Different types (or kinds) of conflict: Conflict can be of various types.

They are:

(i) war.

(ii) feud.

(iii) litigation. and 

(iv) conflict of impersonal ideals.

War is a type of group conflict which all of us know. War results from a deep seated antagonistic impulse in man. Feud is an intra-group form of war caused by some injustice alleged to have been done by one group to another. Litigation is a judicial form of conflict. The best example of litigation is the court case. Conflict carried out by individuals for an ideal (not for themselves) is called the conflict of impersonal ideas. 

Some sociologists have given various classification of conflicts. We shall discuss some important ones:

(i) Conflict can be either.

(a) manifest (overt). or 

(b) latent/covert.

The manifest type can be observed but the latent conflict primarily remains invisible.

(ii) Conflicts can be either 

(a) corporate. or 

(b) personal. 

Corporate conflict occurs among the groups within a society or between two societies. Communal riots, war between nations, strikes by industrial labourers are examples of corporate conflict. On the other hand, personal conflict occurs within the group, due to envy, hostility, jealousy or breach of trust.

(iii) Conflict can be purely temporary (ephemeral) or perpetual (enduring). Conflict between individuals on a road side, village shop, city buses for small and petty reasons are the best examples of ephemeral conflicts. Such conflicts do not last over a long period of time. People generally forget and come back to their normal life. On the other hand, conflict between two rival groups of a village or two feuding clans of a tribe are the examples of the perpetual conflict. In such cases conflict is also not continuous. It is stretched over a long period of time and sometimes extends over several generations. However, there are intermittent periods of peace and social harmony followed with turbulent periods of conflict.