Power Struggles!

1. Identify situations in personal relationships that reflect power struggles?

A situation that I know for sure has Power Struggle is with a parent and their child or children. When I was just a little girl and my brother was younger then what he is now, we’d play in the house and I would break very expensive things, and blame it on my older brother to avoid problems. My brother would struggle to convince my parents that I did it and I would technically over-power my brother by getting him in trouble. So that was considered power struggle! 

2. Give an example on personal experiences of power struggle situations and what was the outcome?

For example let’s say your 12 years old and you have a little brother or sister who’s 6 years old, and you both are playing tag in the house. But accidentally your little brother or sister breaks a glass vase, and they start to blame it on you. Suddenly your parents walk in the room and see you trying to pick up the broken pieces of vase, and they think you broke it.  But you know your little sibling did it, and your telling your parents but they don’t believe you, but then to avoid trouble your little sibling says ”I didn’t do that (s)he did it.” Now your parents believe that your lying and they believe what your little sibling is saying. Your trying to to tell them that your little sibling did it, but they don’t believe you and they punish you.  So in that moment when your parents didn’t believe what you were saying and you know your telling the truth that was called Power Struggle. That is considered power struggle because you were struggling to tell you parent that your sibling broke the vase,  and the power was that your little sibling over-powered you by blaming you and having you get in to trouble.       

3. When and how do you use power in interactions with others?

You use power when you try to convince to others that you are right about something, how you use it depends what the situation is about. Let’ s say you use to be good friends with your so called enemy, but now your just completely enemies.  You and your enemy were paired up for a project and you have to answer a question. Both of you have totally and completely different answers,  but one of you know’s that your right. You guys are going to fight each-other just to prove your right. In that little problem you both are using power to make sure that the other agrees with your answer.          

4. Where do you see or have seen power struggle occurring in your surrounding neighborhood, community, local government, etc?           

I see it in stores, at yard sales, and even when people are stopped by the police. When I am at the store with my mom or dad, I sometimes see people find things on the clearance rack and it says 75% off and when they go and pay for it the cashier says that’s not on clearance, but they you say I found it on  the clearance rack, but then cashier says well sorry but we didn’t put it there someone else did, and it’s not on clearance. So you get so mad and then you both start fighting and yelling.