Low-level Violence Research Articles

America Has Fallen: Critical Race Theory & Low-Intensity Conflict

This article aims to enlighten the business community on socio-political theory, specifically Critical Theory (CT) and Critical Race Theory (CRT), which evolved from Marxist principles. While CT focuses on economics, CRT applies a Marxist lens to race, gender, and intersectionality. The research discussion transitions from theory to application of Low Intensity Conflict (LIC) as defined by U.S. military doctrine. LIC Phase 1 involves organizing, educating, and infiltrating government; Phase 2 includes initiating low level violence and propaganda, expanding to insurrection and guerrilla attacks, and consolidating power through increased attacks and political activities. With Phases 1 and 2 completed, Phase 3 was initiated with an attempted assassination of former President Trump, and is exacerbated by unchecked immigration of military-aged men and fentanyl proliferation. This study advocates for counter-insurgency measures and emphasizes the urgent need for politicians to uphold their constitutional oaths and safeguard the nation.

The impact of war on forest logging: Changes in logging practices in Syrian rural communities

Syria has been struggling with a prolonged and brutal war for over a decade, leaving much of the country in devastation and its forests severely degraded. While many studies have identified logging for firewood as a significant driver of deforestation during the war, there is a notable absence of research specifically addressing logging behavior within the context of war. This research seeks to address this gap by examining the changes in logging behavior among local communities, the effects of violence and socioeconomic variables on wood harvesting, the contribution of wood income to people's survival during the war. To do that, we conducted survey questionnaires in two coastal villages in Syria—Blouta and Nehel al Annaze—which experienced high and low levels of violence, respectively. Our findings reveal that logging activities increased once the war began, with more people involved in forest harvesting and average days spent logging per week significantly increasing from 1.5 to 4. Additionally, the war appeared to reduce the gender disparity in logging activities: before the conflict, women engaged in logging significantly more frequently than men, but this difference became insignificant during the war. The level of violence alone did not significantly affect the amount of wood logged per month. Furthermore, income generated from wood harvesting played a substantial role in bridging the gap between the monthly income needed to cover their basic necessities and the actual income of families in both villages by 46.94 % and 84.83 % of the gap in Nehel al Annaze and Blouta, respectively. These results highlight the crucial role of forest resources in supporting rural livelihoods during times of war. Post-war effective forest management will be vital to ensure the sustainable use and recovery of forest resources, supporting both ecological restoration and economic stability for the rural communities.

Violence, Democracy and Criminal Justice in five South American countries (2014-2020)

Latin America is the most violent region in the world. Its average rate exceeds 20 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, while the global average rate is 6 per 100,000 and the epidemic limit is 10 per 100,000. No consolidated democracy has uncontrolled rates of homicidal violence, none of them have high impunity and a low rate of rule of law. Our task in this paper will be to relate violence, the level of democracy and criminal justice as a proxy indicator of the rule of law in five representative countries in Latin America. To this end, we use the following as indicators for measuring, classifying and correlating these concepts: democracy indices from The Economist's Democracy Index; UNODC homicide rates per hundred thousand inhabitants as a proxy for violence; and the factor eight criminal justice indices from the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index (2021). Our theoretical argument, or conjecture to be tested, was that the indicators of violence, democracy and criminal justice as a factor of the Rule of Law are associated. In other words, the signs of statistical correlations and crossing data sets from the 2014-2020 time series point to a higher level of democracy when there is a higher level of criminal justice and, in turn, lower levels of violence. Data analysis confirmed our theoretical conjecture and, in the five countries analyzed, violence tends to fall with the improvement of criminal justice indicators (Rule of Law) and reflects a better quality of democracy.

