Concept Of Violence Research Articles

Hate-crimes as racial violence: a critique of the exceptional

Violence on the one hand is taken as something natural and normal. On the other hand, certain violent actions, such as hate-crimes, are portrayed as forms of exceptional violence, while systemic inequalities are rendered ordinary. In this paper, I de-naturalize the concept of violence through a critical evaluation of hate-crimes. I argue that the concept of hate-crimes has been, or is at risk, of being co-opted by a more sustained effort to ignore and downplay racial inequalities in society. Drawing on the philosophical distinction between ‘killing’ and ‘letting die’, I contend that an exclusive focus on individual-based hate-crimes deflects attention from the systemic, structural inequalities of society; and that a narrow conceptualization of violence (as direct, intentional action) conforms to a more expansive neoliberal promotion of a ‘race-blind’ or ‘colour-blind’ criminal justice system.

High-frequency intimate partner violence during pregnancy, postnatal depression and suicidal tendencies in Harare, Zimbabwe

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a common form of violence experienced by pregnant women and is believed to have adverse mental health effects postnatally. This study investigated the association of postnatal depression (PND) and suicidal ideation with emotional, physical and sexual IPV experienced by women during pregnancy. Data were collected from 842 women interviewed postnatally in six postnatal clinics in Harare, Zimbabwe. We used the World Health Organization versions of IPV and Centre for Epidemiological Studies - Depression Scale measures to assess IPV and PND respectively. We derived a violence severity variable and combined forms of IPV variables from IPV questions. Logistic regression was used to analyse data whilst controlling for past mental health and IPV experiences. One in five women [21.4% (95% CI 18.6-24.2)] met the diagnostic criteria for PND symptomatology whilst 21.6% (95% CI 18.8-24.4) reported postpartum suicide thoughts and 4% (95% CI 2.7-5.4) reported suicide attempts. Two thirds (65.4%) reported any form of IPV. Although individual forms of severe IPV were associated with PND, stronger associations were found between PND and severe emotional IPV or severe combined forms of IPV. Suicidal ideation was associated with emotional IPV. Other forms of IPV, except when combined with emotional IPV, were not individually associated with suicidal ideation. Emotional IPV during pregnancy negatively affects women's mental health in the postnatal period. Clinicians and researchers should include it in their conceptualisation of violence and health. Further research must look at possible indirect relationships between sexual and physical IPV on mental health.

Work-Related Intimate Partner Violence, Acculturation, and Socioeconomic Status Among Employed Mexican Men Enrolled in Batterer Intervention Programs.

Intimate partner violence (IPV) has been shown to have considerable effects on women's employment and health. The purpose of this study was to examine work-related IPV, acculturation, and socioeconomic status (SES) among Latinos enrolled in batterer intervention programs. Findings indicate that 55% of men interfered with their partner's ability to get to their work, to do their work, and to maintain their job. Positive relationships between acculturation and work-related IPV were observed, and some support was found for a moderating role of SES. Implications for employers and for the conceptualization of violence against women in an employment context are discussed.

Fanon's Les Damnés de la terre: Translation, De-Philosophization and the Intensification of Violence

The influence of Jean-Paul Sartre's Critique de la raison dialectique on Frantz Fanon's Les Damnés de la terre can be seen in Fanon's direct engagement with Sartre's text as well as in the vocabulary that he adopts when discussing key ideas, particularly in his discussion of violence in the first chapter. In Constance Farrington's English translation of Les Damnés de la terre, however, philosophical terms are replaced with everyday ones, and the links between Les Damnés de la terre and the Critique are obscured. In this article I seek to highlight this de-philosophizing approach through a range of examples and to explore the ways in which these changes, combined with a number of significant mistranslations, enact a shift around Fanon's conceptualization of violence, with far-reaching implications for the influence of Les Damnés de la terre around the world.

SOCIAL COGNITIVE REPRESENTATIONS OF VIOLENCE IN URBAN BRAZIL: VIOLENCE AS AN UNCONTROLLED FORCE

The present paper reports on partial findings of a major research project entitled Interdisciplinary project on social cognitive representations in the conceptualization of violence in urban Brazilian centers. It aims at providing some insight into an embodied and social-culturally situated concept of representation – a social cognitive representation, as I understand it, by presenting both a theoretic-philosophical basis for this kind of concept as well as some preliminary findings of an analysis of focus groups talks about urban violence. The methodology is focused on discursive and cognitive aspects which emerge from and influence people’s verbal interactions. The qualitative analysis performed suggests, among others not discussed here, the emergence of two metaphors in participants’ talks: VIOLENCE IS A PRODUCT MANUFACTURED BY THE MEDIA and VIOLENCE IS A SPREADING CONTAGIOUS DISEASE. This appears to be due to the Media’s sensationalist trivialization of violence which results in violence being thought of as present anywhere and everywhere like an UNCONTROLLED FORCE. The trivialization of violence by the Media contributes to negative attitudes and feelings of lack of control, distrust, prejudice and hurt.

