Myth Of Violence Research Articles

Aristotle Meets Augustine in Fourteenth-Century Liège: Religious Violence in the Chronicon of Jean Hocsem

As William Cavanaugh has remarked, the scholarly notion of religion “should often be surrounded by scare quotes. Its flexibility and occasional nebulousness make evaluating its role in conceiving of, effecting, and justifying violence even more difficult. At the same time, it sticks around and remains a vital category of contemporary analysis. What if getting behind the Wars of Religion—the period to which Cavanaugh traces the emergence of his “myth of religious violence”—could plant the seeds for a new paradigm in understanding the relationship between religion and violence? In this article, I analyze the Chronicon of Jean Hocsem, a fourteenth-century canon from Liège. Untranslated into English and rarely written about, Hocsem’s text offers an unexpectedly political perspective on this question. Combining insights from Augustine’s City of God as well as Aristotle’s Politics and basing his ideas on his own experience of nearly constant conflict, Hocsem develops the idea that class antagonisms and human frailty make violence—especially political violence—inevitable. He takes this approach within a polity ruled by a prince-bishop, though one he would not have thought of as “religious”. Hocsem’s solutions are thus avowedly political. His pessimism about such questions leads to an emphasis on mitigating violence through the institution of proper socio-political structures. This reading of Hocsem and his politicizing of the question of violence opens new possibilities for scholars, further calling into question any easy relationship between the modern categories of “religion” and violence.

International and domestic crime statistics indicators of sexual crimes

Aim: In this study, the Author reviews the criminal statistics indicators of sexual crimes. Sexual crimes can be grouped according to several classification systems – for example, the age of the victims, or the method of execution, or in light of whether they are committed with violence. Based on the latter, distinguished between violent and non-violent situations – a good example of the former is the crime of sexual violence, while the latter is child pornography. The analysis of the statistical data provides insight into how and to what extent the prevalence of sexual crime develops, as well as how and with what prevention campaigns these frequency indicators can be reduced. Methodology: In the study, the Author makes a statistical presentation, the sources of which are international and domestic crime statistics databases. Findings: Although the number of proceedings initiated for sexual crimes in Hungary can be considered average for the Central and Eastern European region, the numbers of cases detected are still at high levels. In order for these cases to decrease, programs are needed that effectively combat the effects of sexual violence myths, the fear of victim blaming, and stigmatisation. Value: This study is an overview that aims to present a complex statistical point of sexual crimes, which can serve as a basis for further comparative analyses.

International and domestic crime statistics indicators of sexual crimes

Aim: In this study, the Author reviews the criminal statistics indicators of sexual crimes. Sexual crimes can be grouped according to several classification systems – for example, the age of the victims, or the method of execution, or in light of whether they are committed with violence. Based on the latter, distinguished between violent and non-violent situations – a good example of the former is the crime of sexual violence, while the latter is child pornography. The analysis of the statistical data provides insight into how and to what extent the prevalence of sexual crime develops, as well as how and with what prevention campaigns these frequency indicators can be reduced. Methodology: In the study, the Author makes a statistical presentation, the sources of which are international and domestic crime statistics databases. Findings: Although the number of proceedings initiated for sexual crimes in Hungary can be considered average for the Central and Eastern European region, the numbers of cases detected are still at high levels. In order for these cases to decrease, programs are needed that effectively combat the effects of sexual violence myths, the fear of victim blaming, and stigmatisation. Value: This study is an overview that aims to present a complex statistical point of sexual crimes, which can serve as a basis for further comparative analyses.

