For other uses see Violence (disambiguation). U.N. rates of physical violence resulting in death per 100000 inhabitants by country in 2002.1   no data   less than 200   200-400   400-600   600-800   800-1000   1000-1200   1200-1400   1400-1600   1600-1800   1800-2000   2000-3000   more than 3000

Violence is the use of physical force to cause injury damage or death.234 Worldwide violence is used as a tool of manipulation and also is an area of concern for law and culture which make attempts to suppress and stop it. The word violence covers a broad spectrum. It can vary from a physical altercation between two beings to war and genocide where millions may die as a result. The Global Peace Index updated in June 2010 ranks 149 countries according to the "absence of violence".5 Contents 1 Psychology and sociology 2 Gender and violence 3 Youth and violence 4 Targeted violence 5 Diagnosis of violence related psychiatric disorder 6 Law 7 War 8 Religious and political ideology 9 Health and prevention 10 Violence in the media 11 Classification & nomenclature 12 See also 13 References 14 Sources 15 External links Psychology and sociology

The causes of violent behavior in humans are often topics of research in psychology and sociology. Neurobiologist Jan Volavka emphasizes that for those purposes violent behavior is defined as intentional physically aggressive behavior against another person."6

Scientists do agree violence is inherent in humans. Among prehistoric humans there is archaeological evidence for both contentions of violence and peacefulness as primary characteristics.7

Since violence is a matter of perception as well as a measurable phenomenon psychologists have found variability in whether people perceive certain physical acts as 'violent'. For example in a state where execution is a legalized punishment we do not typically perceive the executioner as 'violent' though we may talk in a more metaphorical way of the state acting violently. Likewise understandings of violence are linked to a perceived aggressor-victim relationship: hence psychologists have shown that people may not recognise defensive use of force as violent even in cases where the amount of force used is significantly greater than in the original aggression.8

Riane Eisler who describes early cooperative egalitarian societies (she coins the term "gylanic" as it is widely agreed that the term matriarchal is inaccurate) and Walter Wink who coined the phrase the myth of redemptive violence suggest that human violence especially as organized in groups is a phenomenon of the last five to ten thousand years.citation needed

The violent male ape image is often brought up in discussions of human violence. Dale Peterson and Richard Wrangham in Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence write that violence is inherent in humans though not inevitable. However William L. Ury editor of a book called "Must We Fight From the Battlefield to the SchoolyardA New Perspective on Violent Conflict and Its Prevention debunks the "killer ape" myth in his book which brings together discussions from two Harvard Law School symposiums. The conclusion is that we also have lots of natural mechanisms for cooperation to keep conflict in check to channel aggression and to overcome conflict. These are just as natural to us as the aggressive tendencies."9

James Gilligan writes violence is often pursued as an antidote to shame or humiliation.10 The use of violence often is a source of pride and a defence of honor especially among males who often believe violence defines manhood.11

Steven Pinker in a New Republic article The History of Violence offers evidence that on the average the amount and cruelty of violence to humans and animals has decreased over the last few centuries.12 Gender and violence This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (March 2011)

"Criminological studies have traditionally ignored half the population: Women are largely invisible in both theoretical considerations and empirical studies. Since the 1970s important feminist works have noted the way in which criminal transgressions by women occur in different contexts from those by men and how women experiences with the criminal justice system are influenced by gendered assumptions about appropriate male and female roles. Feminists have also highlighted the prevalence of violence against women both at home and in public."13 Of all crimes reported in 2006 76.2 percent of arrestees were men and also there was a huge imbalance in the ratio of men to women in prison. In 2004 women only