Preview

Conflict, Power, and Influence in Interpersonal Communication

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2209 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Conflict, Power, and Influence in Interpersonal Communication
Conflict management deals with many levels of communications. Power and influence play a key role in how conflict is resolved in situations involving conflict. The film Lean On Me was first and foremost about transformation on several different levels. At first glance the tactics of “Crazy Joe” Clark seem harsh and arbitrary. It helps to understand that Joe Clark in real life was a sergeant in the Army reserves. (Gallene 1989) Much of the tactics displayed in the movie would be familiar to anyone who had ever been to boot camp. It is a tenant of modern police training that under stress people will revert to their latest or strongest training. For many years as a principal of a tough elementary school before arriving at Eastside High, Joe Clark used neither a bull horn nor baseball bat. In being faced with a situation beyond his control, and under tremendous pressure, his default training kicked in. The military values two traits above all, self-discipline and responsible leadership. Joe Clark set out to instill both of these in the students and staff of Eastside High. In doing so, he came into conflict with the dominant collective paradigm of modern education. In this portion of the paper the writer will be contrasting the rules to avoid interpersonal conflict such as those that would be taught in the elementary school Joe Clark ran before the movie, and the actions of Joe Clark at Eastside High as shown in the movie. “Treat each other with respect” might well be a poster on any wall, in any school in America. Firmly in crisis mode, Joe Clark did not have time to treat others with respect at first. His first priority was to gain control of the school as shown in the film. The real Joe Clark once said that “Discipline is the ultimate tenet of education. “Discipline establishes the format, the environment for academic achievement to occur” (Frederich & Bowen 1988). While he did not expel 300 students on his first day as principal as in the film, he did expel


References: Communication and Conflict, http://www.communicationandconflict.com/interpersonal-communication.html Conflict Management and Resolution. (2008). In Encyclopedia of Violence, Peace and Conflict. Retrieved from http://140.234.17.9:8080/EPSessionID=7c15bb2a35e79259d5c251b7c2d3ba31/EPHost=credoreference.com/EPPath/entry.do?id=8445623#s000257a Conflict Management Strategies and Styles, http://home.snu.edu/~hculbert/conflict.htm Ezine Articles, http://ezinearticles.com/?Conflict-Management-Strategy-Revealed&id=237719 Free Management Library, http://managementhelp.org/guiding/influenc/influenc.htm Frederich, O., & Bowen (1988 February 1) Getting tough; New Jersey Principal Joe Clark kicks up a storm about discipline in schools. Time Gallene (1989, March 3). “Lean on me: a modern myth? Taking artistic liberty with the real Joe Clark. Los Angeles Times. McGuire, J. (1984). STRATEGIES OF SCHOOL DISTRICT CONFLICT. Sociology of Education, 57(1), 31. Retrieved from MasterFILE Premier database. http://ehis.ebscohost.com/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&hid=3&sid=c3a8c596-4b92-404d-88ab-7a719f44c6b9%40sessionmgr13 Michael Schiffer (2010). Lean on Me, Wikipedia. Retrieved on July 21, 2010 at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lean_on_Me_%28film%29
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Book Review on Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement
    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Book Review on Emotional Survival for Law Enforcement

    Gilmartin begins by describing the early years of one’s law enforcement career. How typically- idealistic, enthusiastic and driven rookie officers are. And how quickly this world can change from positive to cynical and emotionally charged. How these long term behaviors if uncorrected, exacerbate, leading to mental and physical changes. Gilmartin uses personal experiences and stories to relate the topics addressed in this book, in a way that officers can readily see some of the same characteristics in themselves. Gilmartin also discusses psychological changes officers endure that can be caused by frequent exposure to horrific events.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Why Johnny Cant Fail Summary
    • 521 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Why Johnny Cant Fail Summary

