Violence

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For other uses, see Violence (disambiguation).

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Violence is, on the one hand, acts of aggression and abuse that cause or intend to cause injury to person(s) (and by some definitions animals or property). Another, very different meaning of violence is when the word is used to denote the use of (legal) political force, such as executed by a policy force or military force. (It does not mean that all police or military force is legal - it just indicates that we are talking about the public domain). Definitions of violence such as used by Max Weber, Hannah Arendt et al must be understood in the light of this public domain.

In the first significance, violence is often a crime. Damage to property is typically considered minor relative to violence against persons, and harm to animals may be considered acts of violence, depending on the situation and social values related to animal cruelty. The term "violence" also connotes an aggressive tendency to act out destructive behaviours. Violence can also be divided into two forms — random violence, which includes unpremeditated or small-scale violence, and coordinated violence, which includes actions carried out by sanctioned or unsanctioned violent groups —such as war (ie. inter-societal violence), in some cases certain types of revolution, or terrorism.

1 War
2 Law
3 Psychology and sociology
4 Prevention of violence
5 Violence in the media
6 Metaphorical violence
7 Health and wellness
8 See also
9 References
10 Notes and references
11 External links
12 Reading

[edit] War

Since the Industrial Revolution, the lethality of modern warfare has steadily grown to levels considered universally dangerous. As a practical matter, warfare on a massive scale is considered to be a direct threat to the prosperity and survival of individuals, cultures, societies, and the world's living populations. However, death per involved populations' size has significantly decreased, due in part to the involvement of populations pressuring their governments to enact more humane fighting strategies and or opposition to war itself.

[edit] Law

One of the main functions of law is to regulate violence. Indeed, the sociologist Max Weber famously stated that power is the Monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force on a specific territory. In modern societies, the state retains this monopoly. In earlier communities, a chieftain or king might have had that right. That is to say "Violence" also refers to the means used by authorities in order for their decisions to be applied.

Certain forms and degrees of violence are socially and/or legally sanctioned, and some result from legal action, while others constitute crimes within a specific society. Different societies apply different standards relating to sanctioned and non-sanctioned forms of violence. Degrees of violence that are accepted by a society's norms are commonly regarded as cruel, and may be termed extra-normal violence. Violence used in terrorism is often normal in terms of degree.

Violence can be unilateral, while fighting implies a reaction, at least a defensive one.

Here are some forms/conceptions of violence condemned/conceived by various legal entities :

Abuse- to use wrongly or improperly; misuse
Aggravated assault- fatal assault with the use of weapons
Assault- an unlawful physical attack upon another; an attempt or offer to do violence to another
Assault and battery- an assault with an actual touching or other violence upon another.
Battery- an unlawful attack upon another person by beating or wounding, or by touching in an offensive manner
Cruelty to animals- a cruel act upon an animal
Child Abuse - Cruelty to children (people under the age of 18)
Domestic violence- acts of violence against a person living in one's household, a member of one's immediate family
Murder- the killing of another human being under vulnerable conditions
Property damage- the damage to ones property (ie: breaking of things, burning, or harming in a devastating manner)
Rape- the unlawful compelling of someone through physical force or duress to have sexual intercourse

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines violence as "Injury inflicted by deliberate means", which includes assault, as well as "legal intervention, and self-harm".^[1] The Federal Bureau of Investigation further classifies violence resulting in homicide, into criminal homicide and justifiable homicide (e.g. self defense).^[2]

[edit] Psychology and sociology

The causes of violent behaviour are often a research topic in psychology and sociology. Violence is often pursued as an antidote to shame or humiliation^[3]. The mistaken concept here is that violence is a source of pride and a defense of honor. ^[4]

Violence (in other than legislative significance) is often^{[citation needed]}, but not always, a deviant behaviour. However, in legislative issues too, the use of violence (state force) is also to be considered exceptional, can never be considered the norm. As Arendt explains: "Violence can be justifiable, but it never will be legitimate" - and the author immediately explains: "Its justification loses in plausibility the farther its intended end recedes into the future. No one questions the use of violence in self-defence, because the danger is not only clear but also present, and the end justifying the means is immediate" (Hannah Arendt, On Violence - Harvest Book, p.52). In this sense, the perception is in sync with the domain of psychology or sociology: the concept of violence is always a deviation of some kind.

