Violent Means Research Articles

Suicide risk among adult subjects hospitalized in an acute psychiatric ward: 6-year retrospective investigation

BackgroundThe phenomenon of suicide risk (SR) represents a psychiatric, social and environmental emergency. The acute psychiatric ward as the Italian Service for Psychiatric Diagnosis and Care (SPDC) represents the place where SR is high due to the acute and serious conditions of people hospitalized. The objective of this study was to evaluate the characteristics of subjects admitted to a SPDC over a 6-year period for SR represented by: suicidal ideation, attempted and failed suicide.MethodsWith a retrospective single-center observational design, we collected hospitalizations from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2022 in the SPDC of AUSL-Modena for SR, analyzed the modality of SR and compared the demographic and clinical variables of subjects with SR with those hospitalized for other clinical reasons in the same period. Data were statistically analyzed.ResultsIn the 6-year of study period, we collected 2,930 hospitalizations in the SPDC of AUSL- Modena and among them, 68% (n = 528) were carried out due to SR, which represented the second leading cause of hospitalization (18%), in particular among females (Pearson Chi2 = 17.41, p < 0.001). Individuals with SR were more frequently voluntary admitted (Pearson Chi2 = 215.41, p < 0.001) for a shorter period (7.36 ± 8.16 vs 11.66 ± 15.93, t = 6.03, t-test, p < 0.001) and less frequently repeated the hospitalization during the study period for the same reason (Pearson Chi2 = 6.0, p = 0.014). The most frequent psychiatric disorders associated with SR were depressive, personality and adjustment disorders, which represented the most common factor associated with SR (68%), followed by family/relationship problems (12%) and alcohol/substance abuse (8%). We highlighted three kinds of suicidal risk: suicidal ideation (40%), often associated with personality disorders and substance use disorders, drug ingestion (30%) concomitant with conflicting family relationships and use of violent means (30%) associated with depressive disorders (Pearson Chi2 = 42.83, p = 0.002).ConclusionsOur study provides a real-world setting evaluation of subjects hospitalized for SR and, in accordance with literature, suggests that suicidal behavior is the product of many clinical and social factors’ interaction, that occurred in a crucial moment of life in vulnerable individuals. The identification of subjects at SR represents the first step of preventive multi-professional interventions.

The Influencing Factors of Psychological Causes of Violent Crime

Violent crimes not only can cause significant economic losses, but also affect people's mental health. This passage discusses the various psychology factors that form violent crimes in combination with literature. The group of violent criminals usually has cognitive defects, which are manifested in poor judgment, serious distortion of values and morals, and are easily influenced by wrong ideas. In addition, this type of criminals are also generally emotionally unstable, vulnerable to emotional frustration, and often dominated by strong negative emotions such as anger and resentment. Thirdly, in terms of personal quality, the violent criminal group also has defects, that is, the criminals have poor self-regulation and control ability, and are prone to lose control or over-suppress emotions. Finally, from the analysis of personality and personality psychological factors, it is pointed out that violent criminals usually have obvious negative personality traits, such as impulsiveness, lack of responsibility and sympathy, and excessive expansion of self-awareness. These personality defects may be the root cause of their violent means. In general, these different psychological factors interact with each other and jointly influence and form the psychological mechanism of violent crime. This article can provide some support for understanding the causes and prevention of violent crimes.

Locating Irishness in the “Belfast of this Great Dominion”: Toronto, 1841–1926

Abstract Through an exploration of how readings of Irish ethnic identity were produced, reproduced, and modified in Toronto between 1841 and 1926, this article contributes an urban-scale study to research on global Irishness. In the mid-nineteenth century, Toronto numbered among the most Irish of North American cities, and Catholics and Protestants of Irish birth and ancestry were touched by two nineteenth-century political projects that reached global levels of significance. The first concerned the attempted resurrection of the “Irish nation” through the return of a self-governing Dublin parliament by either constitutional or violent means. The second was the ongoing expansion of Britain's empire, a geo-political entity for which the Irish in Canada displayed varying degrees of affection through the century. For these projects, Toronto can be seen as both an Irish diasporic and British imperial location of importance. The study is informed by scholarship cautioning against the essentializing of any ethnic group as a transhistorical entity with consensual goals, and it considers the role of ethno-political entrepreneurs within the historical cycle of ethnic group-making.

