Basic concepts
Accommodation – a form of social interaction when individuals or groups get used to the conflict situation, their interactions are temporarily fixed and controlled through the laws and norms.
Action – movement with a meaning and purpose.
Arbitration – a number of procedures of conciliatory character exercised by formally authorized establishments or agencies such as labour courts.
Assimilation – a process of interpenetration and fusion in which individuals and groups acquire the memories, sentiments and attitudes of other people and groups, and, by sharing their experience and history, are incorporated with them in a common culture.
Coercion – making use of military forces when interethnic and interstate contradictions become sharp.
Competition – an elementary universal and fundamental form of social interaction, the struggle for existence (by R. Park).
Compromise – a method to solve a conflict when agreement is achieved by making mutual concessions.
Conflict – a form of social interaction when actors identify each other as rivals or as enemies because the problems arising among them are perceived as not solved by any other means or perceived as a threat to their existence (by R. Park).
Constructive conflict – conflict enabling to bring about contradictions and solve them, develop forward, correct interactions, etc.
Destructive conflict – conflict which breaks effective interaction and brings harm to the both interaction partners.
Deviation – a method to settle a conflict when one avoids from a conflict interaction, excluding demonstration of one’s own success, advantages, benefits etc. in order to humiliate the partner so that he isn’t able to resist.
Interpersonal (face-to-face) interaction – observable interaction among people in dyad, triad and between one to many.
Group interaction – observable interaction among members of a group when both the group’s social orientations and values shared by all or most of its members are manifested.
Mediation – applying to the third, neutral party, or mediator who is not directly involved in the conflict so as to cease fighting and start cooperating.
Non-realistic conflict – conflict caused by accumulated negatives emotions, offence, hostility and the like (by L. Coser).
Realistic conflict – conflict oriented to achieve a definite outcome, and the reason for its appearance may become inequality as the distinction of any society (by L. Coser).
Social action – a person’s movement with a meaning and purpose that requires a response from another person.
Social behaviour – action addressed towards other people.
Social contact – a pair of social actions.
Social interaction – a dynamic, changing sequence of social actions between people (or groups) who modify their actions and reactions due to the actions undertaken by their interaction partner(s).
Social relation – a multitude of social interactions, regulated by social norm, between two or more people, each having a social position and performing a social role; a stable system of regulated interactions between two or more partners on the basis of a certain platform (i. e. interest).
Social process – those activities, actions, events or operations that involve the interaction between people.
Societal interaction – indirect interaction bearing on the level of community and society.
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2. Bourdeiu P. Logic of Practice. – Cambridge: Polity Press, 1990. – 382 p.
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4. Durkheim E. The Division of Labour in Society. – New York, NY: Free Press; 1997. – 272 p.
5. Durkheim E. Suicide. – New York, NY: Free Press; 1951. – 345 p.