Chapter 8

 Conflict and power: patterns of influence in Groups

CONFLICT RESOLUTION
Conflict Resolution Modes
Conflict Mode Instrument
POWER
Coercive Power
Connection Power
Expert Power
Information Power
Legitimate Power
Referent Power
Reward Power
PATTERNS OF INFLUENCE IN GROUPS

Conflicts
Conflict: A Personal Definition Conventional definitions of conflict are important to
understand, but how we think about and respond to conflict on a personal level is just as
important. After all, our style influences how we interpret and manage conflicts not only in
our personal lives, but in our work lives as well—when we sit at the table for staff
meetings, supervise staff, and develop agreements with other agencies. How people handle
conflict depends on their upbringing, experiences, values, culture, and temperament. Some
members of your team may shy away from conflict and give in rather than explore
differences of opinion. Others may feel it is impolite to disagree or argue with another
person in public. Others may thrive in jumping into the hot seat. They tend to see conflict as
a negative development that may damage relationships among group members and result
in hurt feelings. However, conflict is an important part of the group development process
that helps to move the group forward. Often on teams, which are, for the most part, work
groups, conflicts arise when decisions have to be made. There may be different ideas about
what the best decisions may be or there may be unhappiness with the manner in which
some members may communicate their preferences. In therapeutic groups, conflicts tend
to center around personalities, perceptions, values and behaviors in the group.

Styles of Handling Conflict

As you read this section on different ways of handling conflict, think about how you would
characterize your own style, as well as the style of one or two particular people you work
with.

Competing characterizes an individual who pursues her own concerns, sometimes at

another person’s expense. This is a power-oriented mode in which the individual may use
her power skills, and ability to argue to ―win,‖ outrank, etc. A person with a ―competing‖
style does not often shy away from conflict. Rather, she uses the situations to ―stand up for
her rights,‖ defend a position that she believes is correct, or simply win.

Accommodating is the opposite of competing. An accommodating person often neglects

their own concerns to satisfy the concerns of others. Accommodating may take the form of
complying with another person’s request (even when preferring not to) or yielding to
another person.

Avoiding characterizes a person who does not address conflict; she will take whatever
steps she can to pretend the conflict does not exist. Avoiding may take the form of
diplomatically sidestepping or postponing an issue, or simply withdrawing from a
threatening situation.

Collaborating characterizes a person who makes every attempt to work with others to
find some solution that fully satisfies the concerns of all persons.

Compromising characterizes an individual who falls between competing and

accommodating. A person who is compromising wants to find an expedient, mutually
acceptable solution that partially satisfies the parties involved. Compromising might
involve splitting the difference, making an exchange or concession, or seeking a quick
middle-ground position.

Each of the conflict resolution styles falls somewhere along two basic dimensions:
assertiveness, the extent to which an individual attempts to satisfy his or her own needs or
priorities, and cooperativeness, the extent to which the individual tries to satisfy the needs
or priorities of another person or persons.

The assertiveness dimension is on the vertical axis and increases from bottom to top
so that the higher the score in ascending order, the more assertive the individual. The
cooperativeness dimension is on the horizontal axis and increases from left to right so that
the higher the score from left to right, the
more cooperative the individual.

Power
POWER
The concept of power and the notion of having power sometimes cause some people to
become very nervous and they may deny a desire for power or disclaim any interest in
obtaining power. Power is not necessarily a bad or negative thing to want, or to have. It is
in fact a desirable way to effect positive change. Power may be defined as the potential or
ability to influence others. Knowing the source of one’s power and how one can increase
one’s power can
be extremely beneficial to a group member in his or her interactions with other group
members. The sources of power are referred to as power bases. They include in
alphabetical order: coercion, connection, expertise, information, legitimacy, reference, and
reward (Raven, 1993).
Coercive Power
When an individual is in a position to punish others if they do not do as the individual
desires or instructs, the individual is considered to have coercive power. People usually act
to avoid punishment. Coercive power is sometimes seen as the flip side of reward power.
For example, a teacher can reward students and can also punish students based on
whether or not students’ do as the teacher requires. Similarly, parents can reward or
punish their children based on whether or not their children obey or disobey them. In
group situations an effective punishment is social disapproval. Group conformity is
sometimes achieved through the coercive power that the group leader and the group as a
whole are able to wield over group members.