Past intimate partner violence experience and acceptance of IPV myths: The roles of adversarial sexual beliefs and sexual relationship power

Intimate partner violence (IPV) myths are commonly held misconceptions that serve to rationalize or excuse aggressive behavior toward a partner. Previous research has found that past IPV experience influences attitudes toward IPV; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To fill this gap, we conducted a cross-sectional study of Chinese male and female adults (N = 587) with experience in romantic relationships. The results showed that past IPV experience was significantly associated with a higher acceptance of IPV myths. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses further revealed that adversarial sexual beliefs positively predicted acceptance of IPV myths, whereas sexual relationship power negatively predicted it. Furthermore, the relationship between past IPV experience and acceptance of IPV myths was attenuated after considering adversarial sexual beliefs and sexual relationship power; adversarial sexual beliefs and sexual relationship power explained the largest amount of variance in acceptance of IPV myths. Thus, we recommend creating an atmosphere of gender equality and mutual respect in society. Relevant organizations should take measures to prevent IPV incidents and provide appropriate psychological support to IPV survivors and bystanders to prevent the perpetuation of violence across generations.

The Myths of Romantic Love and Violence in Courtship

Objective: The objective is to analyze the relationship between the myths of romantic love and intimate partner violence, to identify the predictive factors. Theoretical Framework: Partner violence has its beginnings in dating; through obvious or invisible behaviors due to their normalization. In Mexico, 70.1% of women aged 15 years and older have experienced at least one situation of violence throughout their lives (INEGI, 2022). On the other hand, the myths of romantic love are a set of socially supported beliefs with sexist ideals that can be a direct source of information to know if it is related to violence in the couple. Method: The proposed research is quantitative, non-experimental and correlational. The instruments used were: Boyfriend Violence Questionnaire by Rodríguez-Franco et al., (2010) and the Romantic Love Myths Scale by Bonilla and Rivas (2020). 200 people (65 men and 135 women) adolescents in the age range of 16 to 23 years participated. Results and Discussion: Significant relationships (p<.05) were found between the myths of distorted love and dating violence, since actions that cause harm to the subject are minimized. Distorted myths are related to humiliation, sexual violence, physical coercion, gender violence, emotional and instrumental punishment in the relationship. Implications of the research: The findings contribute to the understanding of emotional health in couple relationships, as well as the psychosocial dynamics between beliefs and practices of violence in relationships. Originality/Value: This study contributes to the understanding of violence and the role of myths of romantic love in couple relationships in the context of southeastern Mexico.

Association Between Pornography Use, Sexism, and Sexual Violence Myth Acceptance in Chinese Men: The Moderating Effect of Perceived Realism

ABSTRACT Pornography is spreading more and more widely due to websites, applications, and social media. It has attracted the attention of a large number of researchers who are sometimes divided on the impact of pornography. However, the relationship between pornography and sexual violence myths has received little scholarly attention in China. Based on the 3AM model and previous research, the study examined hostile sexism (HS) as a mediator and perceived realism as a moderator in the links between pornography use frequency and sexual violence myths in a sample of Chinese men (N = 376). The results showed that although pornography use and sexual violence myths did not directly correlate with one another, there was an indirect correlation through HS. Further, perceived realism moderated the relationship between pornography use frequency and HS. When participants’ perceived realism was high (i.e. +1 SD), the indirect effect of HS was strong; when participants’ perceived realism was low (i.e. −1 SD), the indirect effect of HS was not significant. Taken together, the findings reveal the cross-cultural consistency of the 3AM theory in China, and the findings provide new insight into the potential impact of pornography on sexism. At the same time, the results suggest an increase in appropriate education and interventions to reduce the incidence of sexual violence.

Sexual violence in nightlife and positive bystander intervention in an English city