Religiosity to Minimize Violence: A Study of Solo Indonesian Society

Purpose: This study aimed to explore whether religiosity was associated with reduced violence in a representative sample of the population of the Solo community in Indonesia. Methods: This cross-sectional observational study was conducted through face-to-face interviews between 2020 and 2024, involving 100 people aged 25 years and older. The survey included indicators of religiosity (religiosity and importance of religion), violence (involvement in fights, domestic violence, and police detention), depression, social support, and alcohol dependence. We use logistic regression models and mediation analysis. In the analysis of the total sample, after adjustment, religious attitudes were negatively associated with reduced involvement in fights and fewer police arrests, whereas the importance of religion was only associated with fewer fights. Results and Conclusion: These findings suggest that Solo's religiosity appears to be an important factor associated with low levels of violence in this nationally representative survey, and alcohol dependence appears to mediate this relationship. These findings should be examined by the Minister of Religion, Education, and Health. Research implications: This research implies that the concept of religiosity can be used as a measure to minimize violence in Solo and Indonesia. Originality/value: The originality of the research lies in the function of religiosity to minimize violence that this study conducted in a Solo society.

The Kurdish Protection Units in Northern Syria: A Deviant Case of Peaceful Cohabitation between Foreign Fighters and Local Civilians?

Interactions between foreign combatants and local populations during civil wars are often conflictual. Existing research underscores how trans-national insurgents typically behave more violently than domestic fighters toward civilians. Nevertheless, most research has focused on relations between local rebels and civilians, showing how the type of endowments that rebels exhibit determines the pattern of behavior toward civilian populations. Only recently has the impact of foreign fighters caught the attention of scholars. The consensus in the existing literature is that trans-national insurgents are typically more violent toward civilians than local rebels: they have neither ethnic nor linguistic kinships, there is no mechanism of accountability on foreign fighters, and, usually, they have more extreme religious or ideological beliefs compared to locals. Contrary to the general view, the Kurdish YPG/YPJ appears as a deviant case since it has exhibited low levels of civilian victimization. The presence of foreign fighters in its ranks seems not to affect this trend. Relying on primary and secondary sources, the article argues that the YPG/YPJ’s inclusive ideology, daily practices, and the organizational measures that the Kurdish leadership has adopted in dealing with foreign combatants in the ranks have resulted in lower levels of violence toward civilians.

Assessing experiences with violence and peace in primary schools in Sierra Leone

PurposeThis paper aims to discuss the construction of two composite indices to assess children’s experiences with violence and peace in primary schools in Sierra Leone.Design/methodology/approachThe authors provide a conceptual framework based on the three dimensions of the violence index (direct, structural and cultural violence) and the three dimensions of the positive peace index (inclusion, citizenship and well-being). After that, this work proposes an operationalisation of these concepts based on a survey administered with 2,000 pupils and examine the correlates of the indices.FindingsResults indicate not only a substantial level of violence among the sampled schools but also a considerable level of positive peace. These indices are negatively correlated, suggesting that lower levels of violence are related to higher levels of positive peace. Further analysis also shows that socioeconomic variables and school characteristics such as headteacher experience and teacher qualification are associated with levels of violence and peace. Finally, based on longitudinal evidence, this study also indicates that the prevalence of violence is a significant predictor of reading development among children.Originality/valueThe indicator presented is the first to combine children’s experiences with violence and experiences with positive peace in schools. It is a unique contribution to the measurement of school outcomes that are usually overlooked in the literature.

Role of Adolescents’ Psychological Well-Being on Transmission of Domestic Violence

This study aims to investigate the psychological well-being as a potential moderator of the effects of childhood exposure to violence on the future risk of transmission of violence into romantic relationships. A sample of 3,193 participants from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health data was used to examine psychological well-being whether the link between exposure to violence in childhood and experiencing intimate partner violence in adulthood was disrupted. Findings showed a significant relationship between childhood exposure to violence and later perpetration and victimization of intimate partner violence. Further, adolescents’ higher sense of well-being was negatively linked with the violent acts toward an intimate partner and the lower risk of victimization of intimate violence in adult relationships. While the proposed moderator did not interact with childhood exposure to violence to lessen the future risk of being violent or experiencing violence in the intimate relationship, well-being was linked with lower levels of violence in romantic relationships in adulthood. Conclusions suggest that clinicians should focus on how to improve the psychological well-being of adolescences to help prevent future IPV.

