How specifically do the relationships in To Kill a Mockingbird cause conflict and tension?

Jem and Scout's relationship with their neighbors in
Maycomb creates a great deal of the conflict and tension in the novel. As they watch
events unfold in Tom Robinson's case, they often cannot understand what they see and
hear around them, but they do recognize cruelty and hatefulness. Mrs. Dubose's tirade
about their father's "lawing for niggers" infuriates Jem so much that he destroys her
flowers. When cousin Francis calls Atticus a "nigger lover," Scout beats him up, just as
she fought with Cecil Jacobs at school for essentially criticizing Atticus in the same
way.

Scout's relationship with Aunt Alexandra is also one
of conflict, and the tension between her and her aunt develops to the point that it
fills Scout with great anxiety and frustration. In her attempts to mold Scout into a
lady, Alexandra often insults Scout and hurts her feelings. When she tries to turn Jem
and Scout into "respectable" members of the Finch family line, Scout sees Alexandra as a
threat to the roles she and Jem have always played in their family and to the nature of
their relationship with their father:

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Atticus, is all this behavin' an' stuff gonna
make things different? I mean are you--? . . . Do you really want us to do all that? I
can't remember everything Finches are supposed to do . . .
.

Scout's fears are resolved
when Atticus tells her he doesn't want her to remember it: "Forget it," he tells
her.

Finally, Scout and Jem's relationship with Boo Radley
creates one particular scene of great dramatic tension when Jem returns to the Radley
yard to retrieve his pants from their fence. Scout is certain her brother will be
killed.