BackgroundNightlife environments are high risk settings for sexual violence and bystander intervention programmes are being developed in response. However, more research is needed to understand nightlife-related sexual violence, and factors that influence bystander interventions. This study examined nightlife patron’s experiences of sexual violence and associated factors; and relationships between attitudes towards, awareness and experience of sexual violence, and confidence to intervene.MethodsCross-sectional on-street survey of nightlife patrons (N = 307, aged 18+) on a night out in an English city. Surveys (7.30pm-1.30am; Wednesday-Saturday) established sexual violence awareness, myth acceptance, and experience, and confidence to intervene. Participant’s socio-demographics, nightlife alcohol consumption, and frequency of nightlife usage were collected.Results58.0% had ever experienced sexual violence whilst on a night out. In adjusted analyses, sexual violence was higher amongst females (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] 4.0; p < 0.001), and regular nightlife patrons (AOR 2.1; p < 0.05). The majority agreed that they would feel confident asking someone who has experienced sexual violence if they are okay/would like support (92.2%). In adjusted analyses, confidence to intervene was higher amongst those who agreed that sexual violence was an issue in nightlife (AOR 3.6; p < 0.05), however it reduced as sexual violence myth acceptance increased (AOR 0.5; p < 0.05).ConclusionSexual violence is a pertinent issue in nightlife. Programmes aiming to address nightlife-related sexual violence must address the wider social norms that promote sexual violence, and ensure patrons understand the extent and significance of the issue, to increase confidence to positively intervene.

Peer-Led Groups in Sexual Assault Prevention Programming: Myth Adherence and Self-Defense Efficacy within Gender and Race

Participants ( n = 520) in a study of two on-campus peer-led sexual assault prevention programs focused on bystander intervention and risk reduction were assessed. This study focused on myth reduction, as well as self-defense self-efficacy. Demographics allowed for within-group comparisons along gender and race. Among men who attended Bro Code, Black men had significantly lower sexual assault myth adherence on many rape myths than the control group, not true of white men. Those women who attended Girls Night Out (GNO) had significantly lower sexual assault myth adherence than the control group. While greater reductions in myth adherence were seen in white women than among Black women, Black women had significantly lower overall sexual assault myth adherence (in both control and sample). As a side note, we found that women who attended GNO had lower general intimate partner violence myth acceptance in addition to lower sexual assault myth acceptance, with some variation on individual myths. Finally, those women who attended self-defense training were significantly more likely to endorse self-defense self-efficacy. Results were then explored through the lens of cultural, gender, intersectional, and community-based contexts. Future research needs and implications are discussed.

Mass identifications and mythical violence

Abstract Whoever intends to answer the question about how collective identities are articulated today in capitalist societies cannot ignore the task of conceptually and empirically articulating two differentiated issues: on the one hand, the anomic situations of disintegration, in which the individualizing logic of neoliberal ideology takes center stage; on the other, the emergence of new phenomena of social authoritarianism in different strata where the psycho-affective dynamics of community identifications become especially relevant. In this article I will analyze the mechanisms of communitarian subjectivation deployed by neoliberalism in the time of its crisis. For this purpose, I examine some oral narratives extracted from a qualitative study of Argentine society, in which the interlocutors thread hypotheses about issues of public significance such as social inequality, the role of the State in our crisis context and the rights of immigrants.

Psychological abuse is not a problem! Exploring the role of domestic violence myths in psychological revictimization.

Research provided evidence that IPV myths affect women's acceptance of psychological aggression in intimate relationships, increasing revictimization. However, no study to date has investigated how endorsement of IPV myths leads victims of psychological IPV to accept psychological aggression. In the present study (N = 207 young Italian women involved in heterosexual romantic relationships), we assessed acceptance of IPV myths, prevalence of psychological abuse (in the past 12 months), perception of the problematic nature, and acceptance of psychological aggression in intimate relationships. Results showed that the effect of IPV myths on participants' acceptance of psychological aggression was mediated by the tendency to consider psychological aggression as unproblematic. Notably, this effect was significant only for women who had experienced some form of psychological abuse by an intimate partner in the past 12 months. These findings have relevant implications for prevention strategies about risks of revictimization.

The Revolt's Illegitimate Body

The 2019 revolt in Chile touched and exposed the mythical violence involved in the establishment and preservation of political-legal orders (Benjamin). The demand for the New Constitution and the (ineffective?) process of its elaboration could have been key moments of that exposition, but never its final destination or the legal body in which the revolt could have been hosted and translated. It was not the demands of the revolt that put the established legal-political order in check but the constitution without Constitution of a collective and vital political power (potencia) that, once and again, resisted being subjected by force—by the force of instituted law—to the legal-political pact within whose framework it was supposedly irrevocably destined to move, be recognized, and raise its demands.

