Social-Conflict and Good Will Hunting
Social-Conflict theory espouses the belief that that conflict is a basic aspect of life and can never be fully resolved. According to this approach formal agencies of social control merely coerce the disenfranchised to comply with the rules established by those in power. This paper will examine this perspective in light of the 1997 movie Good Will Hunting, written by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck and directed by Gus Van Sant.
Social-Conflict Theory
Social-conflict theory has its roots in the ideas of Karl Marx. Marx's conflict approach stresses a materialistic interpretation of social order. Marx felt that the way work is socially organized and the technology utilized in production have a strong impact on every other aspect of society. He maintained that everything of value in society results from human labor and viewed working men and women as engaged in making society and creating the conditions for their own existence.
According to Louis Kriesburg social conflict occurs when two or more parties believe they have incompatible objectives. Social conflicts arise when structural relations of an inequality are present. Issues such as political power, access to recourses, or ideologies can give impetus to social conflict.
One aspect of this point-of-view is to see laws as a tool of the powerful, to be used to maintain the status quo with regards to important social institutions. In this context social order rests upon the exercise of power through law rather than being the result of any consensus or process of dispute resolution. Those in power work ceaselessly to remain there and the structure which they impose on society, such as patterns of wealth building that they define as acceptable, or situations under which they authorize the exercise of legal power and military might, yields advantages they may exercise to impose their will.
According to...
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now