made up 7.1 percent of the prison population.13 Men are overwhelmingly the aggressors in certain categories of crime such as domestic violence sexual harassment sexual assault and rape. Women are mostly the victims in these categories. It is estimated that 25% of women are victims of violence at some point in their lifetimes.13 Youth and violence Official crime statistics reveal high rates of offense among young people. These offenses include rape assault and theft. About 34 percent of all offenders arrested for criminal offenses in 2006 were under the age of twenty-one (Federal Bureau of Investigations 2007b). Rising crime rates are often directly related to the moral breakdown among young people and vandalism school truancy and drug use which illustrates societies increasing permissiveness. The mass murder at Columbine High School is an example of how moral outrage can deflect attention from larger issues.14 At the school of Psychology at Birmingham University links between violence viewed from a young age can have a dramatic effect on violent youth. Research into media violence with young people has started as a result of the theory that they are a vulnerable audience.15 Contributing factors such as poverty one-parent families and a lack of parental care support and affection along with inconsistent discipline are the most susceptible to be influenced by violent images through the mediums of television Web 2.0 and more increasingly video games. A 1960s UNESCO review stated that television viewing is a contributory factor to delinquency and crime but it is likely to affect only those children who are already indifferent and prone to commit crimes. In any of these cases television by itself cannot make a normal well-adjusted child into a delinquent. Television was seen as dangerous from the point of view of an already aggressive child being able to gain hints of how to actually express their hostile feelings rather than in terms of it being capable of making a non-aggressive child actually become aggressive.16 According to the book The Effects of Race and Family Attachment on Self Esteem Self Control and Delinquency children who are raised by both parents and receive proper affection are more than likely to grow into a non-violent individual. It is believed that a child needs to bond with their parents during the early ages of childhood. As a result the child has a higher chance of not growing into a violent person. Many children who do not receive the affection they need from their parents often turn to other sources to fill that void with a common source being a gang. Targeted violence Several rare but painful episodes of assassination attempted assassination and shootings in schools and universities in the United States led to a considerable body of research on ascertainable behaviors of persons who have planned or carried out such attacks. These studies (1995-2002) investigated what the authors called "targeted violence" described the "path to violence" of those who planned or carried out attacks and laid out suggestions for law enforcement and educators. A major point from these research studies is that targeted violence does not just "come out of the blue." (see Fein R.A. Vossekuil B. & Holden G. Threat Assessment: an approach to prevent targeted violence. NCJ 155000. Research in Action September 1995 U.S. Department of Justice National Institute of Justice Washington D.C.; Fein R.A. & Vossekuil B. Assassination in the United States: an operational study of recent assassins attackers and near-lethal approachers. Journal of Forensic Sciences 1999. 50: p. 321-333; Vossekuil B. Borum R. Fein R.A. & Reddy M. Preventing targeted violence against judicial officials and courts. ANNALS American Academy of Political and Social Science 2001 576: p. 78-90; Fein R.A. Vossekuil B. Pollack W. Borum R. Reddy M.& Modzeleski W. Threat assessment in schools: A guide to managing threatening situations and creating safe school climates. U.S. Department of Education and U.S. Secret Service May 2002; Reddy M. Borum R. Vossekuil B. Fein R.A. Berglund J. & Modzeleski W. Evaluating risk for targeted violence in schools: Comparing risk assessment threat assessment and other approaches in Psychology in the Schools 2001. 38 (2): pp. 157-172; Borum R. Fein R.A. Vossekuil B. & Berglund J. Threat assessment: Defining an approach for evaluating risk of targeted violence. Behavioral Sciences and the Law 1999. 