Crime, Deviance, and Social Control in the 21st Century - Violence, Violent Crime, PDF

CHAPTER 8 Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence Claudio Colaguori LEARNING OBJECTIVES...

CHAPTER 8 Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence Claudio Colaguori LEARNING OBJECTIVES In this chapter, you will learn how a wide range of actions, behaviours, and types of conduct may constitute violence; explore how violence is deployed as a basic form of social control; examine different definitions and theories of violence, revealing that vio- lence is a complex and contested concept; understand general parameters that frame the criminological understand- ing of violent crime; and learn how the political state has perpetrated some of the worst forms of violence in human history, including genocide, war crimes, and mass atrocities. INTRODUCTION Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. On April 18, 2020, in the province of Nova Scotia, a 51-year-old male named Gabriel Wortman, while impersonating a police officer, began a campaign of mur- derous violence that involved arson and the shooting deaths of 22 people in 16 locations. This criminal event was the deadliest act of mass killing perpetrated by a single individual in Canadian history (Mercer, 2020). When such heinous acts of violence occur, it is reasonable for citizens to ask the question “why?” How could a successful businessman with no ties to any criminal organization turn into a murderous maniac with no regard for the lives of innocent strangers? Did he have a hidden history of aggressive behaviour? How was he able to continue killing for 13 hours before finally being shot dead by the RCMP? If he was a psychologically disturbed man, why did he choose to act against others with violence instead of Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 273 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  274   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence seeking help? These are all valid questions, and they raise a more general question: Why do acts of destructive violence persist in our society? Why is violence such a difficult problem to address? The question of violence is a profound and import- ant one; it raises issues about human nature, culture, and power (Ray, 2011, p. 7). Violence is also fundamentally related to issues involving social control, warfare, and crime. In the words of scholars … Since violence is intimately interconnected with the body, pain, and vulnerabil- ity, its discussion evokes fundamental issues of security, embodiment culture, and power. Larry Ray, Violence and Society. 2011 Violence is a behaviour that is endemic to human social life, and yet there is little consensus among scholars about how to properly explain it or control it. There is not even a dedicated discipline of study that focuses specifically on vio- lence. Most scholars “relegate violence to the domain of criminology and deviance” (Jackman, 2002, p. 387), even though it takes many forms beyond criminality. Violence is normalized and woven into the fabric of everyday life through adver- sarial social interactions and through sensationalized representations in the enter- tainment and news media. Violence can take a number of different forms. It can be physical, emotional, direct, indirect, political, domestic, collective, symbolic, or even self-inflicted. Vio- lence can be understood as an expression of the power to control others through destructive force (Colaguori, 2010); alternatively, it can also be understood as an Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. expression of insecurity, weakness, and powerlessness (Arendt, 1969). The typical, common sense understanding of violence is that it is a force behind physical de- struction, as in the case of violent damage inflicted on bodies or property. Under- standing violence is also confusing because it is a contradictory phenomenon. For example, violence is destructive, but it is also a thrilling component of competitive sports, action movies, crime dramas, and many video games. Is violence to be understood as something deviant and abnormal or as something common and normal? Contradictions and uncertainties concerning violence are also evident in the fact that people tend to claim that violence is morally wrong, and yet people regularly engage in acts of psychological violence and aggression in their inter- actions with others. Violence also has a special allure: many people who claim to Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 274 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   275 be against violence will nevertheless happily consume forms of entertainment that feature excessive violence. Scholarly literature on violence reveals that it is indeed a complex phenomenon and complicated topic of research that spans disciplines from sociology and psych- ology to criminology, political science, philosophy, and sociobiology. As Ferguson writes, “violence is complex, multifaceted, and best understood from a multivariate perspective” (2009, p. 7). There are many varying definitions covering the many varieties of violence, and thus numerous theories are offered to explain the social phenomenon of violence. This chapter offers an overview of various perspectives on violence, including an overview of definitions of violence, types of criminal violence, and the forms of violence perpetrated by the political state. In the words of scholars … Quite apart from the damaged and destroyed lives it leaves in its wake, violence represents a couple of problems: it can be such terrible fun, and it looks useful. Of course, in conventional economics, utility and enjoyment go together. But violence is unusual and complex for all that it aims to simplify. James Brown, Other Means: On the Political Economies of Violence. 