Purity Culture: Measurement and Relationship to Domestic Violence Myth Acceptance

Though discussed extensively in popular culture, purity culture, a conservative Christian movement that builds on traditional sexual ethics by proscribing additional rules and regulations to govern sexual behaviors and prioritize virginity, has scarcely been examined from a psychological perspective. The present study was designed to develop and validate a measure of purity culture, the Purity Culture Beliefs Scale (PCBS). We explore and confirm the factor structure of the PCBS and establish convergent and discriminant validity. We also demonstrate the utility of the scale showing incremental validity in the prediction of domestic violence myth acceptance. Convergent validity was established between purity culture and heterosexual scripts, sexual–spiritual integration, and shame. Discriminant validity was established between purity culture and manifestation of God in sexuality, sacred qualities of sexuality, Christian orthodoxy, and affect. The PCBS was also used to find that purity culture beliefs predicted domestic violence myth acceptance above and beyond the constructs of hostile sexism, benevolent sexism, and traditional sex roles. The introduction of the PCBS allows for the empirical study of the internalization and consequences of purity culture, which may inform interventions around Christian engagement with the topics of gender and sexuality.

The myth of Muslim violence: Theorizing religion in the war on terror

Both inside and outside the academy, identifications of Islam as a terrorist threat have gained traction during the on-going War on Terror. William Cavanaugh’s conceptualization and critique of what he calls “the myth of religious violence” claims to offer a critique of these identifications. This critique has been influential across a variety of disciplines. In this article, I assess both his more philosophical-critical and his more theological-constructive accounts of religion to argue that Cavanaugh’s myth is, essentially, apologetics. Cavanaugh’s apologetics for the church camouflages the differential treatment of religions during the War on Terror. If it has been about a myth at all, then the War on Terror has been about the myth of Muslim violence. Christianity past and present has condoned and contributed to this very myth. What is needed, then, is a conception and a critique of “religion” that, in contrast to Cavanaugh’s analysis, can account for the significance of Christianity for the differential treatment of religions in the public square, both descriptively and prescriptively.

Reflexões sobre a Violência Divina: Fórum sobre a Atualidade da ‘Crítica da Violência’ de Benjamin em seu Centenário, Parte III

Abstract Walter Benjamin published his influential essay ‘Critique of Violence’/‘Zur Kritik der Gewalt’ in 1921, and the work has troubled and provoked thinkers across disciplines for over a century now. This Forum gathers a group of scholars in philosophy, political science, international relations and legal studies to reflect on the actuality of Benjamin’s essay for contemporary critical theory. Melany Cruz, Kaveh Ghoreishi and Sara Minelli engage Benjamin on ‘divine violence.’ As Cruz notes, lynching in contemporary Mexico has become a recurrent phenomenon in nota roja outlets. Due to its brutality, perceptions of lynching have been reduced to a form of uncivilised and irrational crime. In opposition to this perspective, Cruz theorises the political dimension of the violence of lynching by drawing from Benjamin and argues that such violence symbolically and affectively dramatises the suspension of ‘mere life’ in which the communities enacting the lynchings are immersed in the current conditions of neoliberal Mexico. In this way, it is possible to claim that lynching, in Benjamin’s terms, constitutes a form of divine violence that has the capacity to reveal and communicate the need to end the fear- and anger-provoking condition of ‘mere life.’ In the second section, Ghoreishi and Minelli propose a reading of ‘divine’ as opposed to ‘mythical violence’ that brings out the radical elements of some contemporary struggles by interpreting some examples of strike which took place in Iranian Kurdistan (Rojhilat) in the last forty years. They understand the revolutionary ‘general strike’ considered by Benjamin as what Jesi has called a ‘suspension of time,’ bringing ‘normal’ economic and social relations to a halt. In this sense, the general strikes in Kurdistan can be said to bring the mythological temporality of oppression to an end. These struggles, in which new forms of collectivity have emerged and been experimented, should, therefore, be seen as anticipations of the ‘divine violence’ that puts an end to ‘mythical violence.’