Connection Power
Knowing people in positions of influence sometimes works to an individual’s advantage
and may give an individual connection power when interacting with others in a group.
Others in the group may see some benefit in associating with the individual who has
connection power because that individual’s associations with influential persons may open
doors of opportunity for others in the group. Connection power is not just limited to
knowing people in high places. The ability to network with others who are in positions to
support what one does or what one needs can also lead to connection power. Others may
be influenced by someone who is well connected through social or professional networks.

Expert Power
A group member with expert power is someone who has the specialized knowledge,
information, skill and experience that the group needs. On a Planning and Placement Team
(PPT), in a school, for example, the specialists such as the school psychologist, school
counselor, school social worker, speech therapist, special education teacher and licensed
clinical counselor all bring
expert knowledge and skills to the team and influence the team’s decisions in different but
equally important ways. The school psychologist for example, in addition to counseling
skills, brings the specialized skills and knowledge on psycho-educational and personality
testing and can share a perspective about a child’s cognitive functioning and behavior that
no other team member can bring. Similarly, each of the other team members, because of
their expertise, can bring a specialized perspective that the other team members cannot
bring. Expertise gives the individual a significant amount of power in the context of
organized groups, and outside the context of organized groups, in relationships with
others.

Information Power
An individual is said to have information power when he or she has information which can
influence the behavior of others. This information is not specialized information as with
“expert power” but general information that may help to inform or shape a discussion or
decision. In many group situations, the individual who is the most informed and or the
most experienced has a great deal of influence over how group members think about issues
and act on decisions that have to be made. Certainly in work groups in which factual
information helps to inform and shape decisions, the person with the most relevant
knowledge has a great deal of influence.

Legitimate Power
In many group situations, power is acquired or bestowed on an individual by virtue of that
individual’s position or role in the group. The individual who occupies a leadership position
may make decisions and establish rules that determine how other people can act and under
what conditions. Thus, members in the group may respect the office that the leader holds
and follow the leader’s directives because that person is the leader. For example, in stage
one of a group’s development the assigned leader is expected to offer guidance and
direction mostly because that person has the title of leader or facilitator. But notice what
happens in stage two. New leadership emerges among members of the group as legitimate
power is challenged and other forms of power such as referent and information power
begin to assume more relevance and strength.
Referent Power
Referent power is power that is derived from personal attributes that other
people admire and wish to emulate. When a group member is perceived to have admirable
qualities, such as thoughtfulness, kindness, confidence, honesty as well as the attributes
that are considered to be possessed by many group leaders (these will be considered in
chapter seven), then other group members often desire to be like that person. Therefore,
they may be influenced by that person’s thinking and actions in the group.

Reward Power
When an individual is in a position to provide rewards to others for acting in approved
ways, the individual is said to possess reward power. This form of power is very commonly
used, but is not often perceived as a form of power by those who use it. The teacher in a
classroom has, not only legitimate, information, expert and perhaps referent power, but
also has a great deal of reward power. The teacher rewards students for academic
performance as well as for attitudes and behaviors displayed in the classroom. In fact,
much of the basis for behavior management and functional behavior analysis is premised
on the concept of reward power; modifying behavior through the deliberate and effective
use of rewards. Reward power is often used in groups and on teams. One of the most
effective rewards in the group context is social approval. Group conformity is often
achieved through the reward power that the group leader and the group as a whole is able
to extend to group members
PATTERNS OF INFLUENCE IN GROUPS
The patterns of influence are important aspects of the dynamics in groups. These patterns
can be tracked and can lead to an appreciation and understanding of the roles that group
members play, the sources of conflict and power among group members and the leadership
that emerges during the group process. In groups, different members influence group
members in different ways and members identify others as influencing them in a variety of
ways. One way to chart the patterns of influence in groups is through the use of sociometric
techniques in which members are asked to nominate other members for identified roles in
the group. The nominations are collected and then graphed in some way to show which
members nominated another for the specific roles. These nominations are tallied to see
which members obtained the most nominations for a given role. Examining the
nominations for patterns of influence in a group is called sociometry and the graphic
designs themselves are called sociograms.
Sociometry and sociograms can help in knowing how best to engage a group
with respect to an identified task. Individuals who receive the highest numbers of
nominations may be the members in the group to turn to for help in mobilizing the group
to act in certain ways. This would depend on the role for which group members have been
nominated.