2000 DEFINING VIOLENCE Although the term violence is commonly used in everyday language, when it is examined closely as a concept, it is not easy or simple to define. As Holmes writes, “physical violence, which is what we most often have in mind when we speak Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. about violence, is the use of physical force to cause harm, death, or destruction, as in rape, murder, or warfare. But some forms of mental or psychological harm are so severe as to warrant being called violence as well” (1990, p. 1). If violence refers to something more than physical, destructive force, then can we speak of an es- sence of violence? For Bufacchi (2007) and Brown (2000), violence is understood broadly to be something that violates, especially since the root word of violence is violation. Thus, its effects are coercive and disruptive in a moral sense as well as a physical one. Defining violence is complicated for other reasons, partly because it is common for the word violence to be used metaphorically, as when someone refers to such things as “violent weather.” However, from a sociological perspec- tive, it is important to emphasize that violence is an activity directed by humans Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 275 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  276   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence against other persons primarily as a way of exercising repressive social control over them. Violence is the most extreme form of attempt to control others. Whether we are talking about warfare, criminal violence, domestic violence, or emotional violence, we see that violence is a type of instrumental action employed as a strategy to control others, generally with the aim of getting them to submit to the will of the violator. Sometimes, a violent action seems to have no clear purpose or intent, in which case it is referred to as senseless violence. Discussions about the human capacity for violence often tend to revert to uni- versalist claims about inherent destructive impulses that form part of human na- ture. It is important to recognize (as shall be discussed below) that violence is best understood not as mere instinctual aggression endemic to all humans, but rather as an action that emerges from conscious human will and individual determination. Whether the violence is criminal, interpersonal, or political, it is, with few excep- tions, the product of conscious human intention—in other words, an action that someone made a deliberate decision to engage in. How violence is defined in scholarly work depends largely on the disciplinary framework of the person doing the defining and on the type of violence being defined. Consider these additional definitions of violence. Narrow Definitions of Violence “Behaviour by persons against persons that intentionally threatens, ­attempts, or actually inflicts physical harm. [This definition] is based on psychosocial research on aggressive behaviours” (Reiss & Roth, 1993, p. 35). “The unwanted physical interference by groups and/or individuals with the bodies of others, which are consequentially made to suffer a series of Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. effects ranging from shock, bruises, scratches, swelling, or headaches to broken bones, heart attack, loss of limbs, or even death” (Keane, 1996, pp. 66–67). Broad Definitions of Violence “Violence is the threatened or actual use of physical force or power against another person, against oneself, or against a group or community that either results in, or has a high likelihood of resulting in, injury, death, or deprivation” (Rosenberg, as cited in Jackman, 2002, p. 391). Structural or institutional violence occurs when “violence is built into the [social] structure and shows up as unequal power and consequently as Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 276 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   277 unequal life chances.… There may not be any person who directly harms another person in the structure … [and yet violence is evident when] re- sources are unevenly distributed, as when income distributions are heavily skewed, literacy/education unevenly distributed, medical services [exist] in some districts and for some groups only, and so on” (Galtung, 1969, p. 171). Types of Violence As Collins writes, “there is a vast array of types of violence. It is short and episodic as a slap in the face; or massive and organized as a war. It can be ­passionate and angry as a quarrel; or callous and impersonal as the bureau- cratic administration of gas chambers” (2008, p. 1). As indicated in the vari- ous definitions of violence listed above, violence is complex and takes different forms. Adding to its complexity are the ways it is woven into the fabric of social life at various levels. Research on violence is organized around a variety of c­ ategories in the attempt to classify it. For analytic purposes, violence can be divided into: Microsocial violence: The physical assaults, violations, and conflicts that occur between individuals and within small groups, including murder, bully- ing, rape, sexual assault, domestic violence or intimate partner abuse, child abuse, and elder abuse, as well as self-inflicted physical bodily damage and suicide; and Macrosocial violence: The conflicts that occur on a larger scale by organized Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. collectivities of people or states, including social protest violence, political violence, genocide, terrorism, militarized warfare, and large-scale bombings with weapons of mass destruction or chemical weapon attacks. There are also types of violence that fall into both the micro and macro categories, as well as those that do not fit easily into either category, as follows: media violence: The depiction of violent acts, physical destruction, gun vio- lence, victimization, and other lethal actions such as militaristic violence on television, in movies, and in other forms of entertainment such as video games, competitive sports, numerous internet sites, and some social media content. Stahl (2010) calls this type of violence militainment. Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 277 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  278   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence criminal violence: Criminal acts that are violent by their very nature and are also violations of criminal law, such as homicide, physical assault, ­sexual ­assault/rape, robbery, car-jacking, the destruction of property, and home ­invasion. This type of violence also includes the unauthorized use of lethal force with the intent to inflict deadly or potentially deadly harm against ­ another person through destructive acts including weaponized ­violence, ­arson, and other forms of lethal action that result in injury, damage, or death. political violence: The use of violent force such as non-peaceful revolutionary action or terrorism perpetrated by individuals and groups who aim to achieve political change that serves their own interests. This type of violence may also be carried out by those who use violent tactics against state authorities, institutions, private property, and those deemed “enemies of the cause” as part of political protest. It may involve murder, kidnapping, or property damage. state violence: The use of violent force by government authorities and their agents perpetrated against citizens or foreigners deemed “enemies of the state” that may include police brutality, extra-judicial killings, imprison- ment of political opponents and journalists, or unlawful detainment. It also ­describes state engagement in unlawful and unjust wars of aggression, in- cluding f­oreign invasion, war crimes, state-sponsored genocide, and the indiscriminate use of weaponry, such as the use of land mines, missiles, drone strikes, arial bombings, and chemical weapons that target civilian populations. Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. As you may have gathered so far reading this chapter, violence is not a straight- forward topic to explain or define, and many professional researchers have dif- fering and sometimes conflicting conceptions of violence. Mainstream thinkers such as Pinker (2002) often subscribe to biological determinist views, arguing that the capacity for violence in humans is part of the natural order of things and emerges from the evolutionary forces that have shaped human nature. Researchers such as Burstyn (1999) and Colaguori (2012) emphasize how violent behaviour is reinforced by sociocultural influences. There is no doubt that humans have the natural propensity for violence and conflict, just as they have the potential for peacefulness and cooperation. Multiple perspectives that take into consideration both human behaviour and human nature more broadly are best understood from a multifactorial perspective. Such a perspective takes into consideration cultural, Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 278 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   279 individual/psychological, and biological factors. Different theories of violence em- phasize these factors to varying degrees. In the words of scholars … VIOLENCE: Actions that inflict, threaten, or cause injury. Actions may be corporal, written, or verbal. Injuries may be corporal, psychological, material, or social. Mary R. Jackman, Violence in Social Life. 2002 THEORIES OF VIOLENCE Students and researchers studying violence often ask the question: “Where does violence come from?” Such a question is motivated by the assumption that if we can understand the origins of violence and identify its specific causes, then we may be better able to control it or even stop it altogether. However, the more one explores violence, the more one realizes it is not really a thing in itself that has some elusive origin. Rather, violence emerges as part of complex social relations and has multiple causes, motivations, and contexts. As Ray (2011), among others, has indicated, violence is socially organized. Violence most often emerges from an arrangement of social relations that leads to violent outcomes. Despite scholars’ general acceptance of this finding, early researchers, such as Sigmund Freud, did try to identify the singular root causes of violence in humans. Freud suggested that violence and human destructiveness result from the expression of an innate death Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. drive inherent in human consciousness, and that warfare is the outward expression of the death drive unleashed on a mass scale. He later ­recanted this view, but the idea that violence is some sort of instinctual, p ­ rimordial urge i­nherent in human nature remains a popular, albeit highly ­problematic, belief. Modern theories concerning the origins and causes of violence are often reflective of a particular discipline of thought. A biologist may emphasize the physiological, hormonal, or biochemical factors that stimulate the potential for violence; a psychologist would identify the emotional and cognitive factors, as well as the social learning processes, that stimulate an individual to behave violently, or explore the ways in which traumatic personal experience may be causative fac- tors motivating the violent behaviour