Lembranças Coloniais, Restos Coloniais: Fórum sobre a Atualidade da ‘Crítica da Violência’ de Benjamin em seu Centenário, Parte II

Abstract Walter Benjamin published his influential essay ‘Critique of Violence’/‘Zur Kritik der Gewalt’ in 1921, and the work has troubled and provoked thinkers across disciplines for over a century now. This Forum gathers a group of scholars in philosophy, political science, international relations and legal studies to reflect on the actuality of Benjamin’s essay for contemporary critical theory. In Part II of the Forum, Aggie Hirst, Tom Houseman, and Vinícius Armele draw on Benjamin to analyse what remains of European colonialism. Hirst and Houseman interrogate the extent to which Walter Benjamin’s notion of divine violence may be useful in the service of decolonial struggle. Insofar as it is antithetical to the colonial order – which is inaugurated and reproduced by the law making and law preserving functions of mythic violence – divine violence appears to open a space for conceptualising a far-reaching challenge to the violence encrypted in that order that is ‘lethal without spilling blood’. Because the exercise of such ‘power over all life’ is exercised ‘for the sake of living,’ Benjamin argues, its accompanying sacrifices are acceptable. Drawing on postcolonial and decolonial theory, Hirst and Houseman offer a critique of the ‘God’s-eye view’ inherent to any claim to divine violence. Benjamin’s text can generate powerful insights into the nature and limits of decolonial struggles, but it ultimately fails in providing an alternative to the mythic violence it criticises, by reproducing – at the heart of the emancipatory concept of divine violence – a problematic impersonation of a divine authorial voice that is already a trope of coloniality. Armele’s reflection seeks to recover ancient tragedy’s role of reluctance toward the previously unquestionable power of the violence of mythical destiny. Resume Benjamin’s contributions on (1) melancholy and Romanticism, which represents the revolt of repressed, channelled and deformed subjectivity and affectivity, and (2) the criticism of the violence that is established in the manifestation of its ethical relations between law [Recht] and justice [Gerechtigkeit], Armele reveals the intertwining of the experience of historical time and the orientation of current political struggles. Inspired by Benjamin, he examines the action of the Black Lives Matters movement in Bristol, UK, which toppled a statue of the slave trader Edward Colston, and threw it in the city’s harbour, reopening a historical wound of colonialism and national memory.

Benjamin ainda faz sentido: Fórum sobre a atualidade da “Crítica da Violência” de Benjamin em seu centenário, Introdução - Por que precisamos de Benjamin mais do que nunca

Abstract Walter Benjamin published his influential essay ‘Critique of Violence’/‘Zur Kritik der Gewalt’ in 1921, and the work has troubled and provoked thinkers across disciplines for over a century now. This Forum gathers a group of scholars in philosophy, political science, international relations and legal studies to reflect on the actuality of Benjamin’s essay for contemporary critical theory. In this opening to the Forum, the guest editors Gabriela Azevedo and Ludmila Franca-Lipke introduce the Forum as a whole. Then in the following piece, James Martel argues that Benjamin helps us to better understand our current moment than almost any other thinker. Benjamin explains the nature of authoritarianism, the link between liberalism (and neoliberalism) and fascism and how such forces can be resisted. In his essay, Martel updates the concept of mythic violence to take into account the resilience of the liberal/fascist connection (even as it appears to be a node of struggle and mutual incompatibility). He shows that ‘Critique of Violence’ doesn’t just diagnose our time but it also shows a way out of the abyss that we are in. Martel lists seven key points from Benjamin’s essay and adds one other point from José Carlos Mariátegui to think concretely about how to apply their lessons from 100 years ago to our own time.

