Understanding Violence: Definitions & Theories

Defining Violence

• Violence connects actions, behaviors, ideas, perceptions, and justifications.
• Subcultures exist where specific groups are more prone to violence, such as gangs and the KKK.
• Aggression involves behavior that is physically or psychologically harmful.
• Righteous slaughter happens when perpetrators believe their violence defends a principle and the victims are not innocent.
• Spillover theory suggests violence in one area of life can overlap into others; legitimizing violence in society might increase illegitimate violence. A spillover example is children exposed to violence imitating it with toys.
• Brutalization hypothesis argues capital punishment increases murder rates rather than decreasing them.
• Wars increase illegitimate violence, soldiers may commit domestic violence upon return.
• War legitimizes lethal force, influencing citizens to see violence as justified.
• Archer and Gartner's study compared homicide rates before and after wars; most combatant nations saw an increase in postwar homicides.
• Violence can be defined as;
  • "Exertion of physical force to injure or abuse," according to Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary.
  • "Behaviors by individuals that intentionally threaten, attempt, or inflict physical harm," according to The National Panel on the Understanding and Control of Violent Behavior.
  • "A series of events causing injury or damage," according to Newman.
  • "Any action or structural arrangement that results in physical or nonphysical harm," according to Iadicola and Shupe.
  • Definition most closely aligns with textbook approach.
  • "The threat, attempt, or use of physical force resulting in harm," according to Weiner, Zahn, and Sagi.
  • "Destructive physical aggression intentionally directed at harming others," accoding to Bartol and Bartol.
  • "Behavior perpetrated or attempted with the intention of harming another physically or psychologically," also according to Bartol and Bartol.
  • "Any form of behavior intended to injure someone," accoding to Berkowitz.
• Instrumental violence uses violence as a means to an end, like assault during an armed robbery.
• Expressive violence fulfills an emotional state, e.g., anger or jealousy.
• Interpersonal violence: assaults, rapes, robberies, and murders committed by one or more offenders against one or more victims.
• Institutional violence occurs within organizational settings, e.g., family violence, workplace violence, military violence, religious violence, and state-perpetrated violence.
• Structural violence involves discriminatory social arrangements causing harm and societal inequalities.
• Defining violence is complex due to varied actions, contexts, perceptions, and understandings.
• Legitimacy: Violence context depends on the victim, offender, nature, location, and rationale. Easier to condone violence against those different from us.
• Violence Measurement: includes reports to law enforcement (UCRP, SHR, NIBRS) and victimization surveys (NCVS, NYS).
• Society impacts violence through avoidance strategies, "get tough" mentalities, warfare, media, and knowing a victim.

Origins and Nature of Violence

• Violence is rooted in human nature, not just rational causes.
• Homicides are mainly committed by "normal" individuals, not those with mental illness.
• Case Study: Omar Mateen & Pulse Nightclub Shooting (2016), motivations involved personal, ideological, and psychological factors. No direct links to ISIS were confirmed and complex personal issues possibly involved.
• Violent behavior is influenced by multiple factors, including Biology and Evolution, Psychology and Trauma, Social and Cultural Factors
• Predicting violence is difficult due to varied individual responses.
• Theories explaining violence include ethological/biological (evolution, neurobiology, inherited traits), psychological (mental states, personality), and sociological (society, culture, structure).
• Animal Aggression and Human Parallels:
  • Male-on-male aggression is competition for status.
  • Territorial aggression relates to conflicts over land.
  • Fear-based aggression responds to threats when escape is impossible.
  • Maternal aggression protects offspring.
  • Predatory aggression is killing for sustenance or power.
• Lethal violence exists in other species, such as chimpanzees.
• Serotonin transmits messages between brain nerve cells
• Low serotonin levels are linked incomplete messages.
• Deficiencies cause depression, anxiety, suicide, and impulsive aggression.
• Serotonin inhibits impulses, controlling aggressive behavior.
• Low serotonin alone does not cause violence, contributing to impulsive aggression.
• MAOA gene ("warrior gene") reduces serotonin breakdown; associated with antisocial, aggressive behavior, especially with childhood abuse.
• Testosterone linked to male aggression, but findings are inconclusive. Animal studies show castrated animals less aggressive, aggression resumes with testosterone.
• Some human studies link high testosterone with violence, others show no difference in testosterone levels between violent and nonviolent offenders.
• Testosterone and Winning increases testosterone (sports, military training). Losing decreases. High-status inmates have high testosterone.
• Testosterone is more related to dominance and competition than violence.
• Brain damage may cause violence.
• Brain tumor may have contributed to mass murder in Charles Whitman case (1966).
• MRI & PET scans show brain dysfunctions in violent offenders. EEG scans abnormal in 65% of chronically violent people. Brain trauma is linked to violent behavior,
• CTE (Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy) is a neurodegenerative disease from repeated head trauma, linked to memory loss, cognitive deficits, and dementia.
• CTE is found post-mortem in NFL players and violent offenders.
• Some individuals had aggression before CTE.
• Soldiers with frontal lobe injuries had more aggression.
• BIHS (correlation) may be caused by by steroid use.
• Biosocial Factors & Epigenetics affects activating or suppressing genes. Pregnancy risks (substance use, abuse alter gene expression. Toxins in the environment can also impact genetic makeup and increase aggression risk.
• Psychological Explanations of Violence focuses on personality that explains violent behavior.
• Antisocial Personality Disorder (ASPD), commonly referred to as psychopathy or sociopathy, is characterized by narcissism, recklessness, emotional shallowness, and lack of empathy.
• ASPD leads to Individuals not feeling guilt or remorse and often manipulate, use, and exploit others for personal gain.
• Ted Bundy showed no guilt for his crimes.