Feudal political economy

AbstractHow is order achieved in a realm in which every elite commands both economic and military resources, and no stable institutions of power exist? We depict coalition formation in the feudal world as a series of non-binding agreements between elites who can move in and out of the coalition, through peaceful and violent means. We derive conditions under which the realm unites under one rule — a grand coalition, or remains fragmented. We motivate our analysis with key historical episodes in medieval Europe, from the Frankish Kingdom in the 5th to 10th centuries and England in the 11th to 15th centuries.

Introduction: remobilisation within Porous polities: ex-combatants’ claims-making in post-colonial Indonesia, Vietnam and Mozambique

This special issue addresses the challenges that former freedom fighters faced in post-colonial Indonesia, Vietnam and Mozambique under porous political and difficult economic conditions within the new societies they helped to create. Drawing on the concept of contentious politics, the contributions in this special issue critically engage with notions of ‘reintegration’, demonstrating the political obstacles, economic uncertainties, and the reoccurrence of violence. The articles concern themselves with how ex-combatants attempted to secure a livelihood in post-colonial polities and adapt to new socio-political realities within newly created states and societies in flux. Ex-combatants’ claims stemmed from having risked their lives for independence but also from a marked feeling of being left out as new, independent states formed around them. The contributions seek out the limits of the contested nature of ex-combatants’ claims-making via its social, economic, political but also its psychosocial dimensions. Taken together, the contributions put in perspective disillusion, political contention by violent and non-violent means, and the limits of state support.

Letter Writing and Legal Consciousness during World War I

Abstract This article explores how ordinary Americans thought about law during World War I by examining 119 letters to Congress regarding charges under the Espionage Act. These letters are a product of their time and shed new light on our understanding of the first Red Scare. This lens of legal consciousness explains how people remain within established modes of engagement, rather than either withdrawing or becoming violent, as is found in the extant literature. Despite opposing goals, the letter writers’ shared master frame enabled them to ‘speak to’ the other side, rather than ‘past’ those with opposing views. This article explains how individuals who opposed and supported seating Berger rallied under the same master frame of Americanism. Yet, the two groups displayed strikingly different legal consciousness. These disparate groups not only conceptualized the law itself differently, but engaged the law as a tool for different agendas. At a time when violence was on the rise, these people eschewed violent means and maintained the most conventional, peaceful means of protest: letter writing. How they managed this was by embracing the law as their key, nonviolent tool.

Examining the Effects of COVID-19 on Suicide Attempts in Budapest: A Focus on Violent and Non-Violent Attempts