17: p.323-337) Diagnosis of violence related psychiatric disorder The American Psychiatric Association planning and research committees for the forthcoming DSM-5 (2012) have canvassed a series of new relational disorders which include Conflict Disorder Without Violence or Marital Abuse Disorder (Marital Conflict Disorder With Violence).17 Couples with marital disorders sometimes come to clinical attention because the couple recognize long-standing dissatisfaction with their marriage and come to the clinician on their own initiative or are referred by an astute health care professional. Secondly there is serious violence in the marriage which is -"usually the husband battering the wife" .18 In these cases the emergency room or a legal authority often is the first to notify the clinician. Most importantly marital violence "is a major risk factor for serious injury and even death and women in violent marriages are at much greater risk of being seriously injured or killed (National Advisory Council on Violence Against Women 2000)."19 The authors of this study add that "There is current considerable controversy over whether male-to-female marital violence is best regarded as a reflection of male psychopathology and control or whether there is an empirical base and clinical utility for conceptualizing these patterns as relational."19 Recommendations for clinicians making a diagnosis of Marital Relational Disorder should include the assessment of actual or "potential" male violence as regularly as they assess the potential for suicide in depressed patients. Further "clinicians should not relax their vigilance after a battered wife leaves her husband because some data suggest that the period immediately following a marital separation is the period of greatest risk for the women. Many men will stalk and batter their wives in an effort to get them to return or punish them for leaving. Initial assessments of the potential for violence in a marriage can be supplemented by standardized interviews and questionnaires which have been reliable and valid aids in exploring marital violence more systematically."19 The authors can conclude with what they call "very recent information"20 on the course of violent marriages which suggests that "over time a husband's battering may abate somewhat but perhaps because he has successfully intimidated his wife. The risk of violence remains strong in a marriage in which it has been a feature in the past. Thus treatment is essential here; the clinician cannot just wait and watch."20 The most urgent clinical priority is the protection of the wife because she is the one most frequently at risk and clinicians must be aware that supporting assertiveness by a battered wife may lead to more beatings or even death.20 It is also important to this topic to understand the paradoxical effects of some sedative drugs.21 Serious complications can occur in conjunction with the use of sedatives creating the opposite effect as to that intended. Malcolm Lader at the Institute of Psychiatry in London estimates the incidence of these adverse reactions at about 5% even in short-term use of the drugs.22 The paradoxical reactions may consist of depression with or without suicidal tendencies phobias aggressiveness violent behavior and symptoms sometimes misdiagnosed as psychosis.2324 Law One of the main functions of law is to regulate violence.25 Sociologist Max Weber stated that the state claims for better or worse a monopoly on violence practiced within the confines of a specific territory. Law enforcement is the main means of regulating nonmilitary violence in society. Governments regulate the use of violence through legal systems governing individuals and political authorities including the police and military. Civil societies authorize some amount of violence exercised through the police power to maintain the status quo and enforce laws. However German political theorist Hannah Arendt noted: "Violence can be justifiable but it never will be legitimate ... Its justification loses in plausibility the farther its intended end recedes into the future. No one questions the use of violence in self-defence because the danger is not only clear but also present and the end justifying the means is immediate".26 Arendt made a clear distinction between violence and power. Most political theorists regarded violence as an extreme manifestation of power whereas Arendt regarded the two concepts as opposites.27 In the 20th century in acts of democide governments may have killed more than 260 million of their own people through police brutality execution massacre slave labor camps and sometimes through intentional famine.28 Violent acts that are not carried out