Conflict Management

Conflict Management

Conflict Incident

In 2018, a video featuring a Los Angeles High School music teacher punching a student emerged. The video shows the student and the student standing before the class and appearing to be arguing. According to the testimony given to the KTLA News by some students who were present during the incident, the teacher, identified as Marston Riley, had asked the student to leave the classroom since he was not wearing a proper uniform. The student, who was not pleased with the order, responded by repeatedly saying a racial slur towards the teacher, who happens to be Black (Merrett, 2018). It is reported that Mr. Riley initially stood quietly and tried his best to ignore the provocation from the student. However, he is reported to have been angered when the student threw a basketball at him. Indeed, in a video posted by CBS Los Angeles, the student can be seen arguing with the teacher before throwing what appears to be a ball at him in a rage (CBS Los Angeles, 2018). It is at this point that the teacher losses his temper and immediately strikes the student on the jaw.

The teacher was later arrested and forced into retirement shortly after the incident (Branson-Potts, 2018). After the video had gone viral, many people came to the defense of the teacher. Most students who were inside the classroom at the time the incident unfolded sided with the teacher. In this case, many of the students who witnessed the incident blamed the student for being disrespectful towards the teacher. Most students who gave their account of the incident to various media outlets confirmed that the student had not only been rude to the teacher but also provoked him by using racial slur in reference to the teacher. The students and many people who believed that the teacher did not commit any wrongdoing raised money to cater to his case. Charges against the teacher were dropped by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office based on the circumstances that led to the incident and age of the teacher (Garger, 2019). Besides, the fact that the teacher did not have a criminal record also informed the decision to drop the charges.

Resolution Strategies Used

The conflict between the teacher and the student featured in the incident highlighted above emerged from differences in the motives between the two parties. The teacher sought to ensure that everyone in the classroom observed the rules. Apparently, all students were required to conform to a specific dress code. However, the student at the center of the conflict did not observe the dress code.

Consequently, the teacher requested him to leave the class. This step was possibly intended to punish the student’s defiance behavior. The student, on the other hand, designed to stay in the classroom even though he did not observe the rules concerning the required dress code. Both the student and the teacher felt wronged. The teacher felt that the student was disrespectful by not complying with the dress code and for failing to accept the punishment. The student, on the other hand, felt wronged since he probably thought that the teacher was being unfair in sending him away.

During the incident, the teacher tried to resolve the conflict by initially attempting to ignore the acts of provocation by the student. In this case, the teacher was using the avoidance strategy to prevent an escalation. However, the situation deteriorated into a crisis when the student threw a basketball in rage at the teacher. The teacher then decided to use a competing strategy to resolve the conflict. In a competing approach, the parties’ actions are motivated by the desire to win. The teacher’s decision to strike the student could have been informed by the belief that doing so was the only way he could win the conflict. Other students present I the classroom did not do much at the beginning of the conflict. However, when the teacher punched the student, other students intervened. Some students were seen hitting the teacher appears to make him let go of the student at the center of the conflict. They probably felt that the student was in imminent danger, and the teacher could hurt him further.

The Outcome of the Conflict

The conflict degenerated into a crisis since the parties failed to manage the stress associated with the dispute. Initially, the teacher sought to avoid the conflict by ignoring the racial slur the student hurled at him. However, when the student threw a basketball at him, he lost the ability to manage the stress associated with the conflict. As a result, the conflict degenerated into a crisis when the teacher punched the student.  If more efforts had been made to resolve the conflict earlier, perhaps it would not have degenerated into the crisis that was witnessed. In the end, the teacher was arrested, retired, and eventually had charges against him dropped. The student, on the other, was taken to the hospital where he was treated for the minor injuries sustained during the incident.

Current Conflict Theories That Apply

The theory of cooperation and completion by Moran Deutsch and Robert Krauss can effectively be applied in understanding the factors that play a critical role in bargaining between the two parties involved in the conflict. According to the findings from the experiment conducted by the duo on the subject, the competitiveness of parties involved in a conflict constitutes one of the main obstacles to effective communication since each party is inclined to resist the possibility of being on the losing end (Frydenberg, 2005).

In the incident highlighted above, both parties (the student and the teacher) use a competitive style of bargaining. One of the main features of the competitive style of negotiation is that it is characterized by communication obstruction (Patton & Balakrishnan, 2010). In this case, each party in the conflict tries to gain an advantage. In the case study, there is no effective communication between the student and the teacher. In the competitive style of bargaining, both parties involved in the conflict believe that a solution can only be imposed by one party on the other. In the case study, the teacher believes that the conflict can only be solved by having the student leave the class. The student, on the other hand, appears to believe that he does not have to follow the teacher’s order. Instead, he can defy the teacher and have his way. He seems to believe that challenging the teacher and showing him disrespect would make the teacher give in. Competitive style of bargaining is also characterized by each party, trying to increase its power (Hermanson, Schulzke, & Shell, 2003). In this case, when on party increase its power, the other party feels threatened. Both the teacher and the student improve their power.

My Preferred Strategies

I would have used a compromise strategy to address the conflict highlighted above. In this case, if I were a third party charged with the responsibility of resolving the conflict between the teacher and the student, I would explain to the student to politely explain to the teacher why he did not obey the dress code. I would also ask him not to hurl racial slur at the teacher. To the teacher, I would ask him to explain to the student why it was necessary to obey the dress code and why he was being asked to leave the classroom. My strategy is intended to encourage a cooperating style of negotiation. This style of negotiation is characterized by less obstruction of communication by both parties. I would encourage the parties to negotiate to avoid the conflict degenerating into a crisis.

Conclusion

Conflict management and resolution are important for enhancing integration and cohesiveness in society. This paper focuses on a conflict involving two parties: a teacher and a student. In the incident, the two parties fail to resolve the dispute before it descends into a crisis that sees the teacher retired and student sustaining injuries. However, the conflict could have been resolved before it could degenerate into a crisis. In this case, a compromising strategy would have helped. In this case, the student and the teacher should both have communicated with one another using a cooperating style of bargaining. This approach would have significantly helped in resolving the conflict. However, effective communication was lacking between the teacher and the student. This contributed substantially to the deterioration of the situation.

References

Branson-Potts, H. (2018). Maywood Teacher Arrested After Being Caught On Video Punching Student. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-maywood-teacher-hits-student-20181104-story.html

CBS Los Angeles. (2018). Maywood Faculty, Students Defend Teacher Recorded In Classroom Brawl [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xviCgdt4kxk

Frydenberg, E. (2005). Morton Deutsch: A life and legacy of mediation and conflict resolution. Morton Deutsch: A Life and Legacy of Mediation and Conflict Resolution, vi.

Garger, K. (2019). Charges Dropped Against Teacher Caught Punching Student Who Called Him N-Word. New York Post. Retrieved from https://nypost.com/2019/10/30/charges-dropped-against-teacher-caught-punching-student-who-called-him-n-word/

Hermanson, H., Schulzke, K. S., & Shell, G. R. (2003). The role of bargaining style in public company audits. Journal of Forensic Accounting, 1524-5586.

Merrett, R. (2018). Teacher Charged After Being Caught on Camera Punching Student, 14, Who Called Him a Racist Slur. People. Retrieved from https://people.com/crime/teacher-charged-caught-punching-student/

Patton, C., & Balakrishnan, P. S. (2010). The impact of expectation of future negotiation interaction on bargaining processes and outcomes. Journal of Business Research, 63(8), 809-816.