IntroductionIn Hungary, in contrast to most other countries, suicide deaths increased significantly during the first year of the COVID-19 epidemic (March to December 2020). Globally, the burden of emergency care in the healthcare system tended to decrease during the first period of the epidemic.ObjectivesOur research aimed to evaluate the changes in the number of intentional suicide attempts by violent and non-violent means during the first two years of the epidemic, compared to the trend before March 2020 in the Budapest metropolitan area and Pest County.MethodsWe analyzed psychiatric assessment reports of self-poisoning patients admitted to Péterfy Hospital’s Emergency Department and Clinical Toxicology from Jan 2019 to Dec 2021 to estimate non-violent suicide attempt trends. We analyzed patient data for violent suicide attempts treated at Dr. Manninger Jenő Trauma Centre from 2016-2021, focusing on trends during the first two years of the pandemic. Negative binomial regression estimates were used for interrupted time series analysis with Prais-Winsten regression, controlling for time and seasonal and autoregressive effects. We used change-point detection to examine the leveling of trends. The Institutional Review Board approved the research in both institutions. Approval numbers: 08-2022 (Péterfy Hospitaly) and 19-2021 (Traumatology Center).ResultsThe number of male non-violent suicide attempts decreased by 16.6% compared with the pre-epidemic period (p&lt;0.001). A similar and significant decrease was observed in females and in the total population (Image 1). The female and total population trends, i.e., the decrease, were reversed by August 2020, and the male trends were reversed by October 2020. The total number of patients treated for violent suicide attempts increased significantly (p&lt;0.05) during the first two years of the pandemic (Image 2). There was a slight increase in violent attempts in men and a small decrease in women, but these changes are not statistically significant.Image:Image 2:ConclusionsWe hypothesize that those who tried to end their life through non-violent drug use were less inclined to seek assistance because they were concerned about being hospitalized during the COVID-19 outbreak. The surge in violent attempts is striking, as it correlates with the rise in suicide fatalities documented in Hungary during the initial year of the outbreak. Our data was obtained from two prominent public hospitals in Budapest, enabling us to conduct a more concentrated and thorough examination of the circumstances in the capital.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Self-harm and suicide death in the three years following hospitalization for intentional self-harm in adolescents and young adults: A nationwide study

Self-harm is frequent in youths. This study aimed to assess the risk of self-harm and mortality over a three-year period following self-harm hospitalization. Data were extracted from national databases in France. All patients aged 12 to 24 years and hospitalized for self-harm in 2013–2014 were included and compared to age- and sex-matched individuals with no self-harm hospitalization during this period. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used. Overall, 34,533 individuals were hospitalized for self-harm in 2013–2014 (70.8 % females, 79.6 % self-poisoning), with a peak among females aged 14–16. Comparison with 103,599 matched controls showed significantly higher rates of past self-harm, somatic and psychiatric disorders, and dispensed drugs in youth hospitalized for self-harm. During follow-up, they significantly more often repeated self-harm (20.9 vs. 0.1 %), died from any cause (0.6 vs 0.03 %) and from suicide (0.2 vs 0.01 %), particularly during the first year. The choice of a violent self-harm means at inclusion increased the risk of suicide during follow-up. Psychiatric disorders were a significant risk factor for all outcomes. In conclusion, at least one in five youths will self-harm, and one in two hundred will die in the three years following hospitalization for self-harm. Reinforced follow-up care is necessary in this population.

The Effect of Political Repression on Collective Violence

The impact of political repression on instances of collective violence in regions likeAfrica, Russia, and Myanmar is a complex and significant area of study that examines how repressive measures taken by governments can contribute to the emergence and escalation of collective violence within these regions1 . This phenomenon underscores the intricate interplay between political, social, andeconomic factors that can give rise to violent responses from marginalized or dissenting groups. In Africa, political repression can manifest through authoritarian regimes, lack of political freedoms, and human rights abuses2 . These conditions often lead to frustration and discontent among the population, potentially resulting in collectiveviolence such as protests, riots, or even insurgencies. Repression may stifle legitimate avenues for dissent, compelling aggrieved groups to resort to violent means to make their grievances heard.

Beyond economic development? Foreign direct investment and pre-election violence

Incumbents who resort to violence in efforts to secure their hold on power have been a major challenge for sub-Saharan Africa. At the same time, opening up domestic markets to international capital in the form of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) has provided governments with more resources to garner the support of their citizens. How are these developments related? We argue that FDI reduces the likelihood that incumbents use violence in competitive regions. FDI has direct economic benefits for the population. Especially in competitive regions, where violence might reduce turnout even among their potential supporters, incumbents thus adapt their re-election strategies and use fewer violent means. We draw on geo-referenced data on election violence, FDI, and previous election results and match these within subnational regions. Investigating subnational variation in 15 sub-Saharan African countries, we find empirical support for our argument. FDI lowers pre-election violence in competitive regions, but has no effect in both incumbent and opposition strongholds. These findings are robust to using 10×10 km and 25×25 km grid cells and have important implications for democratic countries’ foreign policies: allowing multinational companies to invest in developing countries reduces violence, but might simultaneously bolster incumbent regimes.

