Mari Orikasa

COMM 1080
Judy Jones
August 8, 2015
COMM 1080 ePortfolio
COMM 1080 was interesting to me. I enrolled at SLCC as a Psychology major first. I
have noticed that this COMM 1080 subject has been best for me looking at it from a
psychological view. I chose the theme power, because I have struggled through power conflicts
since I was a child. I still observe conflicts as the result of power conflict today.
What is power?
Power is a force to make the world better or worse. Power conflicts occur in many levels:
from personal to the nation.
If people use their power in a positive way, the outcome will be positive. But if power is used in
a negative way, the outcome will be disaster.

What do I know about power?

Think about the power in nature. For example, lions are powerful animals. The lion hunts
pray. It is hard to get away from a powerful lion attack for the pray. But the lions cannot win all
of the time. The lions can be hurt by their pray sometimes and some lions can be killed by their
pray. But a lion does not have ego to use power. The lions hunt for their needs. I believe people
have never heard that the lions hunt pray for their ego.
"Power over human beings is very complex. Other human beings can answer back, fight
back, obey or disobey, argue and try to exercise power over us, which a tree never does"
(Hocker)
Power changes the shape in different ways in human life, because of people s needs and
wants. I have seen many people want to own power. I have also seen many people who were
forced to give up their power.
Three different views of power--either/or power, both/and power, and designated
power. (Hocker)
What do the experts/ scholars say about power?
Power should be equal with both parties, but it doesnt happen right away. Both parties
need to adjust power to create a good result, but it is hard to do that many times.
Power is presented as a relational concept rather than as an attribute of the individual.
Our power currencies are described as "spendable" energy that can be used in

conflictual relationships. Power imbalances often impede conflict management; the

various ways to deal with too much or too little power are described, with specific
suggestions on how to balance power in positive ways. (Hocker)
How does it work?
High-power and low-power conflicts occur in many ways. I think high-power can be used
in good ways: making productive results for everybody, and bad ways: gain the power for
making profit for limited people. Low-power tries to gain their power to change but it is hard to
get a good result in a short time.
How is power helpful/ harmful?
I made a sample of high -power causing harmful results.
This is Cecil the lion. He was killed illegally by an American
hunter. Cecil is a victim of structural violence.

Robert Mugabe, the

current president of
Zimbabwe. He has highpower in his country. He
controls voting to not let
other to become a
president.
Mugabes poor economic policy
declines Zimbabwes economy.
The Zimbabwe citizens are also
victims of structural violence.

People in Zimbabwe hunt animals

illegally to earn money. The country
lets foreign hunters who pay high prices to hunt. As the result,
many animals are under threat now.

Power became helpful

After Cecils death, many people realized and took actions to
save these unspeakable species under threats. Wild life searchers
have been receiving donations, an airline company banned
shipment of importing trophy animals.

How can power affect my relationship?

My relationship with my ex fianc was a typical high-power and low power conflict. He
announced to me to not argue with him, because I could not change him. Automatically, I
became a low- power party.
I do not have many arguments with my boyfriend today. I can speak up freely without
feeling hopeless. I think power conflict occurs based on individuals personality.
What are some of my experiences?
I have a bully co-worker. She always keeps her eyes on me and does knit picking at me.
She also uses physical aggression towards me. Many co-workers have noticed that she is strange.
I do not know why she is targeting me. Her age is the same as mine. She has been telling many
lies: she was under the training as a supervisor in the past. Our director called her into his office
and told her that she was not. She said I know it. People in the office were stunned. At his
level, you cannot say she is strange.
One person is not lying, distorting, or suffering from a disorder of character, such as
sociopathy. A sociopath is a person who has no conscience and is not moved by the
plight of others. (Hocker)
I spoke with the director but he said both of you do not get along. I sensed that it would
be easy for the company to claim that. The director told me that to leave the place when she gets
close to me. I told him that I will keep ignoring her for my safety and he agreed with that.
I am blocking her attacking as ignoring her and in the same time she is attacking me to
give in to her.
If you struggle with someone because "you won't give in," you are trying to block their
exercise of power-and they are probably doing the same thing. (Hocker)
How will I use what I have learned in the future?
From my experience, it is important to have courage to make both low-power and highpower parties equal. When low-power party does not have resources to bring them up to highpower party for a long time, the damage will be huge. But it is important to learn to have courage
for them.
Again, courage is required to bring up differences when a power imbalance is in place.
(Hocker)

Work Cited
Hocker, & Wilmot. (n.d.). Conflict Components. In The Structure of Conflict.

(Wikipedia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Zimbabwe