Comprehensive Human Development Without Violence and Seclusion. Is Education A Mitigating Factor?

For UNDP (2016), human development consists in "the creation of an environment in which people can develop their maximum potential and lead a productive and creative life according to their needs and interests". It requires the satisfaction of certain basic needs: health, education, food, housing with minimum services, an adequate income to cover them, and a freedom to express ideas and convictions.However, not only the latter is necessary for this development, violence in all its forms - intrafamiliar, of the common law (robbery, injury, homicide, property crime, kidnapping and rape), gender violence, violence generated by illicit activities (drug trafficking, fuel theft (gasoline, gas) - also directly decreases in individuals that desired human development.Among the many factors that can affect the integral human development of the individuals within a society, lack of education becomes one of these factors in all its current aspects, schooled and not schooled.The importance of this factor is such that the UNDP (2016) in its Sustainable Development Goal (SDO) for education, indicates that "... education is one of the most powerful and proven engines to guarantee sustainable development". Based on these ideas, we have taken up a research hypothesis, in which we propose to review the relationship between violence and education and verify that the latter is a mitigating factor that allows an integral human development.Violence reduction in a society, implies the presence, among other factors, of two triggers, economic and educational. The latter is for us one of the factors of study, which we consider essential to reduce violence and generate an integral human development.This research aims to prove that a higher level of education in a society results in lower levels of violence and greater integral human development. Our study society is formed by the inhabitants of the state of Oaxaca in Mexico; It includes a period of study from 2009 to 2017. This work will show the first results for this relation. Keywords : Human development, education, violence. DOI: 10.7176/RHSS/11-11-09 Publication date: June 30 th 2021

Transcriptomic analyses of black women in neighborhoods with high levels of violence

Chronic stress threatens an individual's capacity to maintain psychological and physiological homeostasis, but the molecular processes underlying the biological embedding of these experiences are not well understood. This is particularly true for marginalized groups, presenting a fundamental challenge to decreasing racial, economic, and gender-based health disparities. Physical and social environments influence genome function, including the transcriptional activity of core stress responsive genes. We studied the relationship between social experiences that are associated with systemic inequality (e.g., racial segregation, poverty, and neighborhood violence) and blood cell (leukocytes) gene expression, focusing on the activation of transcription factors (TF) critical to stress response pathways. The study used data from 68 women collected from a convenience sample in 2013 from the Southside of Chicago. Comparing single, low-income Black mothers living in neighborhoods with high levels of violence (self-reported and assessed using administrative police records) to those with low levels of violence we found no significant differences in expression of 51 genes associated with the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity (CTRA). Using TELiS analysis of promoter TF-binding motif prevalence we found that mothers who self-reported higher levels of neighborhood stress showed greater expression of genes regulated by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). These findings may reflect increased cortisol output from the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, or increased GR transcriptional sensitivity. Transcript origin analyses identified monocytes and dendritic cells as the primary cellular sources of gene transcripts up-regulated in association with neighborhood stress. The prominence of GR-related transcripts and the absence of sympathetic nervous system-related CTRA transcripts suggest that a subjective perception of elevated chronic neighborhood stress may be associated with an HPA-related defeat-withdrawal phenotype rather than a fight-or-flight phenotype. The defeat-withdrawal phenotype has been previously observed in animal models of severe, overwhelming threat. These results demonstrate the importance of studying biological embedding in diverse environments and communities, specifically marginalized populations such as low-income Black women.