The Dividends of Democracy’s Destruction: Surplus, Ideology, and Militarism in the Turn to Empire in Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction

Abstract This paper offers an original reading of Du Bois’s Black Reconstruction that highlights how the knock down effects from Reconstruction’s failures contributed to the U.S. imperial trajectory. The coalition between the industrial North, Southern landowners, and white workers ended the promise of racial emancipation advanced by Black freedmen and the Freedmen’s Bureau. The gains from the resubjection of Black freedmen and women; the development of a national identity based racial hierarchy and an attachment to material wealth, and the racialized militarism of the South, Du Bois argues, underpinned the imperial pursuit of material wealth through violent means. The consolidation of white identity around technological ideals and militarism led Du Bois to revise his account of democratic education (redirecting it to critique capitalism and soulless technology) and to reach transnationally for emancipatory solidarity.

Caste Capitalism and Queer Theory: Beyond Identity Politics in India

This article uses “caste capitalism” as a framework for thinking through the entanglements of sexuality politics, caste, and capital in contemporary India. The author uses a queer hermeneutic of heritability and endogamy, drawing inspiration from Indian feminist, queer, anti-caste, and Marxist critiques, and from racial capitalism as theorized by Cedric Robinson. The author argues that caste capitalism, read through a queer hermeneutic, makes the historicity of caste rules clearer, showing how they are both enforced through violent social norms, and, at the same time, selectively or intermittently ignored, e.g., in spaces of non-normative sexuality and gender expression. The use of this hermeneutic emphasizes the normative functions of caste-based endogamy while undoing the idea of sexuality as a scientized aspect of the privatized and “private” self, which is understood here as an effect of conceiving the body as hived off from questions of land rights, economic autonomy, and historically contingent iterations of caste categories and relations. This use of caste capitalism contributes to countermanding Hindu nationalist deployments of homonationalist rhetoric that rely on the ahistoricity of caste as a central aspect of arguing for a timeless and territorially coherent religion and culture that must now be defended through violent and autocratic means.

SUNAN KUDUS' STRATEGIC APPROACH TO CULTURAL ADAPTATION IN THE SELF-OTHER PERSPECTIVE

Sunan Kudus is one of the Walisongo (the nine revered saints of Islam in Indonesia) figures with a particular way of delivering his teachings. To adapt to the community when conveying the teachings of Islam, he employed art and culture as a medium, established architectural foundations, and established social harmony, so much so that the people of Kudus became relatively untouched by horizontal conflicts. This article aims to explore the cultural adaptation models carried out by Sunan Kudus, find the underlying life principles he utilized, and analyze the thoughts and value principles he maintained within the conceptual framework of self-relationship and self-other relationship. The current research is a field study supported by literary data. The research results of this study indicate that he carried out approaches to the community by emphasizing attitudes of mutual respect, humility, and capacity to benefit the surrounding environment. He demonstrated ways of gaining public sympathy through caution and gradual progress. He entered the community’s life, approached the community members, and understood the things they needed. He applied a cultural approach and technology to help the community fulfil its needs. Prioritizing fostering tolerance among them, he highly encouraged the promotion of community approach that avoided the use of violent means. This study complements the literature on Sunan Kudus about the concept of self-other. This is a new finding concerning the life concepts of Sunan Kudus in his relationship with others, with these concepts functioning as a means for him to win the hearts and minds of the people of Kudus to follow the teachings of Islam and to consider him as a role model. The study results have yet to reveal the concept of self-other in terms of the relationship between human beings (Sunan Kudus) and other creatures.