Discourse and Practice of Violence in the Italian Extreme Right: Frames, Symbols, and Identity-Building in CasaPound Italia

An investigation of the neo-Fascist organization CasaPound Italia, focusing on how political violence is framed in its public discourse, and on the role it plays as a constitutive element of the group’s collective identity. Starting from the conceptualization of violence in Italian Fascism, we focus on CasaPound’s practices, discourse, and ideology. The analysis combines findings from nineteen in-depth interviews with CasaPound members and participant observation at protest events and activities. This paper disentangles CasaPound’s relationship with political violence, differentiating its discursive, aesthetic, and identity-building dimensions. Although in the external discourse of the group, violent activities are only accepted as a tool of self-determination and self-defence, we find that a cult of violence inspired by traditional Fascism emerges from the semiotic repertoire mobilized by CasaPound, and is reiterated by means of experiences of collective socialization based on violence.

The animal body, violence and moral panic: The case of Mila the dog

In April of 2010 Serbia was rocked by the news that a dog whose paws had been cut off was found in the Medakovic neighborhood of Belgrade. Miraculously, the dog was still alive, but in bad condition. The news media named the dog Mila (which, aside from being a Serbian female name, can also mean “dear one” or “gentle one”) and the Serbian public followed the story of Mila’s plight and subsequent recovery with great interest and much comment, so much so that the event became a trigger for a moral panic of sorts. In this paper I have attempted to point out how the Serbian public, with reference to the case of Mila the dog, conceptualizes violence against animals, as well as to point out that folk classifications of living creatures - such as the one which distinguishes animals from meat (see Mullin 1999) - influence the understanding and conceptualization of violence as a phenomenon. Secondly, I have attempted to uncover which elements of the event in question caused a moral panic in Serbia, and which had inhibited the development of a serious public discussion of the issue of animal suffering. In that sense, the object of this paper is twofold - on the one hand it aims to point out why a discussion of the systematic and systemic violence against animals did not occur, and on the other, it serves to point out those elements of the event which caused the panic.

"Above All Things, Be Glad and Young": Advancing Research on Violence in Adolescence.

Adolescence is a unique developmental period in which youth are at heightened risk for violence perpetration and victimization, both of which can adversely affect the course of normal psychosocial development and health across the life course. The possible range of violent experiences during adolescence is broad, including physical and relational peer violence, bullying, sexual violence, cyber-aggression, child maltreatment, exposure to parental intimate partner violence, exposure to aggressive media, and more. The 8 articles in this special issue span this wide range of violence experiences. In helping to fill gaps in knowledge about the nature and processes by which violence develops, and how violence experiences affect adolescents, these articles as a group also offer direction for future research. They illustrate the need for research that cuts across the separate bodies of research on violence involving youth, that tackles thorny questions about the conceptualization of violence in its myriad forms, and that considers the ways in which the various forms and dimensions of violence operate together, across levels of the social ecology, to influence outcomes. The findings in this collection of studies also have implications for the development of prevention and intervention programs to address the problem of violence in adolescence.

Interface metáfora e metonímia inscritas nas concepções de violência entre estudantes brasileiros e franceses

A metáfora e a metonímia são recursos eminentemente humanos, presentes na linguagem da vida cotidiana, ambas consideradas estruturas de pensamento. No entanto, muitas vezes, essas manifestações misturam-se a ponto de não conseguirmos estabelecer de fato as fronteiras entre elas. Por isso objetivamos analisar a construção de metáforas e de metonímias e suas inter-relações nas concepções de violência de jovens com idade média de 11-13 anos, estudantes de duas escolas situadas nas cidades de Fortaleza, Ceará e Libourne, França. O trabalho foi realizado com base na pesquisa qualitativa, tendo como eixo um estudo comparativo que possibilitou-nos analisar a complexidade da construção de sentidos da categoria VIOLÊNCIA em termos sociocognitivos e culturais. O corpus analítico é constituído de trechos de entrevistas realizadas com 24 estudantes, divididos em 06 grupos de 04 integrantes (12 brasileiros, 12 franceses). A leitura e a análise dos dados basearam-se nos aportes teóricos da Linguística Cognitiva, em especial, a Teoria Cognitiva da Metáfora e da Metonímia – TCMM. A inter-relação metáfora/metonímia mostrou-se evidente quando os dois grupos discorreram sobre os sentimentos decorrentes de ações violentas, como a dor e a tristeza e quando usaram partes do corpo para comunicar esses sentimentos. Os dois grupos, ao conceptualizarem a violência, utilizaram-se de processos metafóricos e metonímicos o que nos permite sugerir uma universalidade parcial dos esquemas cognitivos de base corpórea para comunicar e expressar sentimentos.