Traits of ASPD

• Personality Traits: Glibness, superficial charm, manipulativeness, lack of remorse.
• Lifestyle Traits: Impulsivity, irresponsibility, stimulation. Juvenile delingquency.
• Other Traits: Promiscuity, multiple failed relationships, criminal versatility and not all serial killers have ASPD. 1-3% of the U.S. population may have ASPD, but they represent a small percentage of violent offenders.
• Enjoyment in violence comes from some individuals. Sadism is pleasure in harming others. Thrill-seeking means excitement with risky or destructive behavior and revenge comes from threats to self-esteem.
• Jack Katz; crime and violence can be intrinsically appealing, offering excitement and empowerment.
• Frustration-Aggression Hypothesis; violence results from frustration when achieving a goal is blocked.
• Increased risk of violence comes from frustration that is perceived itentional and viewing hindrance as unfair as well as aggressive stimuli.
• Stress Response readies the body for "fight or flight" with adrenaline. Chronic stress contributes to aggressive behavior.
• Linsky, Bachman, & Straus: Stress affects physiological systems and can lead to violent responses.
• SociologicalExplaantions of Violence focuses on external influences and examines macro (society-wide) and micro (family, community) factors contributing to violence.
• Economic Deprivation and Inequality/Poverty (economic deprivation) is linked to violence, Minorities experience higher rates of violence. Poverty contributes to more violence and inequality.
• Strains in society due to blocked goals, the loss of value, and other issues. Robert Agnew: People experience strain when society's goals (success, wealth) are emphasized but means (education, jobs) blocked. Robert Agnew: Increased likelyhood of violence
• Institutions anomie comes from the American Dream promoting wealth.

Theories of Violence

• Institutional Anomie; when family, education, and religion lose influence, economic success dominates values. Anomie, which comes from lack of regulation leads to crime.
• Institutional Anomie contributes to the U.S. opioid epidemic and economic gain was prioritized over.public health in an anomic society where profit dominates ethical concerns.
• Social Learning Theory which states violence is just like any other learned action. People learn aggression through direct experience, observation, and the lack of social bonds. Conditioning/modeling are parts of SLT.
• Differential Association suggests behaviors are learned, not only how to commit crimes, but justification as well.
• Signaling theories have criminals, using tattoos communicate toughness and willingness for violence.
• Media can influence aggression if modeling behavior and reward reinforcement or social scripts. Also Arousal Effects can affect the response
• Experimental Research measures correlations between violence and media.
• Collective violence; motivations for collective violence overlap with violence with individual violence,
• Case Studies: The Aileen Wuornos life involved many criminal theories due to hardship. Strains in her life come from her earlier life as well as childhood. She killed six men in Florida.
• The Power of Groups that shape behavior

Assault & Murder

• Violence Continuum: Homicide is the most lethal form of Assault. Where weapon usage is a large factor. Cases of assault increase to gun cases.
• Word of Life incident in 2015 illustrates the charges and isssues.
• Assault is when assault and results in severe usage. A simple assault involves mminimal injuries
• Homicide is the term of killing another person. murder is for criminal type of hhommicide.
• Murder is legal action where homicide; includes premeditated or deliberate First-degree murder, Second degree murder, or manslaughter which is unintentional and voluntary cases. Justifiable cases can involve self-defense/protection.

Assault Patterns and Demographics

• Assualt rates increased until 1994
• Aggravated assaults; 3.8 per 1000
• Simple assualts; 14.6 per 1000
• Around 60.5% of aggravated assauts.
• Demographic: -Male assualt strangers cases -Gender: Females assualt family cases
• Racial disparities: American Indians and Alaskan Natives face high risks.
• Weapon uses: -strangers; Firearm commonly used -known offender; Knives commonly used.
• Simple assauts rates drastically lowered that aggravated assaults in the 1993 cases. stable assauts over the recent year

Homicide Trends.

• 17,284 murderm; 5.3 rate of 100,000 from the population from the 2017 cases in US
• US murderm rates are higher in the historical context in the 1970s with decline since 1993 in recent year.

Homicides Variances

• US differences in regions states southeast are higher cases reported where North East are lower reported.
• Age: 25_49 victim ages is high Key takeaways: -close homicides involve the usage and weapon -US murder rates are lower -understabnd the behavioral continuum of violence with factors.

Symbolic Interactionism & Violence.

• Interaction with individuals during certain situations can cause violence.
• Evolution in stages in conflict and potential violence. expressive has multiple motives.
• Luckenbill stages(homocidal stages) -offesive act Interpreation of offense -resonse options
• • escalaltion VIoelnce resoltium
• conflict escalation due to individuals fight.
• victims are involevd with homocides due to confrontation.
• differnces of gender in hommicdes/ violence and alcohol is strongly

Roles; Violence/ Alcohol

• alcohol with connection to violence crime experimental studies show increases of aggession of alcohol. Alhocdl usage can increases lowers

Explore the multifaceted nature of violence, including its connection to actions, behaviors, and justifications. Learn about subcultures prone to violence and theories like spillover and brutalization. Understand how war can legitimize violence and its potential impact on society.