Cyclicality in non-state violence: theory and evidence

ABSTRACT What explains recurrent fluctuations in violence within militant groups? Temporal swings in the number of attacks perpetrated are common, but lack a general explanation. I provide evidence of cycles in attacks, and provide a theory of why organizational levels of violence vary serially. First, due to the contradictions of non-state violence, there exist, simultaneously, upward and downward pressures on its use. By “contradictions,” I mean that violence is both beneficial and detrimental to an organization. It can secure public support and government concessions, but can also tarnish a group’s reputation and invite retaliatory violence. Second, since the relative strength of each type of pressure (upward or downward) varies inversely with how much it is accommodated, organizations face disincentives to pause at high or low levels of violence. Groups that shift tactics to accommodate one pressure find they have activated another. For example, a group that curtails violent attacks to avoid government repression finds it lacks media attention. These pressures incentivize a reprise in violence, causing the up-and-down pattern to repeat. Finally, the cyclical pattern is reinforced by endogenous interactions between militants’ political environments and their decision-making processes. I provide suggestive support for the arguments by examining the Basque group ETA.

The effect of religiosity on violence: Results from a Brazilian population-based representative survey of 4,607 individuals.

Although there is a wide array of evidence showing the beneficial effect of religiosity on violence among adolescents, nationwide studies in the general population are scarce. This study aims to explore whether religiosity is associated or not with diminishing violence in a Brazilian population-based representative sample. This observational cross-sectional study was conducted in 2011-2012 using face-to-face interviews and included 4,608 individuals 14 years and older. The survey included measures of religiosity (religious affiliation and importance of religion), violence (involvement in fights, domestic violence and police detention), depression, social support and alcohol dependence. We used logistic regression models and mediation analyses. In the total sample analyses, after adjustments, having a religious affiliation was inversely associated with lower involvement in fights (OR = 0.60,CI95%:0.37-0.98) and less police detention (OR = 0.37,CI95%:0.20-0.70), whereas the importance of religion was only associated with less fights (OR = 0.60,CI95%:0.36-0.99). Subanalyses revealed different associations depending on the age group evaluated. Mediation tests showed that the association of religious affiliation on violence outcomes was mediated by alcohol use. In conclusion, religiosity seems to be an important factor associated with lower levels of violence in this nationwide representative survey and alcohol dependence seems to mediate this relationship. Health professionals should be aware of these findings in their clinical practice.

Structural Modeling of Alexithymia Relationships and Bullying Rate of Students with Mediation of Their compatibility

Introduction: Bullying is a kind of low-level violence that has recently attracted the attention of researchers and psychologists in the field. The purpose of this study was to investigate the modeling of structural relationships between Alexithymia and bullying with the role of mediator of students' adaptationin students.M ethods: Correlational research based on structural equation modeling technique, in particular regression equations (combining path analysis and factor analysis Second level). The statistical population consisted of all female students of the Humanities Department of Payame Noor University of Sari in the academic year of 2018-19. In this research, 401 students were selected as a sample by multistage cluster random sampling. Data gathering tools were Patchin and Hendowjah's Bullying Questionnaire (2011), Emergency Neural Network (1994), Baker and Siriac compatibility (1984). Resulth: The findings showed that the research model was confirmed and in general, 36 percent of students' bullying could be explained by student Alexithymia and student adaptation. Also, Alexithymia and student adaptation variables have a direct direct effect on students 'bullying. Emotional neural pathology has an indirect effect on students' bullying, with regard to student interpersonal mediation. Conclusion: The results of this study emphasized the importance of Alexithymia with regard to the quality of student compatibility., which can provide practical implications for reducing the level of bullying to counselors and psychologists, and considering the findings of the study can be used to reduce the incidence rate. Bullying among students has led to increased levels of academic compatibility as well as identification and correction of students' Alexithymia.

