Conflict Styles
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Mike try’s to use the very first conflict style, which is, “Cooperative Problem Solving”. This is because he try’s to make Marie understand that being able to work on the issue of Lenny’s behavior and the best punishment for him together as a family is better than just always telling him that it is none of his business when it is his business.
Marie is certainly not cooperative about anything because she believes that no one else understands her son and that Mike is nothing to Lenny but just Lenny’s mothers’ new husband/boyfriend.
Marie’s style of conflict can closely relate to a “competitive style” because she puts her own interests at heart before anyone else’s. She thinks that her son, Lenny, and the way that she punishes him, is what is best for him, meaning, it is in his best interest for what type of punishment that she places on Lenny.
Mike likes to be able to use “compromising” as one of the styles to use when confronting any sort of conflict at the moment, but in a good way for Lenny and Marie. Mike would like to be able to make Marie understand that when her son promises to never be late again without calling first in order to stop from being punished by having to come home at about 10pm every night, Marie “blindly” agrees with Lenny because he is her little boy and he did nothing really wrong.
On the other hand, Mike thinks that having to come home every night at 10pm is not good enough for Lenny as a punishment because he may just do it again and not learn from his mistakes and learn the importance of respect, and being responsible for his own actions.
When Marie compromised with Lenny about calling to inform her of his being late, that, in my eyes, was a little too soft and she should have thought more thoroughly before stating so.
Mike uses the “avoiding style” a little much in this