Culture of violence theory
The culture of violence theory addresses the pervasiveness of specific violent patterns within a societal dimension.[1] The concept of violence being ingrained in Western society and culture has been around for at least the 20th century.[1] Developed from structural violence, as research progressed the notion that a culture can sanction violent acts developed into what we know as culture of violence theory today.[1] Two prominent examples of culture legitimizing violence can be seen in rape myths and victim blaming.[2] Rape myths lead to misconstrued notions of blame; it is common for the responsibility associated with the rape to be placed on the victim rather than the offender.[2]
Furthermore, the culture of violence theory potentially accounts for inter-generational theories of violence and domestic violence.[3] Childhood exposure to violence in the household may later lead to similar patterns in marital relations.[3] Similarly, early experience with domestic violence is likely to increase an individual's potential for development of clinical symptoms.[4] Additionally, presence of a preexisting mental disorder may heighten the chances of becoming involved in an abusive relationship.[5]
There are many factors which contribute to the persistence of violence among individuals and on a societal level; gender is one relevant factor to understanding the culture of violence theory.[6] In the United States, a majority of reported rapes involve female victims.[2] However, there is a growing body of evidence to support the notion that women can perpetuate relational cycles of violence.[6] While a culture of violence has an impact on people as a whole, for individuals who have experienced trauma in their lives the impact can be much larger.[4][6][7]
Development of the theory
[edit]As mentioned previously the culture of violence theory addresses the pervasiveness of specific violent patterns within a societal dimension.[1] Specifically, culture of violence theory explains how cultures and societies can sanction violent acts.[1] While related to structural violence, cultural violence theory is different by explaining why direct acts of violence or violence built into systems of society exists and how they are legitimized.[1] Research suggests that cultures can encourage and permit violence to exist as a response to various environmental obstacles, such as widespread resource impoverishment.[8] This can be seen within various aspects of culture, such as film, television, music, language, art, and propaganda.[1][8][9][10]
Austrian peace researcher Franz Jedlicka has made an attempt to measure the culture of violence in different countries of the world with his "Culture of Violence Scale 2023".[11]
Relation to cultural values in the United States
[edit]Rape myths
[edit]Rape myths refer to the inaccurate views and stereotypes of forced sexual acts, and the victims and perpetuators of them.[9] These notions are prevalent among the general population and often suggest that the victims of non-consensual sexual acts have bad reputations, are promiscuous, dress provocatively, or are fabricating assault when they regret the consensual acts after the fact.[9] These views are often legitimized by the status quo of men dominating women across domains such as family, education, work, and many others.[9] Rape myth acceptance can lead to poor assault/rape prevention measures, decrease in reporting of assaults/rapes, increases of assaults/rapes, and re-victimization.[9]
Violence in relationships
[edit]Violence in relationships, commonly referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), is impacted by various factors including the presence of mental illness or use of substances.[12][13][14] Specifically, individuals with depression, generalized anxiety (GAD), or panic disorder are potentially at risk for physical violence towards a partner; findings are consistent for both men and women regarding the connection between psychiatric diagnoses and perpetuation of relationship violence.[12] Additionally, propensity to engage in specific behaviors such as gambling or endorsement of violent pornography have also been associated with increased risk for relationship violence occurrence.[13][15] Individual factors have also been suggested to be associated with relationship violence including anger, aggressiveness, and adverse emotional internalization.[16] Contrarily, exposure to relationship violence is also linked to the later development of mental health symptoms or diagnoses.[17]
Violence in pop culture and media
[edit]The prevalence of legitimization of violence may be facilitated by its presence in various media.[9][15] There is evidence to suggest that sex-related crimes account for nearly 10% of all dialogue on television related to sex, most of which is found on fictional programs.[9] Additionally, research has also found a positive relationship between pornography consumption and attitudes supporting violence against women, especially when the pornography in question is violent in nature.[15] However, consideration of individual differences is necessary in evaluating exposure to violent media and overall outcomes.[18] Factors which influence media content exposure and subsequent outcomes include gender and personality traits.[18] Individuals who are male, hostile, impulsive, and are low on empathy are more likely to be susceptible to violent media exposure.[18]
Public justification of violence
[edit]Public justification of violence arise when those not necessarily directly involved in the violent act will not react negatively to the violence because they believe it is warranted.[9] Examples of public justification of violence are most evident in rape myths and victim blaming, as discussed above.[1][2][9] However, the common belief regarding legitimate violence tends to place responsibility on victims or potential victims of violence.[1][2][9] Another example that is not as often noted, is the pervasive notion of the "chosen one," within some extremist religious language and various nationalism propaganda that will function as a means to perpetuate the undermining of the other and allowance of violence against the other.[1]
In the Ottoman Empire and Turkey
[edit]Turkish sociologist Fatma Müge Göçek has argued that the Armenian genocide and other violent repression in the Ottoman Empire was caused by the Committee of Union and Progress' adoption of a "culture of violence"; she argues that this culture of violence remains embedded in Turkish political culture.[19][20]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Galtung, Johan (2016-07-01). "Cultural Violence". Journal of Peace Research. 27 (3): 291–305. doi:10.1177/0022343390027003005. S2CID 220989188.
- ^ a b c d e Suarez, Eliana; Gadalla, Tahany M. (2010-01-11). "Stop Blaming the Victim: A Meta-Analysis on Rape Myths". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. 25 (11): 2010–2035. doi:10.1177/0886260509354503. PMID 20065313. S2CID 30657255.