Social capacities in fostering water supply resilience in Vanuatu

PurposeIn March 2015 Vanuatu experienced Tropical Cyclone (TC) Pam, a category 5 cyclone with estimated wind speeds of 250 kph and one of the worst disasters in Vanuatu’s history. Prior to the cyclone, one-third of water in Vanuatu was collected by means of rainwater harvesting systems; around one quarter of these systems were damaged due to the cyclone and no longer functional. The purpose of this paper is to investigate social and organisational complexities in the resilience of water systems in Vanuatu following TC Pam, focussing on rural areas.Design/methodology/approachThe resilience of water supply in rural responses to TC Pam was examined using the three following approaches: review of existing documents, a case study of a village and interviews with specialist local and international non-governmental organisation staff working in Vanuatu.FindingsPeople’s reaction to the cyclone and its consequences at the village or community level in Vanuatu was impressive. The capacity of the locals, their involvement in the community and the low level of violence and high level of trust within society contributed to a quicker water supply restoration than expected. Despite severe shortages of water in some areas due to physical vulnerability of the system, the communities dealt with the issue calmly and the country did not experience any chaos due to water shortages.Originality/valueThe research results provide a benchmark for planners and decision makers in the South Pacific based on the social, organisational and technical dimensions of rural areas in Vanuatu that can be generalised to other countries in the region. This study also recommends potential tools to improve assessment of the role of social capital in fostering water supply resilience.

PREVALENCIA DE VIOLENCIA EN EL NOVIAZGO EN UNA MUESTRA DE VARONES ADOLESCENTES MEXICANOS

Estudios recientes sobre violencia en el noviazgo han sugerido que ambos sexos pueden ser agresores o receptores de violencia. Por ello este estudio explora la frecuencia con que 295 varones, con edades entre 15 y 18 años, ejercen y sufren violencia en sus relaciones de noviazgo. Se aplicó la escala Violence in Adolescents’ Dating Relationships Inventory que indicó mayor frecuencia de respuesta en la violencia sufrida de control y aislamiento en comparación con la violencia verbal, física y sexual. Se halló asociación significativa positiva entre la duración de la relación y la satisfacción con la misma, y entre la perpetración y victimización de conductas de control y aislamiento; también se encontró una correlación negativa entre la satisfacción de la relación y la violencia sufrida directa severa. Los resultados sugieren una posible bidireccionalidad de la violencia en el noviazgo. Por otro lado, mayores niveles satisfacción de la relación se asocian a menores niveles de violencia. Se discuten los resultados desde una perspectiva relacional e inclusiva de género.

Changing characteristics of forensic psychiatric patients in Ontario: a population-based study from 1987 to 2012.

To quantify the demand for forensic psychiatric services in Ontario over the past 25years and investigate whether the sociodemographic, clinical and offense-based characteristics of forensic patients have changed over time. We investigated all forensic admissions from 1987 to 2012 resulting in a disposition of Not Criminally Responsible on account of Mental Disorder (N = 2533). We present annual proportions of patients with specified sociodemographic, clinical and offense characteristics, and investigate whether the duration of forensic system tenure varies as a function of admission year, psychiatric diagnosis, or index offense. There has been a steady increase in forensic admissions over this time period, particularly individuals with comorbid substance use disorders and individuals of non-Caucasian ethno-racial background. The proportion of persons committing severe violence has remained low and has decreased over time. Having a comorbid personality, neurological, or substance use disorder significantly increased forensic system tenure, as did committing a violent offense. Individuals who came into the system in earlier years had slower rates of discharge compared to more recent admissions. Defining the trends characterizing the growth of the forensic population has important policy implications, as forensic services are costly and involve a significant loss of liberty. The current results indicate that young, substance abusing individuals of diverse ethno-racial backgrounds and who commit relatively low-level violence comprise an increasing proportion of Ontario's forensic population, and suggest that treatment must be optimized to best serve the needs of these individuals.

From Anarchy to Civil War: The Escalation of Violence in Iraq, 2003-2006

Civil wars are often the product of low-level political violence that escalates, rather than emerging ex nihilo from a peaceful society. Therefore, it is important to focus on what causes the initial pattern of violence and why it escalates. This essay integrates structural and strategic theories of political violence to develop an analytical framework of violence escalation. This framework allows us to identify critical junctures where intervention may limit or halt escalation. The framework is applied to Iraq, 2003–2006 to determine how and why violence escalated, culminating in widespread sectarian civil war in 2006.