by the military or police and that are not in self-defence are usually classified as crimes although not all crimes are violent crimes. Damage to property is classified as violent crime in some jurisdictions but not in all. The Federal Bureau of Investigation classifies violence resulting in homicide into criminal homicide and justifiable homicide (e.g. self defense).29 War A United States M8 Greyhound armored car in Paris during World War II War is a state of prolonged violent large-scale conflict involving two or more groups of people usually under the auspices of government. War is fought as a means of resolving territorial and other conflicts as war of aggression to conquer territory or loot resources in national self-defense or to suppress attempts of part of the nation to secede from it.citation needed Since the Industrial Revolution the lethality of modern warfare has steadily grown. World War I casualties were over 40 million and World War II casualties were over 70 million. Nevertheless some hold the actual deaths from war have decreased compared to past centuries. In War Before Civilization Lawrence H. Keeley a professor at the University of Illinois calculates that 87% of tribal societies were at war more than once per year and some 65% of them were fighting continuously. The attrition rate of numerous close-quarter clashes which characterize endemic warfare produces casualty rates of up to 60% compared to 1% of the combatants as is typical in modern warfare.30 Stephen Pinker agrees writing that in tribal violence the clashes are more frequent the percentage of men in the population who fight is greater and the rates of death per battle are higher.31 Jared Diamond in his award-winning books Guns Germs and Steel and The Third Chimpanzee provides sociological and anthropological evidence for the rise of large scale warfare as a result of advances in technology and city-states. The rise of agriculture provided a significant increase in the number of individuals that a region could sustain over hunter-gatherer societies allowing for development of specialized classes such as soldiers or weapons manufacturers. On the other hand tribal conflicts in hunter-gatherer societies tend to result in wholesale slaughter of the opposition (other than perhaps females of child-bearing years) instead of territorial conquest or slavery presumably as hunter-gatherer numbers could not sustain empire-building.citation needed Religious and political ideology Main article: Religious violence The crusades are an example of religious violence taken to its extreme. Religious and political ideologies have been the cause of interpersonal violence throughout history.32 Ideologues often falsely accuse others of violence such as the ancient blood libel against Jews the medieval accusations of casting witchcraft spells against women caricatures of black men as violent brutes that helped excuse the late 19th century Jim Crow laws in the United States33 and modern accusations of satanic ritual abuse against day care center owners and others.34 Both supporters and opponents of the 21st century War on Terrorism regard it largely as an ideological and religious war.35 Vittorio Bufacchi describes two different modern concepts of violence one the minimalist conception of violence as an intentional act of excessive or destructive force the other the comprehensive conception which includes violations of rights including a long list of human needs.36 Anti-capitalists assert that capitalism is violent. They believe private property trade interest and profit survive only because police violence defends them and that capitalist economies need war to expand.37 They may use the term "structural violence" to describe the systematic ways in which a given social structure or institution kills people slowly by preventing them from meeting their basic needs for example the deaths caused by diseases because of lack of medicine.38 Free market supporters argue that it is violently enforced state laws intervening in markets - state capitalism - which cause many of the problems anti-capitalists attribute to structural violence.39 Frantz Fanon critiqued the violence of colonialism and wrote about the counter violence of the "colonized victims."404142 Throughout history most religions and individuals like Mahatma Gandhi have preached that humans are capable of eliminating individual violence and organizing societies through purely nonviolent means. Gandhi himself once wrote: A society organized and run on the basis of complete non-violence would be the purest