The Ideology and Practice of Rashism: Reconstruction of the Origins and Imperial Essence

The current russian-Ukrainian war is a continuation of the systemic strategy of the russian empire to subjugate Ukraine and destroy its identity. The ideology of this policy is fed by traditional historical narratives of moscow, updated according to the realities of today. The essence and strategy of the existence of the russian empire (regardless of the name of this state) is the total usurpation and use of the resources of subordinate countries and peoples while appropriating their material, cultural, and intellectual heritage. The criminal mechanisms for achieving this goal are totalitarianism and autocracy, aimed at ensuring absolute power over people. The organising principle of such a policy is a certain ideology, that is, a system of defining norms and rules for the functioning of the state. Its structure includes both inherited models of behaviour and acquired strategies of action according to the situational requirements of the time. In muscovy, the principles of eastern despotism, with its features of unconditional autocracy as a form of government, imperial "spiritual bonds," European trends of Byzantism (theocracy), communism, and fascism, were combined. For the Russian state in all its historical political forms (ulus-khanate-kingdom-empire-union-federation), the ideological toolkit of influence has always been part of the strategic arsenal of its expansionist advances. At the same time, the content itself of the respective ideologues could be variable, depending on the situational circumstances. During the time of Genghis Khan, this function was performed by the prescriptions of "Yasa," in the Christianized uluses of the Golden Horde (in Muscovy), Orthodoxy, in the USSR – Marxism-Leninism, in the modern rf – an eclectic mixture of both in the form of "spiritual bonds," with the addition of personalized despotism. The corresponding functional structures of power instilled such matrices into the real life of society, using their violent and destructive means and approaches, thus implementing the policy of totalitarianism.

Dr Ambedkar’s Method of Social Change: Debating Means and Ends

Ambedkar’s method of social change is about its commensurability with critical methods leads the legitimatization over radical means. The preconceived method devoid of reality was not only failed but also disastrous. The theory and practice are an integral part of the theory of social change of Ambedkar. It has laid the contrast between two methods of social change that is Marxist and Pragmatist. Ambedkar’s method of social change influenced from pragmatism. It was not only the relevance of his thought but also the legitimacy of his methods used for bringing about change in Indian society. Ambedkar’s Critical method for social change upholds the idea of democracy and justice while radical violent means which emphasized on the equality without much space for democracy and freedom of speech delegitimized the purpose of communist society. The article is divided into two major parts; first part dealt with the critical theory and its primary concern for social change. It also contrasted with Ambedkar’s method of social change. Second section focused briefly on the debate between Marxist Trotsky and pragmatist John Dewey over use of means for achieving the ends. The experiment of the Cultural Change in the case of Great Proletariat Cultural Revolution in China by Mao Zedong and the methods of the Cultural Revolution proposed by Ambedkar is also part of the discussion where two experiments for bringing about cultural changes in Chinese and Indian society. The legitimacy of the democratic means remains unbeatable in the case of Ambedkar while violent radical means lost the legitimacy in Chinese experience. The struggle of Ambedkar who secured the rights for untouchable in the Indian constitution was not less than a revolution. Banning practice of Untouchability in any form and making it the punishable offence was the victory of the democratic means.

Psychological profile of mothers who lost children due to violence

Grief is an amalgamation of symptoms and reactions related to significant loss. When a mother loses a child also loses its forecasts, projections, and idealizations. This study aims to psychologically analyze a sample of mothers who have lost children through violent means. They participated in ten mothers a town in Paraíba, selected through non-probability sampling for convenience. We used a socio-demographic questionnaire for the characterization data of mothers and Beck scales (Inventory Beck Depression, the Beck Anxiety and Beck Hopelessness Scale) and factorial scale of emotional adjustment / neuroticism to measure characteristics anxiety, depression, hopelessness, and emotional maladjustment. The results indicated a significant association between the variables vulnerability, anxiety, depression, inadequacy, and loss of time. The mothers had a higher incidence of anxiety symptoms. This study may contribute to the planning of a better continuous counseling the bereaved mothers.

