Journal 4

Having seven other roommates can open the door to many kinds of conflicts. These conflicts seem very normal on the surface, someone’s playing their music to loud, someone didn’t clean up after they ate, someone isn’t cleaning the bathroom when they should be or someone just locked you out of the room. These issues may seem typical but once you look at them in the light you can see things like the values of the people in the conflict, what needs they feel need to be met and their communication skills. The issue about having the stereo up to loud can be caused by certain values. Maybe this person feels that the other shouldn’t play there stereo so loud and should be more respectful in the space they share. Or maybe the conflict is caused by Basic Human Needs, such as recognition or security. The level of these conflicts can also change. One moment the conflict could be just between two people and it seems like it has been taken care of, and then next second the whole room could know about it and everyone could be ready to enter the conflict. And in some cases these conflicts could also affect people that don’t live in the room but who go there quiet frequently. In the end these conflicts can either be resolved or left unresolved which can cause some damage between the eight people and could lead to some broken friendships.