anarchy.43 Modern political ideologies which espouse similar views include pacifist varieties of voluntarism mutualism anarchism and libertarianism. Health and prevention The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines violence as "Injury inflicted by deliberate means" which includes assault as well as "legal intervention and self-harm".44 The World Health Organization ( WHO) in its first World Report on Violence and Health defined violence as "the intentional use of physical force or power threatened or actual against oneself another person or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury death psychological harm maldevelopment or deprivation."45 WHO estimates that each year around 1.6 million lives are lost worldwide due to violence. It is among the leading causes of death for people ages 1544 especially of males.46 Recent estimates for murders per year in various countries include: 55000 murders in Brazil47 25000 murders in Colombia48 20000 murders in South Africa 15000 murders in Mexico 14000 murders in the United States49 11000 murders in Venezuela 8000 murders in Russia 6000 murders in El Salvador 1600 murders in Jamaica50 1000 murders in France 500 murders in Canada and 200 murders in Chile.51 Violence in the media Further information: Media violence research Classification & nomenclature Abuse Child abuse Domestic violence Psychological abuse Cyber-bullying Sexual abuse Structural violence Symbolic violence School bullying Targeted violence See also Aggression Aggressiveness Anarchism and violence Consensual violence Genetics and violence Meekness Nonviolence Response based therapy Terrorism Violence against women Violent crime War crime War References "Mortality and Burden of Disease Estimates for WHO Member States in 2002" (xls). World Health Organization. 2004. http://www.who.int/entity/healthinfo/statistics/bodgbddeathdalyestimates.xls.  merriam-webster.com Merriam-Webster Dictionary Retrieved January 8 2009. askoxford.com Oxford English Dictionary Retrieved January 8 2009. bartleby.com American Heritage Dictionary Violence Retrieved January 8 2009. visionofhumanity.org The Neurobiology of Violence An Update Journal of Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci 11:3 Summer 1999. As Mexican Biologist and Scientologist Adri Rodriguez says Violence is a recurring motif in today's society. Heather Whipps Peace or War How early humans behaved LiveScience.Com March 16 2006. Rowan John (1978). The Structured Crowd. Davis-Poynter..  Cindy Fazzi Debunking the "killer ape" myth Dispute Resolution Journal MayJuly 2002. Gilligan James (1996). Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes. Putnam Adult.  ISBN 0-399-13979-6 . Emotional Competency; Dr. Michael ObsatzFrom Shame-Based Masculinity to Holistic Manhood Robin Morgan The Demon Lover On the Sexuality of Terrorism W.W. Norton 1989 Chapter 5. Steven Pinker The History of Violence The New Republic March 19 2007. a b c Introduction to sociology. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc 2009. Page 187. Print. Introduction to sociology. 7th ed. New York: W.W. Norton & Company Inc 2009. pages 189-190. Print. Pennell Amanda. Browne Kevin 1999 Film violence and Young offenders Aggression and Violent behavior pp 13-38. UNESCO 1961 and UNESCO 1964 First M.B. Bell C.C. Cuthbert B. Krystal J.H. Malison R. Offord D.R. Riess D. Shea T. Widiger T. Wisner K.L. Personality Disorders and Relational Disorders pp.164166 Chapter 4 of Kupfer D.J. First M.B. & Regier D.A. A Research Agenda For DSM-V. Published by American Psychiatric Association (2002) First M.B. Bell C.C. Cuthbert B. Krystal J.H. Malison R. Offord D.R. Riess D. Shea T. Widiger T. Wisner K.L. Personality Disorders and Relational Disorders p.163 Chapter 4 of Kupfer D.J. First M.B. & Regier D.A. A Research Agenda For DSM-V. Published by American Psychiatric Association (2002) a b c First M.B. Bell C.C. Cuthbert B. Krystal J.H. Malison R. Offord D.R. Riess D. Shea T. Widiger T. Wisner K.L. Personality Disorders and Relational Disorders p.166 Chapter 4 of Kupfer D.J. First M.B. & Regier D.A. A Research Agenda For DSM-V. Published by American Psychiatric Association (2002) a b c First M.B. Bell C.C. Cuthbert B. Krystal J.H. Malison R. Offord D.R. Riess D. Shea T. Widiger T. Wisner K.L. Personality Disorders and Relational Disorders p.167168 Chapter 4 of Kupfer D.J. First M.B. & Regier D.A. A Research Agenda For DSM-V. Published by American Psychiatric Association (2002) Hall RCW Zisook S. Paradoxical Reactions to Benzodiazepines. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1981; 11: 99S-104S Lader M Morton S. Benzodiazepine Problems. British Journal of Addiction 1991; 86: 823-828 Benzodiazepines: Paradoxical Reactions & Long-Term Side-Effects Hansson O Tonnby B. Serious Psychological Symptoms Caused by Clonazepam. Lkartidningen 1976; 73: 1210-1211. see: Joseph (Yossi) E. David The One who is More Violent Prevails - Law and Violence from a Talmudic Legal Perspective Canadian Journal of Law and Jurisprudence Vol. 19 No. 2 2006 Arendt Hannah sfdhxvczgrsdfcxzrfergSDS n Violence. Harvest Book. p. 52. . Arendt H. (1972) On Violence in Crises in the Republic Florida Harcourt Brace and Company pp 134-155. Twentieth Century Democide; http://users.erols.com/mwhite28/war-1900.htm Atlas - Wars and Democide of the Twentieth Century. "Uniform Crime Reporting Handbook" (PDF). Federal Bureau of Investigation. 2004. http://www.fbi.gov/ucr/handbook/ucrhandbook04.pdf. . Review of book War Before Civilization by Lawrence H. Keeley July 2004. Stephen Pinker. "Doctrinal War: Religion and Ideology in International Conflict" in Bruce Kuklick (advisory ed.) The Monist: The Foundations of International Order Vol. 89 No. 2 (April 2006) p. 46. The Brute Caricature Ferris State University Museum of Racist Memorabilia. 42 M.V.M.O. Court Cases with Allegations of Multiple Sexual And Physical Abuse of Children. John Edwards' 'Bumper Sticker' Complaint Not So Off the Mark New Memo Shows; Richard Clarke Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror Free Press; 2004; Michael Scheuer Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror Potomac Books Inc. June 2004; Robert Fisk The Great War for Civilisation - The Conquest of the Middle East Fourth Estate London October 2005; Leon Hadar The Green Peril: Creating the Islamic Fundamentalist Threat August 27 1992; Michelle Malkin Islamo-Fascism Awareness Week kicks off October 22 2007; John L. Esposito Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam Oxford University Press USA September 2003. Vittoriio Bufacchi Two Concepts of Violence Political Studies Review April 2005 Volume 3 Issue 2 Page 193-204. Michael Albert Life After Capitalism - And Now Too. Zmag.org December 10 2004; Capitalism explained. Bruce Bawer The Peace Racket September 7 2007. Hans-Hermann Hoppe From the Economics of Laissez Faire to The Ethics of Libertarianism. Charles E. Butterworth and Irene Gendzier. Frantz Fanon and the Justice of Violence. Middle East Journal Vol. 28 No. 4 (Autumn 1974) pp. 451-458 (pg 44) Adele Jinadu. Fanon: The Revolutionary as Social Philosopher. The Review of Politics Vol. 34 No. 3 (Jul. 1972) pp. 433-436 Bharatan Kumarappa Editor "For Pacifists" by M.K. Gandhi Navajivan Publishing House Ahmedabad India 1949. CDC Definition of Violence. World Report on Violence and Health October 3 2002. WHO: 1.6 million die in violence annually. Brazil murder rate similar to war zone data shows. Colombia's Uribe wins second term. Twentieth Century Atlas - Homicide. Jamaica 'murder capital of the world'. Crime Statistics. Sources Walter Benjamin's Critique of Violence Arno Gruen psychoanalyst who has written extensively on the origins of violence Flannery D.J. Vazsonyi A.T.& Waldman I.D. (Eds.) (2007). The Cambridge handbook of violent behavior and aggression. Cambridge University Press NY. Nazaretyan A.P. (2007). Violence and Non-Violence at Different Stages of World History: A view from the hypothesis of techno-humanitarian balance. In: History & Mathematics. Moscow: KomKniga/URSS. P.127-148. ISBN 9785484010011. Malesevic S. (2010). The Sociology of War and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Gad Barzilai.(2003). Communities and Law: Politics and Cultures of Legal Identities. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press. ISBN 0472113151. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Violence Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Violence International Handbook of violence research Information on James W. Prescott's work 1986 Seville Statement on Violence Introduction and Updated Information on the Seville Statement on Violence The Meanings of Violence and the Violence of Meanings Intercultural discussions on violence Text of Dom Helder Camara's classic 1971 "Spiral of Violence" Institute for interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence Historical Violence Database American Psychological Association's Violence Prevention Office How Violence has Change Ciudad Juarez THE ORIGINS OF PEACE AND VIOLENCE.Deprivation of Physical Affection as a Main Cause of Depression Aggression and Drug Abuse