of the criminal offender. A sociologist would emphasize the role of social circumstances, life chances, and affiliations a person Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 279 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  280   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence develops, or the role of institutional powers, along with the real or perceived dep- rivations that push or pull a person towards violence across their life course. A criminologist’s view on violence, however, is generally explained through the fol- lowing theories. Violence as an Instrumental Force Violence is an instrumental force. It is often used as a means to an end; in other words, it is a technique that is utilized to achieve a desired goal through coercion. For example, the armed robber who holds up a convenience store is not necessarily interested in shooting the store clerk (although that reckless dimension of crim- inal violence certainly exists), but the robber may do so if the clerk fails to comply with the demand to hand over the money in the cash register. In this example, violence is the instrument used to compel the behaviour of another into submis- sion. In criminal violence, domestic violence, and violence perpetrated by the state against its adversaries, violence is the instrument or means utilized to force others to submit. Social Thrill Violence Social thrill violence, which is engaging in violence for the sake of fun, excitement, and the thrill of recklessness, is also a dimension of criminal violence because of the intrinsic pleasure that some people get from engaging in risky acts of wanton destruction, whether it be property damage, throwing objects off bridges onto passing vehicles, sabotage, arson, or torturing animals (Burt & Simons, 2013; Katz, 1988). This explanation of violent crime is also relevant to understanding the commission of crimes by youths who are more likely to engage in criminality Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. for which there is no external reward except for the thrill of the act itself, a type of reckless thrill referred to in Chapter 4 as transgression. Violence as Aggression Violence is often understood in terms of aggression, and while the two concepts are sometimes used interchangeably, they are distinct from one another. When a military general gives an order to his soldiers to launch an attack against enemy forces, that general is clearly unleashing a type of violence, but the general is not likely in an aggressive state of mind. It is more likely that the general is in a rational and calculating state of mind rather than one that is emotionally charged, angry, Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 280 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   281 or out of control. Aggression, which can lead to violence, is also a complex con- cept. What distinguishes aggression from violence is that aggression is a hostile emotional response characterized by anger and impulsive rage, often used as a threat to inflict violence. Aggression is highly correlated with criminal behaviour. Research on criminal aggression seems to indicate that persistent patterns of childhood aggression that are not corrected through proper socialization or effective treatment are a strong predictor of adolescent delinquency and violent behaviour in adulthood (Beaver, 2009). Individuals whose temperaments are characterized by an inability to con- trol aggressive impulses often find themselves socially isolated and in regular con- flict with law enforcement agencies. Criminal violence among persistent offenders has been theorized to re- sult from low impulse control or low self-control (Gottfredson & Hirschi, 1990). This explanation of criminal violence can be understood as an extension of the ­f rustration–aggression hypothesis (Dollard et al., 1939), which proposes that some individuals fail to develop healthy, prosocial coping strategies for dealing with stressful situations, and their frustration is then expressed through displays of aggression, often directed at others. A dubious concept often mentioned in relation to aggression is catharsis, the idea that if a person has an alternative (usually recreational) avenue for re- leasing pent-up anger and aggression, it will reduce their overall capacity for ex- pressing actual aggression against others. The catharsis hypothesis suggests that aggressive forms of sport and rough play activities serve a useful social function insofar as they allow for the cathartic release of stress, frustration, and anger that would otherwise be expressed by people in socially unacceptable ways. We might hear people say, “I like to throw my fists at a punching bag after work to blow off Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. steam and vent my frustrations.” Such views are often invoked to promote the social utility of competitive sports, gaming, and other adversarial social rituals. However, as Aronson writes, “the weight of evidence does not support the cath- arsis hypothesis … when somebody angers us, venting our hostility against that person does indeed seem to make us feel better. However, it does not reduce our hostility.… Aggressing the first time can reduce your inhibitions against com- mitting other such actions; the aggression is legitimized, and it becomes easier to carry out such assaults” (1984, p. 195). Although frustration leading to ag- gression is a factor in some violent crimes, it does not fully explain the vast range of violent crimes that require careful planning, coordination, and execution on the part of the perpetrator. Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 281 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  282   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence TWO GENERAL PARAMETERS OF VIOLENT CRIME: THE INDIVIDUAL AND CULTURE In the public perception, crime is almost synonymous with violence. The word crime usually evokes an act of physical destruction. Among all types of crime, it is violent crime that produces the greatest emotional response, as well as the strongest sense of injustice. Violent crime comes the closest to pure violation. Al- though many crimes do not involve direct physical violence, the most sensational crimes do. Violent crimes also tend to provoke public fears and panics more than other types of crime, because their destructive effects are immediate and visible and victimization is clear and self-evident. Violent killers gain notoriety in the news and on crime shows, and their names are publicly known. Some violent criminals deliberately choose new names to glamorize their identity. In Canada, there is Paul Bernardo (born as Paul Jason Teale) also known as the Scarborough Rapist, and Luka Rocco Magnotta (once again, not his birth name, which is Eric Clinton Kirk Newman). Both fake names problematically invoke Italian heritage. Many people instantly recognize the names of notorious American serial killers who gain further popularity through their sensationalized nicknames, such as Ted Kaczynski, “the Unabomber”; John Wayne Gacy, Jr., “the Killer Clown”; Richard Ramirez, “Night Stalker”; and David Berkowitz, “the Son of Sam.” Most violent criminals, from serial killers to tyrannical dictators, are marked in the annals of history, while many non-violent criminals who have perpetrated great harm tend to be forgotten. Thus far, this chapter has examined various definitions, theories, and types of violence as a prelude to examining violent crime and state crime. The amount of detailed research on violent crime is vast and cannot be fully summarized here; however, attempts to understand the causes and motivations for violent crime have Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. given rise to two general areas of research: Characteristics of the Individual Offender Neurological and biochemical deficits, which, as Beaver indicates, are often evident in “the making of criminals [as] a sequential process that be- gins at conception and continues throughout the rest of life course” (2009, p. 36). As Ferguson recounts, “there is no gene for violence”; however, one might refer to biological causes of violent behaviour as soft determin- ism insofar as they may act as factors that predispose some individuals to persistent patterns of violent behaviour (Ferguson, 2009, pp. 7–8). These Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 282 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   283 soft determinants may include the potential for malformation of brain components due to prenatal exposure to toxins such as tobacco, alcohol, and synthetic chemicals. Brain injury, toxicity damage, or genetic defects can, in some individuals, lead to a severely hampered ability to control aggressive impulses. As discussed above, individuals who have low self- control, either through biosocial or psychosocial factors, and who respond with anger and violence to certain social situations may be more likely to have numerous encounters with the criminal justice system. Persistent patterns of childhood aggression that appear in early childhood and fail to be corrected with age and socialization are often correlated with adult criminal violence. As Beaver writes, “one of the best predictors of fu- ture criminal behaviour is a history of aggressive behaviour in childhood and adolescence” (2009, p. 38). However, Moffit (1993) distinguishes be- tween life-course persistent offenders and adolescent-limited offenders. Thus, it seems that some individuals who engage in excessive violence and/or interpersonal aggression during adolescence may abandon such behaviours as they become adults. Self-correction of antisocial behaviour often occurs because such behaviour conflicts with the pursuit of other significant adult life goals that require social conformity, such as romantic attachments, rais- ing children, the demands of securing housing and associated living costs, stable employment, and planning for the future. Cultural Norms that Directly Influence and Encourage Patterns of Criminal Behaviour Individual membership in subcultures of violence, where members inter- nalize the norms and values of the group, as well as learn the behaviours Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. and skills (“tricks of the trade”), including the use of violence to execute criminal objectives and maintain group solidarity. Wolfgang and Fer- racuti’s seminal study on the subculture of violence suggested that in “groups with the highest rates of homicide, we should find in the most intense degree subcultures of violence” (1967/1982, p. 153). Cultures that are characterized by a strong sense of honour, reputation, pride, and respect, where actual or perceived threats to one’s personal, family, or group honour is met with violent retaliations. This “culture of honour” (Nisbett & Cohen, 1996) is evident in many places worldwide from urban criminal gangs of North and Central America, where a “code of the streets” (Anderson, 2000) operates, to the village cultures of Italy, Greece, Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 283 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  284   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence and Turkey, for example, where those whose honour is disrespected feel justified in retaliating through a vendetta against those who disrespected them in order to restore honour and reputation. Within prison