Podcasting as a feminist space for the disclosure of trauma and intimate embodied experience: The Heart as a case study of quiet activism

The ‘#MeToo’ movement established the disclosure of sexual violence via social media as mainstream and offered participants space to share experiences, receive support and create a sense of community. As a response, we explore the use of podcasting as a conduit to describe embodied experiences and how non-visual media can provide a safe environment to reveal deeply personal experiences. We use the podcast The Heart (mini-series No) as a case study to highlight patriarchal power and sexual violence myths. The result is profoundly discomforting but also emancipatory – talking about sexual violence can constitute a revolutionary act given the stigma and victim blaming prevalent in western society. The Heart makes private, intimate experiences public and centres female perspectives, highlighting disparate, gendered perceptions. As ‘#MeToo’ underscored the universality of women’s experiences of male harassment, we argue that The Heart is an example of ‘quiet activism’ and public scholarship that challenges patriarchal assumptions.

A Brief Internet-Based Passive Psychoeducation Intervention to Promote Healthy Relationships Among Young Adults: A Pilot Randomised Placebo-Controlled Trial.

This pilot randomized controlled trial tested the potential efficacy of a brief internet-based, passive psychoeducation intervention, Free From Abuse, in promoting healthy relationships among young adults. Participants aged 18 to 24 years were randomly assigned to an intervention treatment (n = 71) or a placebo control condition (n = 77). Participants in the treatment arm had a larger increase in recognition of abusive behavior and reduction in domestic violence myth acceptance scores than participants in the control arm postintervention and after one week. This study provides preliminary evidence that brief internet-based passive psychoeducation is potentially useful in promoting healthy relationships among young adults.

Making the Myths of Dating Violence Visible: Developing a New Scale and Testing Its Psychometrics Through Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Evidence.

Myths refer to misperceptions, overgeneralizations, or ideas that most people believe in but do not necessarily reflect the truth. To date, research on the myths surrounding dating violence (DV) has not received much attention, most probably due to the lack of a validated measure. Thus, we developed a standardized measure to gauge DV myths and test its psychometrics. The instrument's design is based on three studies utilizing cross-sectional and longitudinal sets of data. In Study 1, in a sample of 259 emerging adults, predominantly college students, the explanatory factor analysis revealed a solid three-factor structure. In Study 2, in a separate sample of 330 emerging adults, primarily college students, we cross-validated the factor structure via confirmatory factor analysis. We also provided evidence for concurrent validity. In Study 3, we revealed that our newly developed scale had predictive validity among dating and non-dating emerging adults, mostly college students, via longitudinal data. Based on the findings from three studies, we can buoyantly announce that the Dating Violence Myths scale is a promising novel and standardized tool for measuring beliefs about DV. The cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence alludes to a need for DV myths to be debunked to reduce psychological DV attitudes, perceptions, and behaviors among emerging adults.

Karl Barth, Walter Benjamin, and Historical Mediation

Following Jacob Taubes, this essay seeks to make a comparison of the work of Karl Barth and Walter Benjamin. I argue, with the assistance of Rowan Williams and Gillian Rose, that Barth and Benjamin, for differing reasons, refuse the mediation of the transcendence qua history and the created world. For Barth, this may be traced to his critique of natural theology and his rejection of the analogia entis, and his apparently inability to conceptualize how materiality and historicity may constitute a “fitting” mediation for divine self-disclosure, intimating a nascent voluntarism in his theology. For Benjamin, this failure to approximate mediation may be linked to the conceptual diastasis between metaphysics and law, which leads him to adopt the idea of divine violence of law-breaking, as opposed to the mythical violence of law-making, as a way of resolving the disjunction. However, following Rose, I argue that this leads to a pathological conception of the relation of immanence to transcendence and a messianic politics that avoids the labour of mourning and the constraints of the middle.