Skip to Main Content

Social Work Theories

Guide to locating information on social work theories

Key Concepts/Overview

Conflict theory

  • Changing society and institutions through protest, political activism, organizing social classes to take action, educating groups
  • Modeling of organization’s core values, providing employee intrinsic and
  • Conflict theory states that society or an organization functions so that each individual participant and its groups struggle to maximize their benefits, which inevitably contributes to social change such as political changes and revolutions.
  • The theory is mostly applied to explain conflict between social classes, proletariat versus bourgeoisie; and in ideologies, such as capitalism versus socialism.
  • The emphasis is on capitalism or society or institutions as the problem, not the individual, group or community.
  • Here the social worker must also help clients to cope with capitalism, but, at the same time, he or she will work to change the society and institutions, and educate clients about options, and possibility of different societal relationships.
  • With this perspective inequality is inherent in the capitalist society as seen in many areas: gender, disabilities, race, age, sexual orientation.

Conflict Theory (Jan 2018)

Conflict 2018

Adam, H. (1984). Racist capitalism versus capitalist non-racialism in South Africa. Ethnic & Racial Studies, 7(2), 269. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=10445845&site=ehost-live

Albert, M. (2008). Conflict in world society theory. Distinktion: Scandinavian Journal of Social Theory, 9(2), 57-75. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=34469235&site=ehost-live

Anderson, L. F. (2002). Of wild and cultivated politics: Conflict and democracy in Argentina. International Journal of Politics, Culture & Society, 16(1), 99. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9592141&site=ehost-live

Asadi, M. (2015). The sexuality transition: Premarital sex, the nuclear family, and “Doing” gender. Women's Studies, 44(1), 23-53. doi:10.1080/00497878.2014.971216

Azmanova, A. (2010). Capitalism reorganized: Social justice after neo-liberalism. Constellations: An International Journal of Critical & Democratic Theory, 17(3), 390-406. doi:10.1111/j.1467-8675.2010.00589.x

Becker, H., & Smelo, L. (1931). Conflict theories of the origin of the state. Sociological Review (1908-1952), 23(2), 65-79. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=13645112&site=ehost-live

Bonacich, E. (1989). Inequality in America: The failure of the American system for people of color. Sociological Spectrum, 9(1), 77-101. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=10792236&site=ehost-live

Brents, B. G., & Sanders, T. (2010). Mainstreaming the sex industry: Economic inclusion and social ambivalence. Journal of Law & Society, 37(1), 40-60. doi:10.1111/j.1467-6478.2010.00494.x

Brosio, R. A.Issues and arguments concerning class, gender, race, and other "identities". Educational Studies, 31(4), 393. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=4731924&site=ehost-live

Buontempo, J. T., Potrykus, H. G., & Kaufman, A. I. (2006). A symmetric adaptive model of combat. Journal of Mathematical Sociology, 30(2), 113-136. doi:10.1080/00222500500333266

Chamlin, M. B., & Arneklev, B. J. (1993). Macro-social determinants of the racial composition of major league baseball teams. Sociological Focus, 26(1), 65-79. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=11648348&site=ehost-live

Coenders, M., & Scheepers, P. (2008). Changes in resistance to the social integration of foreigners in germany 1980-2000: Individual and contextual determinants. Journal of Ethnic & Migration Studies, 34(1), 1-26. doi:10.1080/13691830701708809

Davidson, J. D. (2008). Religious stratification: Its origins, persistence, and consequences. Sociology of Religion, 69(4), 371-395. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=36183550&site=ehost-live

Dorling, D. (2014). Thinking about class. Sociology, 48(3), 452-462. doi:10.1177/0038038514523171

Friedman, G. (1988). The state and the making of the working class. Theory & Society, 17(3), 403. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=10747585&site=ehost-live

Gitlin, T. (2013). Occupy's predicament: The moment and the prospects for the movement Occupy's predicament: The moment and the prospects for the movement. British Journal of Sociology, 64(1), 3-25. doi:10.1111/1468-4446.12001

Hagan, J., Shedd, C., & Payne, M. R. (2005). Race, ethnicity, and youth perceptions of criminal injustice. American Sociological Review, 70(3), 381-407. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=17782759&site=ehost-live