subcultures, for example, inmates learn patterns of adaptation and must follow a code of respect by earning a reputation for being tough, known as gaining a hard name, that comes from reacting against others with violent retributions for any verbal or physical assaults perpetrated against them (Zweig, 2009). Prison inmates often form ideological or ethnic subcultural gangs as a way of creating group solidarity and collective defense against threats from other prison gangs. The broader patriarchal culture of hypermasculinity or machismo (Burstyn, 1999; Katz, 2006; Messerschmidt, 1993) that prevails as a dominant cul- tural norm among boys and men and is reflected in stereotypically violent media representations of male identity. This factor is also apparent in the rates of homicide where the majority of perpetrators and victims are male, usually in their mid- to late twenties. Masculinity within patriarchal cultures is defined by an identity based on toughness, brawn, and aggression, and a reputation for brutality and excess based on participation in status elevation rituals such as competitive sports, hard drinking, crime, and unruly behaviour, as evidenced in sports hooliganism and other forms of aggressive or adversarial conduct (Burstyn, 1999). The spectrum of masculine rituals contributes to the formation of a hegemonic masculinity that is celebrated as a masculine ideal in popu- lar media stereotypes of violent male iconic figures such as Dirty Harry, Rambo, the Terminator, and Iron Man, among many others (Boggs & Pollard, 2007; Renzetti, 2004). Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. In the words of scholars … Violent crime is a deeply emotive topic, and graphic illustrations of it abound on television and cinema screens and in newspapers, colouring the political and criminal justice responses not just to violence but to crime in general. Yet despite its prominence in both fiction and the news, the attention it has re- ceived from criminologists has been patchy, focused mainly on a few specific forms of offending Michael Levi and Mike Maguire, “Violent Crime.” In The Oxford Handbook of Criminol- ogy, edited by Maguire et al. 2002 Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 284 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   285 THE RANGE OF VIOLENT CRIMES Homicide and Assault Homicide is the preeminent type of violent crime because it results in the taking of another life, in some cases as a gruesome murder. In Canada, homicide includes both murder and manslaughter, with each having two categories. Murder is clas- sified as first or second degree and refers to causing a deliberate, intentional death, while manslaughter refers to an act that causes an unintentional death through reckless disregard (Criminal Code, C-46). The more prevalent type of physical vio- lence is assault, which is one of the most common types of charged offences; it is defined as any unwanted application of force (or even the threat thereof) without consent, and can include strikes, pushes, punches or kicks, grabbing, holding, and spitting (Criminal Code, s. 266). Crime statistics in North America consistently indicate that the majority of homicide victims are males in their mid- to late twen- ties, and most perpetrators of violence are also male. Domestic Violence The problem of homicidal deaths and violent assaults continues to remain a fundamental challenge for justice systems worldwide. Such forms of violence occur across the social spectrum to include family violence or domestic violence, partner violence and abuse, as well as child and elder abuse. A report by Walby indicates, “a fifth of all violent crime occurs in the course of, or at the end of, a long-term relationship between two people. One in four women will experience this kind of violence during their adult lives. [In the United Kingdom] one hun- dred and fifty people are killed each year by a current or former partner; thou- sands of people turn up each year in … hospital casualty departments … with Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. injuries inflicted by a current or former partner” (2004, p. 7). A 2021 Statistics Canada report indicates that “rates of police-reported family violence against children and youth, intimate partners, and seniors all rose in 2019. The overall rate of police-reported family violence increased for the third consecutive year, rising 13% over this period. This follows a long span of decline, with the rate falling by almost one-fifth (-19%) from 2009 to 2016” (Statistics Canada, 2021). An April 2021 report indicates how, in times of crisis, intimate partner violence can increase: The COVID-19 pandemic led to an exacerbation of pre-existing hardships and disparities in many vulnerable populations, including individuals affected Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 285 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  286   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence by intimate partner violence. Pre-pandemic statistics showed that 30% of women are victims of sexual or physical Intimate Partner Violence in their lifetime, and numerous reports have shown that the incidence and severity of intimate partner and family violence increased substantially after the pan- demic began. (Rodriguez, 2021) Box 8.1: Family Violence in Canada Family violence is an important public health issue. Its impacts on health go beyond direct physical injury, are widespread and long-lasting, and can be severe, particularly for mental health. Even less severe forms of family violence can affect health. Some Canadian families are experiencing unhealthy conflict, abuse, and violence that have the potential to affect their health. Known collectively as family violence, it takes many forms, ranges in severity, and includes neglect as well as physical, sexual, emotional, and financial abuse. People who experience family violence need to be supported, while people who are abusive or violent need to be held accountable. Family violence is a complex issue that can happen at any point in a lifetime. In Canada, an average of 172 homicides are committed every year by a family member. for approximately 85,000 victims of violent crimes, the person responsible for the crime was a family member. just under 9 million, or about one in three Canadians, said they had experienced abuse before the age of 15 years. Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. just under 760,000 Canadians said they had experienced unhealthy spousal conflict, abuse, or violence in the previous five years. more than 766,000 older Canadians said they had experienced abuse or neglect in the previous year. Women, children, Indigenous peoples, people with disabilities, and people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or questioning are at greater risk of experiencing family violence and its impacts. Women are more likely than men to be killed by an intimate partner and more likely to experience sexual abuse, more severe and chronic forms of intimate partner violence, particularly forms that include threats and force to gain control. Women are also more likely to experience health impacts. Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 286 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   287 Violence against women and children is a public health issue of global importance. Global data show that one out of every three women will experience physical or sexual abuse in their lifetime. Approximately 18% of women and almost 8% of men say they have been victims of sexual abuse as children. Family violence is complicated—no single factor can accurately predict when it will happen. Different combinations of factors at the individual, family, relationship, community, and societal level affect the risk for family violence. Examples of factors include beliefs about gender and violence, and relationship characteristics such as power and control. People are reluctant to talk about family violence, meaning it often goes unreported. Reasons for not reporting family violence include fear and concerns about safety, stigma, and not being believed. In some cases, people believe it is a personal matter or not important enough. They may also be dependent on the person who is being abusive or violent. Using what we know about the social determinants of health can help prevent family violence and build effective ways to address it. Approaches to prevention include changing beliefs and attitudes, building safe and supportive communities, supporting our youth, healthy families, and relationships and promoting good health and well-being. More knowledge is needed about the effectiveness of prevention strategies and interventions in different situations. Excerpt from Taylor, G. (2016). The Chief Public Health Officer’s Report on the state of public health in Canada 2016: A focus on family violence in Canada. Public Health Agency of Canada, p. 3. Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. Violence against Children Violence against children can also occur in the context of domestic violence. This is illustrated in a disturbing 2016 Canadian example reported by the Toronto Star: Everton Biddersingh, accused of torturing his daughter Melonie for four years, then killing her by drowning or by starving until her 17-year-old body weighed the same as an 8-year-old, has been found guilty of first-degree murder after seven hours of jury deliberations. The verdict comes twenty-one years after Melonie Biddersingh’s unidentified body was found in a smouldering suitcase in an industrial parking lot on Sept. 1, 1994. An autopsy revealed 21 healing fractures, severe malnourishment, a contusion to the skull and evidence that she may have drowned in fresh water. (Hasham, 2016) Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 287 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  288   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence Violence against children takes numerous other forms, including child mo- lestation, as well as through victimization by pedophilia. One example is outlined in a 2016 CBC report: Thirteen men are in custody after police busted an alleged online pedophile ring in six Quebec cities and Toronto following a three-year investigation. Police were executing warrants Wednesday morning at homes in Montreal, Quebec City, Lévis, Trois-Rivières, Saint-Eustache, Richelieu-Saint-Laurent, Toronto. The men in custody are between 27 and 74 years old and could face charges linked to the sexual exploitation of children. (CBC News, 2016) The sexual exploitation of children is one of the most disturbing human rights abuse issues worldwide, and yet it receives very little attention and activist response in relation to other categories of injustice. Child sex tourism and pedophile crime networks continue to operate globally, targeting the most vulnerable members of the population, as indicated in news reports such as a June 2020 BBC report that reads, “Germany Investigates 30,000 Suspects over Paedophile Network” (BBC News, 2020a). In some regions, child sex tourism, also referred to as the extra- territorial sexual exploitation of children, is on the rise. Maria Fernanda Felix de la Luz writes of the damage done by sex tourism: Sex tourism is increasing worldwide but its rise has been particularly high in Latin American countries.