Conflict Cycle

It is important to be able to understand ourselves and our emotions in order for us to deal with conflict. Dealing with conflict badly and not appreciating the differences between us all can lead us into the conflict cycle. (See cycle 2)


What is a conflict cycle?

A conflict cycle is based on our negative ideas and views of other people, so if we have been told something bad about them or have not had a good experience when we meet them we react towards that person in a bad way when we next meet them (see cycle 2). However if we have a positive experience when we meet someone then most likely we will react kindly to them next time. (see cycle 1)


Look at the following two diagrams that give an idea of how these cycles can work.

How do we break the conflict cycle?

The conflict cycle can be broken when you and/or the other person or group of people are willing to change ideas and the way you view each other. Both of you have to start to look for positive things in one-another.If you do not change the way you see that person you will forever be locked into the conflict cycle

Go to the effects section to look at how we deal with conflict and what this tells us about us, and the effects it can have.

This section looks at what conflict is, how we think about conflict and react to it. Firstly it is important to remember that conflict is normal and a part of our daily lives. It is how we react to it and deal with it that is important. When people are asked the question "what is conflict" they come up with many ideas. If you were asked, "what is conflict", what would your answer be?

Thes answers around the fistare true because conflict can be a very bad thing and cause a lot of pain. However, is conflict always a bad thing? And does it always hurt people? If you think it is then click on YES and if you think it is not then click on NO.
Signs of Conflict

Think about what happens to you when you get angry? What happens to your body? Run your mouse over the character on the right to see some of the things that might happen to you when you get angry.

It is important to know when we are getting angry, if we are not aware of what is happening to us when we start getting angry we cannot control it. Our bodies react to different actions in different ways. When we get angry our emotions run high and we can see this by the different reactions our body has. Often when we get angry we just go into a zone where all we think of is hurting the people that have hurt us and so we are not aware of what our body is doing. Therefore if we become more aware of how our body is reacting we become more aware of our anger and are in a better position to control it and try to resolve the conflict.