Hagelund, A., & Bryngelson, A. (2014). Change and resilience in welfare state policy. the politics of sickness insurance in Norway and Sweden. Social Policy & Administration, 48(3), 300-318. doi:10.1111/spol.12009

Hall, S. (2014). The socioeconomic function of evil. Sociological Review, 62, 13-31. doi:10.1111/1467-954X.12189

Hayle, S., Wortley, S., & Tanner, J. (2016). Race, street life, and policing: Implications for racial profiling. Canadian Journal of Criminology & Criminal Justice, 58(3), 322-353. doi:10.3138/cjccj.2014.E32

Hill, C. E., Lent, R. W., Morrison, M. A., Pinto-Coelho, K., Jackson, J. L., & Kivlighan, D. M. (2016). Contribution of supervisor interventions to client change: The therapist perspective. Clinical Supervisor, 35(2), 227-248. doi:10.1080/07325223.2016.1193783

Hogenstijn, M., van Middelkoop, D., & Terlouw, K. (2008). The established, the outsiders and scale strategies: Studying local power conflicts. Sociological Review, 56(1), 144-161. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.2008.00780.x

Holland, T. P. (1974). The community: Organism or arena. Social Work, 19(1), 73-80. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=16247251&site=ehost-live

Honey, M. (2000). Anti-racism, black workers, and southern labor organizing: Historical notes on a continuing struggle. Labor Studies Journal, 25(1), 10. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=2984118&site=ehost-live

Howell, C. (2016). Regulating class in the neoliberal era: The role of the state in the restructuring of work and employment relations. Work, Employment & Society, 30(4), 573-589. doi:10.1177/0950017015595954

Jacobs, D. (1979). Inequality and police strength: Conflict theory and coercive control in metropolitan areas. American Sociological Review, 44(6), 913-925. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=14747605&site=ehost-live

Jehn, K. A. (1995). A multimethod examination of the benefits and detriments of intragroup conflict. Administrative Science Quarterly, 40(2), 256-282. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9508180103&site=ehost-live

Jones, E. E., & Johnson, C. A. (1973). Delay of consequences and the riskiness of decisions. Journal of Personality, 41(4), 613-637. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.ep9027637

Kaye, H. J. (1999). Marxian questions, working-class struggles, socialist aspirations. Critical Sociology (Brill Academic Publishers), 25(1), 16-29. doi:10.1163/156916399510311

Keating, B. R. (2016). Truth through fiction. Humanity & Society, 40(3), 242-253. doi:10.1177/0160597615622233

Kicillof, A., & Starosta, G. (2007). Value form and class struggle: A critique of the autonomist theory of value. Capital & Class, 31(92), 13-40. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=25591950&site=ehost-live

King, E. B., Knight, J. L., & Hebl, M. R. (2010). The influence of economic conditions on aspects of stigmatization. Journal of Social Issues, 66(3), 446-460. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.2010.01655.x

Koenig, M., & Dierkes, J. (2011). Conflict in the world polity - neo-institutional perspectives. Acta Sociologica (Sage Publications, Ltd.), 54(1), 5-25. doi:10.1177/0001699310392600

Kreps, G. A., & Wenger, D. E. (1973). Toward a theory of community conflict: Factors influencing the initiation and scope of conflict. Sociological Quarterly, 14(2), 158-174. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=14038947&site=ehost-live

Lachmann, R. (1990). Class formation without class struggle: An elite conflict theory of the transition to capitalism. American Sociological Review, 55(3), 398-414. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=15471663&site=ehost-live

Lancee, B., & Pardos-Prado, S. (2013). Group conflict theory in a longitudinal perspective: Analyzing the dynamic side of ethnic competition. International Migration Review, 47(1), 106-131. doi:10.1111/imre.12015

Lazic, M., & Cvejic, S. (2011). Post-socialist transformation and value changes of the middle class in Serbia. European Sociological Review, 27(6), 808-823. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=69726424&site=ehost-live

Conflict Theory part 2 (Jan 2018)

Manago, A. M., Greenfield, P. M., Kim, J. L., & Ward, L. M. (2014). Changing cultural pathways through gender role and sexual development: A theoretical framework. Ethos (00912131), 42(2), 198-221. doi:10.1111/etho.12048