Interracial Violence, Western Racialized Masculinities, and the Geopolitics of Violence Against Women

This article examines violence against racialized women in North America and how this violence is obscured through liberal conceptualizations of violence. I focus on cases of interracial stranger attacks of Asian women and girls by men. I contend that these cases – that range from homicide, sexual assault, prowl by night, to tampering with a food product – are connected and are local manifestations of national and global power relations. I end by foregrounding how some of the non-Asian men targeting Asian women are men of colour. I argue that this violence is an assertion of the right to place and space in both national and global hierarchies informed by the neoliberal uplift of elite Asian men and capital, and western constructions of the Asia Pacific century. In highlighting the specificities of Asian gendered difference, the intent is less to include Asian women in theorizing on violence, and more to examine how an intersectional, relational, historically specific and structural analysis of gendered violence brings into clearer view the systems of domination that violence secures.

‘‘Revolution is War’’: The Development of the Thought of V. I. Lenin on Violence, 1899––1907

This article examines violence, in various forms, in Lenin's thought from his earliest Marxist writings until 1907, allowing observation of the influence of the 1905 Revolution on his conceptualization of violence and terror(ism). The article argues that this was a crucial period in the development of the Leninist world-view and formation of the intellectual basis of Leninism-in-power. There was a clear logic in Lenin's ideas on class warfare and violence evident in these years that remained and was invoked during the crucial period of the First World War when the Bolsheviks came to power, and once Lenin found himself head of the Soviet state.

The social construction of violence in old age

Varying definitions and conceptualisations of violence in old age exist within and between the scientific community, medical and social work professionals, family carers and the elderly persons themselves. In this paper it is argued ‐ and illustrated by examples ‐ that each of the different actors or observers in this field construct their own social reality and hold selective perceptions of what is meant by violence in general, or elder abuse in particular.

‘Honourable’ Behaviour and the Conceptualisation of Violence in Ethnic-Based Organised Crime Groups: An Examination of the Albanian Kanun and the Code of the Chinese Triads

Within Albania and China and their respective diasporas, a history of extreme violence, both official and unofficial, is widely accepted but not easily understood from a Western perspective. Over the course of centuries both societies have experienced turmoil and in the 20th century spent decades under the disastrous communist dictatorships of Enver Hohxa (1944–1985) and Mao Zedong (1949–1976). Acts of organised/collective violence should be interpreted in their historical and cultural contexts. As both Albania and China underwent considerable internecine feuding, and all manners of deprivations and oppressions under the governance and proclamations of their various rulers, it may not be surprising that their subjects became inured to violence. Violence is neither meaningless nor peculiar to China/Albania. One explanation arises from the continuing purchase of ancient codes of ‘extreme violence’. This paper describes two ancient instruments justifying ‘excessive violence’ that have continued to exist even today and directly link them to the violent behaviour of contemporary Albanian and Chinese organised crime groups. The paper will explore the historico-cultural origins of Albanian and Chinese organised crime and their recent reputation as ‘ultra-violent’ actors. Specifically we examine the 15th century Albanian legal code known as the Kanun of Lek Dukagjini, and the 17th century code of the Chinese Hung Mun (Triad Society).

Amores Perros: Exotic Violence And Neoliberal Fear1

Let us imagine for a moment that we find ourselves in an affluent neighbourhood in Mexico City. Suddenly, a vagrant whose appearance is not-too-subtly reminiscent of Karl Marx fires two shots throu...

Multiple Facets of Risk for Violence: The Impact of Judgmental Specificity on Structured Decisions About Violence Risk

Among the many advances that have occurred in the field of violence risk assessment over the past decade has been the realization that violence is multifaceted. Violence and the risk for violence include many facets including the severity, density, imminence, target and nature of violence. Despite advances in the understanding and conceptualization of violence and risk, very few empirical risk assessment studies have considered the multifaceted nature of violence. Using a structured professional judgment model of risk assessment, the present study evaluated whether more highly specific judgments of violence (i.e., low, moderate, or high risk for short-term violence, or serious violence, versus violence generally) could be made with reasonable reliability and incremental validity. The findings suggested that more specific judgments about particular facets of violence were not made with the same reliability and validity as either the numerical scores or the omnibus structured clinical risk ratings for general violence. The possible reasons for the findings are discussed with suggestions for future research to continue to study this important area.

Workplace Violence in Early Childhood Settings: A Counter-Narrative

The article begins with a counter-narrative that focuses on the workplace tensions experienced by an Australian pre-school teacher. Drawing on Van Soerst & Bryant's conceptualisation of violence, the author deconstructs the counter-narrative to identify a range of forces (individual, organisational, structural-cultural) that may contribute to workplace violence in early childhood settings. The author's underlying assumption is that we need to problematise prevailing non-critical constructions of early childhood settings as exemplifying communities of care if we are to work more effectively towards realising this ideal.