Another view is that violence is inherent in humans^[5], and is kept in check by self-restraint^[6].

The psychologist James W. Prescott performed a study about how the cause of violence in the anthropological sense, which he mainly attaches to lack of mother-child bonding. He links repression of sexuality and punishment of children as a cause of violent societies.

Some writers (Riane Eisler, Walter Wink, Daniel Quinn) have suggested that violence - or at least the arsenal of violent strategies we take for granted - is a phenomenon of the last five to ten thousand years, and was not present in pre-domestication and early post-domestication human societies, although others such as Stephen Pinker (in the Blank Slate) argue that violent behavior is evolutionarily derived.

[edit] Prevention of violence

The World Health Organization in 2002 brought out a report on violence and health that concludes with specific recommendations on how societies can prevent violence. Irvin Waller in Less Law, More Order uses the WHO report and others to develop an evidence based proposal for a crime bill to prevent violence and save taxes.

Each year 24 million Americans are victims of crime. U.S. taxpayers spend more and more each year on police, prisons and judges--a record $200 billion at last count. Yet prestigious commissions show not only that this standard way of responding to crime is ineffective but that there is scientific proof that many projects that tackle risk factors that cause crime are effective. The book illustrates in convincing detail what needs to be done to prevent crime. Waller shows that hiring public health nurses and investing in helping youth at risk to complete school and get job training is better than hiring more police; preventing family violence, banning hand guns and dealing with drugs through public health saves more lives than incarceration; getting close neighbors to watch out for us and better industrial design are more effective than criminal courts; smarter policing is better than more police; paying for services to support victims and guaranteeing them rights is better than more rhetoric. Addressing the social issues that lead to crime, rather than addressing crime after it happens, or putting stiffer penalties in place, will contribute to creating a safer society and to keeping kids and adults from taking the wrong path toward a life of crime.

Nonviolence and nonviolent resistance are forms of personal, social and political action that seek to confront and reduce violence, repression and injustice. Nonviolence as a political philosophy and political movement has, particularly throughout the 20th century recorded and developed a massive range of actions, strategies and methodologies to conduct conflict. Primary categories of nonviolent forms of action codified by Gene Sharp are: acts of protest and persuasion, acts of nonviolent nonco-operation and nonviolent intervention.

[edit] Violence in the media

Main article: graphic violence

A highly debated topic is the influence of violent content in popular media such as film, television, music, comic books, and video games.

Violence makes many appearances in these, much to the displeasure of parents and politicians. Violence in these media has led to censorship in extreme cases, and regulation in others, one case being the creation of the Entertainment Software Rating Board in 1994.

Violent content has been a central part of video game controversy, critics like Dave Grossman arguing that violence in games (some of which he calls "murder simulators") hardens children to unethical acts. See also: Aestheticization of violence and "Aggression in the media" in the Aggression section.

[edit] Metaphorical violence

In Europe and Asia, the word "violence" is used in statements describing politics in a manner which would confuse those expecting such a physical word to be taken literally.

[edit] Health and wellness

The World Health Organization (WHO, [1]) estimates that each year around 1.6 million lives are lost world-wide due to violence. It is among the leading causes of death for people ages 15-44, youth violence being evermost in the rise. Its impact is greater among the male than the female population.

On October 3, 2002, the WHO launched the first World Report on Violence and Health[2]. In it, violence is defined as "the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation."

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Notes and references

^ Definitions for WISQARSTM Nonfatal. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on November 10, 2006.
^ Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook. Federal Bureau of Investigation (2004).
^ Gilligan, James (1996). Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes. Putnam Adult. ISBN 0-399-13979-6
^ Emotional Competency Entry describing violence
^ Peterson, Dale; Richard Wrangham (1997). Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence. Mariner Books. ISBN 0-395-87743-1
^ Baumeister, Roy F.; Aaron Beck (1999). Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty. Owl Books. ISBN 0-8050-7165-2