Martin, B. (2009). Nonviolent strategy against capitalism. Social Alternatives, 28(1), 42-46. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=43690912&site=ehost-live

Matlon, J. (2016). Racial capitalism and the crisis of black masculinity. American Sociological Review, 81(5), 1014-1038. doi:10.1177/0003122416658294

McDonnell, E. M. (2013). Budgetary units: A Weberian approach to consumption. American Journal of Sociology, 119(2), 307-350. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=93447106&site=ehost-live

McKinney, K. (1990). Sexual harassment of university faculty by colleagues and students. Sex Roles, 23(7-8), 421-438. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=23804808&site=ehost-live

Morgan, G. (2016). New actors and old solidarities: Institutional change and inequality under a neo-liberal international order. Socio-Economic Review, 14(1), 201-225. doi:10.1093/ser/mwv033

Morris, W. N., Miller, R. S., & Spangenberg, S. (1977). The effects of dissenter position and task difficulty on conformity and response conflict. Journal of Personality, 45(2), 251. doi:10.1111/1467-6494.ep7383419

Obersehall, A. (1978). Theories of social conflict. Annual Review of Sociology, 4, 291. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=10457562&site=ehost-live

Panayotakis, C. (2014). Capitalism, meritocracy, and social stratification: A radical reformulation of the davis- moore thesis. American Journal of Economics & Sociology, 73(1), 126-150. doi:10.1111/ajes.12068

Priest, R. F., & Wilhelm, P. G. (1974). Sex, marital status, and self-actualization as factors in the appreciation of sexist jokes. Journal of Social Psychology, 92(2), 245-249. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=16468103&site=ehost-live

Rank, M. R., & LeCroy, C. W. (1983). Toward a multiple perspective in family theory and practice: The case of social exchange theory, symbolic interactionism, and conflict theory. Family Relations, 32(3), 441-448. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=4699452&site=ehost-live

Ritzer, G. (2015). Dealing with the welcome critiques of 'prosumer capitalism'. Sociological Quarterly, 56(3), 499-505. doi:10.1111/tsq.12104

Roberts, A. (2014). Doing borrowed time: The state, the law and the coercive governance of ‘Undeserving’ debtors. Critical Sociology (Sage Publications, Ltd.), 40(5), 669-687. doi:10.1177/0896920513507788

Robinson, R. V. (1984). Structural change and class mobility in capitalist societies. Social Forces, 63(1), 51-71. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=5283365&site=ehost-live

Schlee, G. (2004). Taking sides and constructing identities: Reflections on conflict theory. Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 10(1), 135-156. doi:10.1111/j.1467-9655.2004.00183.x

Selwyn, B. (2016). Elite development theory: A labour-centred critique. Third World Quarterly, 37(5), 781-799. doi:10.1080/01436597.2015.1120156

Sheppard, E. (2015). Thinking geographically: Globalizing capitalism and beyond. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 105(6), 1113-1134. doi:10.1080/00045608.2015.1064513

Stanley, L., Dampier, H., & Salter, A. (2010). Olive Schreiner globalising social inquiry: A feminist analytics of globalization. Sociological Review, 58(4), 656-679. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.2010.01945.x

Straus, M. A. (1994). State-to-state differences in social inequality and social bonds in relation to assaults on wives in the United States. Journal of Comparative Family Studies, 25(1), 7-24. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=9406090905&site=ehost-live

Szczecinska-Musielak, E. (2016). Social conflict theory in studying the conflict in Northern Ireland. Polish Sociological Review, (193), 119-136. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=115835687&site=ehost-live

Weingart, P. (1969). Beyond Parsons? a critique of Ralf Dahrendorf's conflict theory. Social Forces, 48(2), 151-165. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=13586146&site=ehost-live

Wells, A. (1979). Conflict theory and functionalism. Teaching Sociology, 6(4), 429-437. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=13837250&site=ehost-live

Wood, R. E. (1983). Conflict theory as pedagogy: A critique from the left. Teaching Sociology, 10(4), 463-485. Retrieved from http://0-search.ebscohost.com.bravecat.uncp.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=13837262&site=ehost-live