Responding To Conflict

Most of us learn responses to conflict from observing others, especially members of our families of origin. Reflect on your family and the ways of responding to conflict used by your parents and siblings. To what extent do your habitual ways of dealing with conflict reflect patterns you observed while growing up? Why do you think members of our family play such a big part in the way we resolve conflicts?

My mother is a confrontational person she likes addressing the problem while it is going on. She honest about how she feels about the situation and she doesn’t hold back about her opinion. My dad however doesn’t like to deal with conflict. He doesn’t like addressing problems because he believes they will figure themselves out or eventually be forgotten about. In terms of dealing with conflict I am more like my father than my mother. When faced with conflict I don’t like to talk things out especially when I am frustrated. Conflict easily angers me which causes be to become silent. Although silence is quiet, it can communicate powerful messages (Wood, 105). People who know me personally know that when I become quiet something is usually wrong. Family members play such a big part in resolving conflict because this is usually the first experience with conflict that we usually see. Family members also have a greater influence on our lives so we tend to mimic what they display.
Reflect on these people outside your family and the ways of responding to conflict used by your parents and siblings. To what extent do your habitual ways of dealing with conflict reflect patterns you observed from these people? Why do you think these people play such a big part in the way that you resolve conflicts? Did you learn the same ways of dealing with conflict from your family? Why do you think it is the same or different? How as it affected