS AND NEEDS ARE THOSE THINGS THAT ONLY HUMANS CAN DO, SUCH AS THINK CRITICALLY,
REASON, AND PLAN ACTIONS
• PEOPLE HAVE INNATE CAPACITY TO BE CREATIVE
• WHEN PEOPLE ARE TRULY FREE TO BE ALL THAT THEY CAN BE, THEY REACH A STATE MARX CALLED SPECIES
BEING
• PEOPLE CANNOT WORK AND BE FULLY HUMAN UNDER THE OPPRESSION OF CAPITALISM BECAUSE CAPITALISM
CAUSES DISTORTIONS IN THE WAY THAT PEOPLE THINK AND ACT.
• PEOPLE ARE SOCIAL ANIMALS
 CAPITALISM

• CAPITALISM CALLS FOR THE OWNER OF THE MEANS OF PRODUCTION, THE FACTORY, TO TRY TO MAKE A PROFIT T.
WORKERS SELL THEIR LABOR TO THE OWNER AND ARE PAID A WAGE. HOWEVER, WORKERS HAVE TO STAND ON AN
ASSEMBLY LINE BECAUSE MARX BELIEVED THAT PEOPLE ARE SOCIAL ANIMALS AND NEED OTHER PEOPLE, TO PUT
THEM ON AN ASSEMBLY LINE WITHOUT CONTACT WITH OTHER PEOPLE IS THE SAME AS TREATING THEM AS LESS
THAN THEY ARE—OR AS ANIMALS.
• IN ADDITION, THE IDEA THAT PEOPLE CANNOT GET A DRINK OF WATER OR GO TO THE BATHROOM WHEN THEY NEED
TO BUT MUST DO SO ONLY ON BREAK IS DEHUMANIZING
• ASSEMBLY LINES/PRODUCTION LINES MAKE THEM LESS HUMAN DUE TO THE LACK OF CREATIVITY, THE INABILITY
TO TEND TO BASIC NEEDS UNLESS APPROVED BY SOMEONE ELSE, AND THEY ARE FULLY REMOVED FROM THE
NATURAL WORLD
• DISTORTIONS OCCUR; DISTORTIONS ARE THE CONSEQUENCES OF CAPITALISM, SUCH AS BEING REMOVED FROM
CREATIVITY
• THE MOST SERIOUS DISTORTION IS CALLED ALIENATION
• HUMANS EVENTUALLY BECOME ALIENATED FROM EVERYTHING, INCLUDING THEMSELVES, UNDER CAPITALISM
 CAPITALISM, CONTINUED

• PRIVATE OWNERSHIP OF PROPERTY IS A FOUNDATION OF CAPITALISM.

• THE “HAVES” ARE THE OWNERS OF THE FACTORIES; THE “HAVE NOTS” ARE THE
WORKERS
• WORKERS SELL THE ONLY THINGS THEY TRULY OWN, THEIR TIME AND TALENT, TO
THE OWNERS
• WORKERS BEGIN TO BUY THINGS WITH THEIR WAGES
• THIS LULLS THEM INTO A STATE OF FALSE CONSCIOUSNESS WHERE THEY FAIL TO SEE
THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN THEMSELVES AND THE OWNERS; THEY DO NOT SEE
THEIR TRUE SOCIAL CLASS
 CAPITALISM, CONTINUED

• WORKERS COME TO LOVE THE THINGS THEY BUY, CALLED FETISHISM OF

COMMODITIES
• THEY ULTIMATELY COME TO LOVE THE MONEY ITSELF
• MARX HOPED THAT THROUGH REVOLUTION, CLASS CONSCIOUSNESS WOULD
DEVELOP, AND THE WORKERS WOULD OVERTHROW THE CAPITALISTS
• THE REVOLUTION WOULD OCCUR THROUGH PRAXIS, OR ACTION BASED ON THEORY,
EMANCIPATION
• CAPITALISM DISTORTS VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING; CARPAL TUNNEL SYNDROME IS A
CONTEMPORARY EXAMPLE OF A PHYSICAL DISTORTION AS A RESULT OF CAPITALISM
 STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS

• WIDE APPLICABILITY ACROSS POPULATIONS AND SYSTEM SIZES

• CAN BE USED AT MULTIPLE PRACTICE LEVELS
• IS CONSISTENT WITH A SOCIAL JUSTICE MODEL
• DOES NOT COME WITH A SET OF INTERVENTIONS
• IS DIFFICULT TO EVALUATE
• USE WITH CAUTION WHEN EXAMINING POWER IMBALANCES WITHIN A
RELATIONSHIP
 CONCLUSION

• MARX MAINTAINED THAT CAPITALISM IS A DESTRUCTIVE FORCE FOR ALL

• HE HOPED FOR MORE FOR HUMANS; HE WANTED THEM TO BE SPECIES BEINGS
• HE HOPED FOR A CLASSLESS SOCIETY
• HIS VISION HAS NEVER COME TO FRUITION, BUT HE DID PREDICT THAT CAPITALISM
IS THE INFRASTRUCTURE THAT WOULD ULTIMATELY SUPPORT HIS UTOPIAN DREAM
• CONTEMPORARY CONFLICT THEORY EXAMINES POWER IMBALANCES AT MULTIPLE
PRACTICE LEVELS AND IN SYSTEMS OF ALL SIZES
APPLICATION OF CONfl ICT THEORY WITHIN SOCIAL WORK
PRACTICE

• CONFLICT THEORY DOES NOT CONTAIN SPECIFIC STEPS OR STAGES. THE

GUIDING
PRINCIPLES HELP TO DEFINE WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE BUT LEAVE OPEN HOW
TO DO IT.
• THEREFORE, THERE MAY BE MULTIPLE WAYS OF INTERVENING USING
CONFLICT THEORY. EXAMPLES OF INTERVENTION INCLUDE STRUCTURAL, TO
REDUCE THE UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF RESOURCES, AND COGNITIVE, TO
HELP INDIVIDUALS SEE THEIR POSITION IN THE ISSUE.
• THE EXAMPLE THAT FOLLOWS ILLUSTRATES USE OF CONFLICT THEORY IN THE
STAGES OF THE HELPING PROCESS