- ^ a b Stith, Sandra M.; Rosen, Karen H.; Middleton, Kimberly A.; Busch, Amy L.; Lundeberg, Kirsten; Carlton, Russell P. (2000-08-01). "The Intergenerational Transmission of Spouse Abuse: A Meta-Analysis". Journal of Marriage and Family. 62 (3): 640–654. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.00640.x. ISSN 1741-3737.
- ^ a b Mandelli, L.; Petrelli, C.; Serretti, A. (September 2015). "The role of specific early trauma in adult depression: A meta-analysis of published literature. Childhood trauma and adult depression". European Psychiatry. 30 (6): 665–680. doi:10.1016/j.eurpsy.2015.04.007. PMID 26078093. S2CID 10726299.
- ^ Trevillion, Kylee; Oram, Siân; Feder, Gene; Howard, Louise M. (2012-12-26). "Experiences of Domestic Violence and Mental Disorders: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis". PLOS ONE. 7 (12): e51740. Bibcode:2012PLoSO...751740T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0051740. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 3530507. PMID 23300562.
- ^ a b c Swan, Suzanne C.; Snow, David L. (2016-06-30). "The Development of a Theory of Women's Use of Violence in Intimate Relationships". Violence Against Women. 12 (11): 1026–1045. doi:10.1177/1077801206293330. PMID 17043365. S2CID 25962803.
- ^ Ungar, Michael (2013-05-03). "Resilience, Trauma, Context, and Culture". Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 14 (3): 255–266. doi:10.1177/1524838013487805. PMID 23645297. S2CID 206737781.
- ^ a b Brown, Ryan P.; Osterman, Lindsey L. (2012-07-20). "Culture of Honor, Violence, and Homicide". The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199738403.013.0013.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Ph.D, LeeAnn Kahlor; Ph.D, Matthew S. Eastin (2011-05-25). "Television's Role in the Culture of Violence Toward Women: A Study of Television Viewing and the Cultivation of Rape Myth Acceptance in the United States". Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media. 55 (2): 215–231. doi:10.1080/08838151.2011.566085. ISSN 0883-8151. S2CID 145393515.
- ^ Ferguson, Christopher J.; Beresin, Eugene (2017). "Social science's curious war with pop culture and how it was lost: The media violence debate and the risks it holds for social science". Preventive Medicine. 99: 69–76. doi:10.1016/j.ypmed.2017.02.009. PMID 28212816.
- ^ Jedlicka, Franz (December 2023). "Culture of Violence Scale 2023 A tool to estimate the acceptance of violence within societies".
- ^ a b Oram, S.; Trevillion, K.; Khalifeh, H.; Feder, G.; Howard, L. M. (December 2014). "Systematic review and meta-analysis of psychiatric disorder and the perpetration of partner violence". Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences. 23 (4): 361–376. doi:10.1017/s2045796013000450. ISSN 2045-7960. PMC 7192171. PMID 23962668.
- ^ a b Crane, Cory A.; Hawes, Samuel W.; Weinberger, Andrea H. (2013-07-22). "Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and Cigarette Smoking". Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 14 (4): 305–315. doi:10.1177/1524838013495962. PMC 3784627. PMID 23878146.
- ^ Crane, Cory A.; Godleski, Stephanie A.; Przybyla, Sarahmona M.; Schlauch, Robert C.; Testa, Maria (2015-05-24). "The Proximal Effects of Acute Alcohol Consumption on Male-to-Female Aggression". Trauma, Violence, & Abuse. 17 (5): 520–531. doi:10.1177/1524838015584374. PMC 4798910. PMID 26009568.
- ^ a b c Hald, Gert Martin; Malamuth, Neil M.; Yuen, Carlin (2010-01-01). "Pornography and attitudes supporting violence against women: revisiting the relationship in nonexperimental studies". Aggressive Behavior. 36 (1): 14–20. doi:10.1002/ab.20328. ISSN 1098-2337. PMID 19862768.
- ^ Birkley, Erica L.; Eckhardt, Christopher I. (2015). "Anger, hostility, internalizing negative emotions, and intimate partner violence perpetration: A meta-analytic review". Clinical Psychology Review. 37: 40–56. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2015.01.002. PMC 4385442. PMID 25752947.
- ^ Wolfe, David A.; Crooks, Claire V.; Lee, Vivien; McIntyre-Smith, Alexandra; Jaffe, Peter G. (2003-09-01). "The Effects of Children's Exposure to Domestic Violence: A Meta-Analysis and Critique". Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review. 6 (3): 171–187. doi:10.1023/a:1024910416164. ISSN 1096-4037. PMID 14620578. S2CID 12612886.
- ^ a b c Hoffner, Cynthia A.; Levine, Kenneth J. (2005-05-01). "Enjoyment of Mediated Fright and Violence: A Meta-Analysis". Media Psychology. 7 (2): 207–237. doi:10.1207/s1532785xmep0702_5. ISSN 1521-3269. S2CID 28515475.
- ^ Göçek, Fatma Müge (2015). Denial of Violence: Ottoman Past, Turkish Present and Collective Violence Against the Armenians, 1789-2009. Oxford University Press. pp. 191–192. ISBN 978-0-19-933420-9.
- ^ "Review Feature - The Armenian Genocide". E-International Relations. 11 July 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2021.