    In his beginning years, Jesness believed in giving appropriate grades. However; once he started failing students, the principal and parents took notice. He soon found himself having a meeting with both over the given grades. He argued that the children received appropriate grades due to plagiarized work and forged assignments. For the next few weeks, Jesness was watched everyday by the principal. “Every spitball, every chattering student, every bit of graffiti was noted”, he says. Every time he sent a student to the office, it was just more “evidence” that “he could not handle a classroom.” Making it impossible for him to teach, Jesness left his teaching career for one year.…

    • 521 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Cop in the Hood
    • 2662 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Cop in the Hood

    “So what’s the point of the academy? Primarily, it’s to protect the department from the legal liability that could result from negligent training. To the trainees this appears more important than educating police officers.” And second, despite the lax approach toward academics, instructors were very concerned with officer safety, the aspect of the job they emphasized most: “The most important part of your job is that you go home. Everything else is secondary.” This philosophy is reinforced at all levels of the police organization. Formal and informal rules concerning officer safety are propagated simultaneously. By the end of the academy, less than half the class saw a relation between what police learn in the academy and what police need to know on the street. A strong antimedia attitude, little changed from sociologist William Westley’s observations in the 1950s, grew steadily in the police academy. At the end of training, just 10 percent of trainees believed that the media treat police fairly.…

    • 2662 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    The Other Wes Moore
    • 716 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Other Wes Moore

    The problem with Riverdale does not entirely lie in the school system, it lies in the surroundings around the school system. The drug invested streets and all of the violence makes it extremely hard for Riverdale schools to be a suitable place to get an education. Temptation surrounds the school system and it cannot escape from it. Not having a whole lot of disciplinary actions for unsuitable behavior also causes the school system to crumble away from the best, “The problem was that I wasn’t even showing up half the time,” (Moore 76). The author Wes Moore does not have the discipline for not going to his designated classes.…

    • 716 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Hsco 508 Interpersonal Communication Research Paper
    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Hsco 508 Interpersonal Communication Research Paper

    Interpersonal Communication http://youtu.be/9S4LEx5IDU4 Brittany Jarrett Liberty University HSCO 508-B16 S Overview  My OAG and enlarging the conversation  My Background  Behavioral blend  Potential Barriers  Noise Pollution and Solutions  Plan of Action…

    • 829 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Officer Code Of Silence Research Paper
    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Officer Code Of Silence Research Paper

    When a new recruit joins a police force he is bursting with excitement and anticipation to fulfill all of the principles and standards that come with being a police officer: dedication, loyalty, trust and integrity. He has a high set of standards and a set of goals he wants to achieve as an officer of the law such as stopping crime, improving the moral of the neighborhoods and becoming a positive mentor to the youth of the community. He has a new sense of belonging; he is now a member of a team, a brotherhood, an official member of an elite club; he is an officer of the law.…

    • 1024 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Police Discretion
    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Police Discretion

    When it comes down to it, there is no doubt that the field of law enforcement is a difficult one indeed; one which deserves much admiration and respect. Nonetheless, police officers, as it has been determined, have the ability to injure more people than almost any other occupation in the country; not just because of their training, but because of the situations they are sometimes cast into. It is because of this that they must deal with a slew of, sometimes false, accusations of excessive force. In order to combat the recent rise in accusations and to calm the swell of media back lash that has been a result, officers must continue to be trained appropriately in order to ensure that they are using these powers that have been given to them in the best interests of the community.…

    • 473 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Report- Dimensions of Diversity
    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Report- Dimensions of Diversity

    Bibliography: Hagemann, Bonnie, Stroope, Saundra. "CONFLICT MANAGMENT." T+D 66, no. 7 (July 2012): 58. MasterFILE Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed July 20, 2013).…

    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Police Officer Profession
    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Police Officer Profession