The International Regime for Treating Civil War, 1988–2017

The post–Cold War international order has promoted a “standard treatment” for civil wars involving the use of mediation to end conflicts and the deployment of peacekeeping forces to implement the resulting settlements. The United Nations has played a leading role in applying this standard treatment, which enjoys broad international support. By contrast, Western efforts to promote more robust humanitarian intervention as a standard response to civil wars remains controversial. While effective in relatively permissive postconflict environments, international mediation and peacekeeping efforts have proved insufficient to resolve harder cases of civil war, such as those in South Sudan and Syria. The UN has struggled to make the standard treatment work where governments refuse to cooperate or low-level violence is endemic. Growing major-power tensions could now undermine the post–Cold War regime for the treatment of civil wars, which, for all its faults, has made a significant contribution to international order.

Balance of Power, Domestic Violence, and Health Injuries: Evidence from Demographic and Health Survey of Nepal

A large literature has documented a complex and interdependent relationship between domestic violence, women empowerment, domestic risk factors, and violence-related health injuries. In this paper, we evaluate this relationship using data drawn from the Nepal Demographic and Health Survey, 2011. We simultaneously estimate the impact of women empowerment and domestic risk factors on domestic violence, and the impact of domestic violence on health consequences. Specifically, an IV ordered probit regression strategy is used, which addresses both the endogenous nature of domestic violence and the ordinal nature of health outcome variables. Our study finds evidence that it is not the autonomous power of women, but a cooperative decision-making environment in a marital relationship that reduces violence. Additionally, education decreases domestic violence and domestic risk factors, including alcohol and multiple unions exacerbate domestic violence. Finally, in terms of adverse health outcomes, we find that domestic violence has a non-linear impact on health injuries. At low levels of violence, the likelihood of injuries is low and injuries are generally not threatening, and as the level of violence increases, it considerably increases the probability of multiple and more serious health injuries.

The relationship of anxiety, stress, and depression with suicidal thoughts among female adolescents: The meditating role of victim of bullying

Introduction: Bullying is a form of low-level violence in the school environment that if unnoticed to become dangerous forms of violence occurs. The aim of this study was examining the relationship between anxiety, stress and depression and female adolescents' suicidal thoughts with the meditating role of the victim of bullying. Materials and Methods: This study is descriptive and has used the correlation method. For this purpose in the academic year 2016-2017, 300 students of high school girl students (seventh and eighth grade) of public schools of Pakdasht city were selected by random cluster sampling method and they filled in the suicidal thoughts, anxiety, stress, depression and victim of bullying questionnaire. For data analysis, Pearson�s correlation method and structural equation modeling were used by using SPSS-19 and LISRELV8.80 software. Results: Pearson�s correlational results showed that there is a positive and meaningful relation between anxiety, stress, depression and victim of bullying with suicidal thoughts (P�0.01). Also the victim of bullying variable has a meditating role in relation among research variable and all of the direct and indirect effects of anxiety, stress, depression and victim of bullying on suicidal thoughts are meaningful.  Conclusion: The results indicate that anxiety, stress, depression along with victim of bullying in female adolescents cause suicidal thoughts therefore preventing and reducing the risk at schools is absolutely necessary.

What are the costs of violence?

This article presents estimates of the global cost of collective and interpersonal violence for the period of one year. This includes war, terrorism, homicides, assaults and domestic violence against women and children. The cost of conventionally defined interpersonal violence, that is, homicides and assault, are about 7.5 times higher than the cost due to war and terrorism. I also estimate the costs of non-fatal domestic violence against children and women and suggest that these costs are much higher than the combined costs of homicide, assault, terrorism and war. The main reason is that the prevalence of these types of violence is very high: possibly as many as 16 per cent of all children are punished using violent methods and about 12 per cent of all women experience intimate partner violence. Richer societies have lower levels of violence, and there is evidence that prevalence rates have been declining over time. However, it is often unclear why this is the case. Much of the evidence from violence reducing interventions comes from high-income countries, and it is uncertain whether these programs would be similarly effective in low- and middle-income countries. However, although further research is needed to examine the effectiveness of violence-reducing interventions, it appears likely that some interventions would constitute a very effective use of resources.