Strategi Pemerintah dalam mencegah paham Radikalisme Di Era Penggunaan Media social di kalangan remaja

Radicalism is an ideology or flow that wants social and political change or renewal by violent or drastic means, this is carried out by radical groups which justify various ways of carrying out their actions even though they take many victims, by justifying the teachings adhered to by these groups. As well as the radicalism network spreading various forms of propaganda to openly recruiting group members through social media or the internet, so that this becomes a problem where based on BPS data the population in Indonesia is dominated by productive groups, namely young people who are included in the category of Millennials and Generations "Z" so that this becomes a form of special concern because it can become a time bomb in the future if these teenagers are trapped and take part in the ideology of radicalism which ends in acts of terrorism. As for the method used in this research or writing, it uses a qualitative descriptive method with the hope that it can contain an in-depth and specific description or description of an article or a matter observed by the researcher. With the method used, it can be concluded that there are several strategies made by the government through the National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) and through the Ministry of Religion in counteracting radicalism in the era of social media use among adolescents.

Political Violence: The Problem of Dirty Hands

AbstractThis paper argues that the reason why political leadership often involves dirty hands is because of its relationship with violence. To make the case, it maintains that violent means create and assert a form of dominating power that is in tension with the proper ends of political action. This power casts a wide shadow, frequently dominating large numbers of non-targets and empowering unscrupulous agents. On the other side of the balance, characteristically political justifications for violence are ‘supra-moral,’ meaning that they are motivated by the value of a conception of morality taken as a whole (or, indeed, morality as such) rather than by any particular moral value. The weight that ought to be given to such ends is indeterminate in a way that makes uncancelled remainders arising from the evil of violence likely in many cases.

Ideology, organisation, and path dependency: The use of violence among Egyptian Islamist movements

Does ideology prevent social movements from resorting to violence? Structuralist, organisational, or political economy theories are widely agnostic on the relationship between ideology and the use of violence. In contrast, this article argues that founding ideologies indirectly shape social movements’ long-run decisions regarding the use violence, primarily by influencing the kind of individuals who join the movement to begin with. A path dependency develops as new members reinforce the initial ideology, as individuals who might tip the ideological-organisational equilibrium towards utilising new tactics join other organisations instead. Over time, ideology morphes from being initially an endogenous factor into an exogenous constraint how the group can behave. The article compares the mainstream Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood (MB), al-Jama‘a al-Islamiyya (IG) and the Jihad Organisation (JO), studying individual biographies, the groups’ recruitment patterns and their corresponding ideologies. The article thereby explains why the MB, with some minor exceptions, remained committed to non-violent activism, in contrast with the JO that resorted to violent means only and the IG that applied both violent and non-violent means. In the conclusion, the article addresses cases in Algeria and Madagascar to indicate the relevance of this argument beyond Egyptian Islamist movements to future comparative work.

Identifying latent themes in suicide among black and white adolescents and young adults using the National Violent Death Reporting System, 2013–2019

Suicide rates for adolescents and young adults (AYA) have risen dramatically in recent years – by almost 60% for Americans aged 10–24 years between 2007 and 2018. This increase has occurred for both whites and Blacks, with the rise in suicide among Black youth of particular note. Blacks historically exhibit lower rates of suicide relative to whites and thus, less is known about the etiology of Black suicide. To gain insight into the underlying causes of suicide among AYA, we examine medical examiner reports from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) from 2013 to 2019 for over 26,000 Black and white suicide decedents ages 10–29. We apply structural topic modeling (STM) approaches to describe the broad contours of AYA suicide in the United States today. Our findings reveal distinct patterns by race. Guns, violence and the criminal justice system are prominent features of Black suicide, whether through the mechanism used in the suicide, either by firearm or other violent means such as fire or electrocution, the existence of criminal or legal problems/disputes, the location of death in a jail, or the presence of police. In contrast, the narratives of white AYA are more likely to reference mental health or substance abuse problems. Access to resources, as measured by county median household income, overlay these patterns. Themes more prevalent among Blacks are more common in poorer counties; those more prevalent among whites tend to be more common in wealthier counties. Our findings are consistent with other studies that suggest Black people experience greater exposure to violence and other traumas, systemic racism and interpersonal discrimination that may elevate the risk for suicidal behavior.