… Even though in recent years Latin American countries have made significant efforts to combat sexual exploitation, includ- ing passing anti-slavery laws, granting resources for special programmes and creating partnerships with NGOs, the problem is still present, and it endangers thousands of lives. According to the 2017 Trafficking in Persons Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. Report, the majority of countries in Latin America do not fully satisfy the standards for combating this crime.… In sex tourism, the perpetrator tends to be a foreigner who leaves the country after committing the crime. This represents a major difficulty for the investigation and the prosecution. (2018) Female Infanticide and Feticide Violence against children also extends to the murder of newborn infants and fetuses, predominantly females. Ansari writes, “female feticide is perhaps one of the worst forms of violence against women where a woman is denied her most basic and fundamental right i.e. ‘the right to life’” (2018, p. 1154). The phenomenon of gender-selective infanticide (also known as feticide) is a cultural practice endemic to extreme patriarchal cultures, where the preference for male offspring is driven Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 288 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence   289 by a gendered honour code so strong that female offspring are often killed, and women who repeatedly give birth to female offspring are often abandoned by their husbands. Gender-selective infanticide is in part responsible for an imbalance in the male–female birth ratio in the East. For example, a June 2020 ThePrint news report headline reads, “India accounts for 45.8 million of world’s missing f­ emales over last 50 years: UN report. Citing data by experts, the report said China and India together account for about 90–95% of the estimated 1.5 million missing female births annually worldwide” (PTI, 2020). Violence against Women Violence against women is a pernicious, recurrent category of violent crime, and it takes a number of forms depending on the culture. Some patriarchal cultures gen- erate highly misogynistic crimes, including bride burning, gang rape, and in-the- face acid attacks against females. Sexual assault, stalking, and murder, committed predominantly but not exclusively by male perpetrators, are more common forms of violence that occur in virtually every culture. The deliberate murder of females because of their gender is termed femicide, and in some nations, it is exacerbated by the lack of a serious formal response from law enforcement, which enables impunity for perpetrators. Femicidal violence is a global problem that also exists in relation to organized crime activity, the fate of women in war zones, sexual orientation hate crime, and honour killings. Femicide is especially prevalent in areas such as Afghanistan, France, Turkey, Latin Amer- ica, and South Asia. There has been some attention to the issue of femicide by human rights organizations and other governing bodies. For example, as reported by Leffert, Copyright © 2023. Canadian Scholars. All rights reserved. By an overwhelming margin, the European Parliament has voted to condemn the murders of women in Central America and Mexico.… Lawmakers gath- ered in Brussels officially criticized both the killings and the widespread im- punity which has surrounded the crimes. The European deputies called on governments to take meaningful actions aimed at eradicating discrimination and violence against women, punishing killers and strengthening legal sys- tems. (2007, p. 1) As of 2017, the situation of gender violence in Central America and Mexico re- mained dire: “A culture of machismo, combined with judicial corruption, has led to widespread impunity for perpetrators, with the vast majority of killings going unsolved” (Oxford Analytica, 2017). Colaguori, C. (Ed.). (2023). Crime, deviance, and social control in the 21st century : A justice and rights perspective. Canadian Scholars. Created from york on 2025-02-03 21:50:29. CrimeDeviance_and_SocialControl_21Century.indd 289 2/8/2023 2:13:30 PM  290   Chapter 8   Violence, Violent Crime, and State Violence Canada is no exception to femicidal violence. Three notorious cases are as follows: The event known as the Montreal Massacre, where, “late in the afternoon on 6 December 1989, a young man walked into Montreal’s Polytechnique engineering school with a semi-automatic rifle and killed 14 women, in- jured 14 others (including four men), then killed himself. Marc Lépine’s page-long suicide note, written in French, made his motivations clear: ‘Feminists have always enraged me,’ he wrote. ‘I have decided to send the feminists, who have always ruined my life, to their Maker’” (Lépine, as cited in Lindeman, 2019). In April 2018, “a man named Alek Minassian drove a van on to a ­Toronto sidewalk and killed 10 people, eight of them women. The sexually frus- trated young man behind the van’s wheel—a self-described incel, or ‘in- voluntary celibate’—saw his act as retribution against women who had starved him of the affection he felt he was rightfully owed. Minassian said he was inspired by Elliot Rodger, an incel and wannabe pickup artist who shot 20 people in 2014” (Lindeman, 2019). The third example refers to the case of Robert Pickton, described as the “‘worst serial killer in history,’ who fed prostitutes to pigs” (Miller, 2016). “Between 1978 and 2001, at least 65 women disappeared from Vancou- ver’s Downtown Eastside. Robert Pickton, who operated a pig farm in nearby Port Coquitlam, was charged with murdering 26 of the women. He was convicted on six charges and sentenced to life in prison. In a jail cell conversation with an undercover police officer, Pickton claimed to have murdered 49 women. The murders le