    In the daily life of police officers, the day can begin with abject boredom and transform into harrowing danger. There is never a pattern to what may occur. Many come into a police career with the desire to help others and make a difference in their community or even the world. During the time when I began my career as an officer, there was a push for professionalism and a return to protecting and serving of the public. This came from the decades of racism, enforcement of white supremacy, and using officers as a way to take civil liberties. During the latter portion of the eighties and early nineties, professional police service was the work ethic being installed into new police officers. Throughout my career, I have witnessed a change from professional teachings, to more militarized elitist teachings. This has been particularly evident in the past ten years. In past studies, researchers have found attitudes toward police have been mainly cultivated through officer interaction with people, and through media effects (Mazerolle, et al., 2013, Avdija & Giever, 2010). However, it is my belief that things have significantly changed with regards…

    • 1408 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Personal Leadership
    • 1762 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Personal Leadership

    Few skills are more important to self-improvement than being able to take a step back and honestly evaluate you. Self-reflection allows you to expose problems early, before they become too painful to ignore.…

    • 1762 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Lean on Me
    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Lean on Me

    I believe Mr. Joe Clark was also motivated by desire to deliver a good service. His objective number one is to make those school teachers educate effectively and those students learn successfully. In no way can he allow himself to be in charge of a school students of which are considered to be inferior. In his first speech as a school principle he declares: “This is an institution of learning. If you can’t control it, how can you teach?” and goes on concluding “You’ve tried it your way for years. Your students can’t pass a minimum basic skills test. That means they can hardly read! They’ve given me less than one year, one school year to turn this place around, to get those test scores up so the state will not take us over to perform the task which you have failed to do, to educate our children!”. I also discern some indications of need for appreciation in his behavior, which is quite natural and satisfying, – he does not want his efforts to be taken for granted, and nobody would.…

    • 951 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Remember The Titans Rhetorical Analysis
    • 6903 Words
    • 28 Pages

    Remember The Titans Rhetorical Analysis

    school districts to end segregation (Daugherity, 2011). In Alexandria, Virginia, the merger of three rival high…

    • 6903 Words
    • 28 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Zero tolerance policy
    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Zero tolerance policy

    Koch, Kathy. "Zero Tolerance for School Violence: Is Mandatory Punishment in Schools Unfair?" CQ Researcher Online 10.9 10 Mar. 2000. 185-208. CQ Press. Web. 4 Nov 2011.…

    • 1381 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Police Reform
    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Police Reform

    Stoughton contends that a more fundamental reform is necessary: the core principles of policing need to be adjusted to change how officers view their job and their relationship with the community. The article also contributes to the discussion by arguing that police reform requires changing officers’ attitudes about policing itself. A few things the article stated was to encourage rightful policing, the value system that guides officer decision making must encourage individual officers to continually reconcile the short-term goals of policing, such as order maintenance and crime response, with the long-term goals, particularly improving police/community relations. To that end, law enforcement culture should seek to instill in officers the priorities of a Guardian: protecting civilians from unnecessary indignity and harm. Part I describes the evolution of policing, tracing the profession’s guiding principles and distinguishing characteristics from the world’s first modern public police agency. Part II introduces the Warrior principles that have permeated modern policing and discusses the effect those principles have had on the profession. It first describes the positive attributes of the Warrior that policing so highly values: honor, duty, resolve, and a willingness to engage in righteous violence. It then explores the psychological and practical appeal of the Warrior concept, and it describes how the Warrior imagery and rhetoric have become ubiquitous in law enforcement. Part III offers an alternative set of guiding principles in the form of Guardian policing. Guardian policing has enjoyed a surge in popularity among some police leaders, and Guardian rhetoric has appeared in the report issued by President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, popular media stories, and articles intended for a law enforcement audience. We previously as a class readied and discussed as wrote analysis on the 21st Century of Policing and the panel…

    • 1214 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Zero Tolerance Policy
    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Zero Tolerance Policy

    Skiba, Russell J. "Zero Tolerance, Zero Evidence: An Analysis of School Disciplinary Practice." 2001. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Middleton Library, LSU. 12 Nov. 2009 .…

    • 1392 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics