Conflict with roommates - Case Study Example

Conflict is perhaps the most misunderstood aspect of life. It carries a negative connotation and wherever the mention of conflict arises everyone cringes and moves away to avoid it. Indeed conflict is a sensitive issue that affects all and that everyone can relate to hence the importance of its study. It would be interesting to know what it is that leads to these subconscious urge to detach ourselves from conflict. Many theories have been advanced to try and explain the causes of conflict in society and a few shall be sampled and applied to the understanding of the relationships with roommates in college.

Of course communication plays a major role in promoting or reducing conflicts and as such an overview of how it relates to conflicts shall be explored. For this study input from focus groups shall be used to illuminate on the issue of relationships with roommates particularly on the aspect of conflict. Focus groups are the most preferred because the method is cheap, captures qualitative data, time saving and will allow for skimming of respondents. College life can be one of the most exciting times in a person's life.

It is a time where young people get the independence to try new things and discover who they are and what they stand for. It is also the time where life skills are honed as it becomes imperative to develop a spine of your own and take responsibility for one's life. In most cases, one may have to live within college walls and therefore hire a room with roommates. This then adds a new dimension to the experience of college. In the instance where one has roommates additional skills need to be developed in order to ensure hat one's stay in college is one that is memorable in a pleasant way and not one dotted with bad memories.

One may ask why bad memories may be probable' In any society where people interact on a daily basis and sharing resources quarrels and squabbles are very likely. In other words chances of conflicts arising increases. The roommate relationships are no different because resources are scarce and need to be shared equitably among roommates. Further more, differences in socio-cultural background, religion, preferences, race and such like also means that at one point or another conflict will arise.

However, contrary to popular opinion, conflict is not all bad. Admittedly conflict many a time has led to physical fights, violence, and longstanding friendships have been destroyed by conflicts. Nonetheless, conflict is a double edged sword so that where it is managed properly, positive effects can be felt. This is because conflicts result from underlying differences which when ironed out leads to better understanding.