Violence is an injurious force exerted to cause damage to people or things. Shaped by a multitude of social, political, and economic forces within families, neighborhoods, nation-states, and the broader international community, violence is a complex problem related to patterns of thinking and behavior. It embodies an expression of power often used to demonstrate authority or repression, or to persuade others to behave in particular ways. Also characterizing violence is an element of intent by its perpetrator. Intention is obvious in physical forms of violence but is minimally evident or even nonexistent in its structural or symbolic forms. Finally, discussions about violence often take on a moral tone, classifying it as just or unjust. Violence, therefore, is an amorphous phenomenon that defies easy categorization as it surfaces in numerous shapes. Still, it is useful to consider three broad forms: physical, structural, and symbolic. This entry describes all three formations of violence but focuses upon physical violence as a social problem.

Physical violence is the material manifestation of harmful aggression with the intent to injure others. Examples include beating, burning, bombing, torturing, raping, or shooting. Violent occurrences characterized as social problems include wars, homicides, suicides, school shootings, production and sale of weapons, capital punishment, terrorism, sexual assault, and domestic violence such as child abuse and wife beating. Under the umbrella of physical violence, three nuanced typologies exist: self-directed, interpersonal, and collective violence. Self-directed violence includes self-mutilation and suicide. Interpersonal violence is violence manifested between individuals or communities, whether known to one another or not. Collective violence is the instrumental use of force by people who self-identify as members of a particular group who oppose another group. In such a case, they engage in violence to achieve political, economic, or social objectives. Examples include armed conflicts between states, genocides, and terrorism.

Structural violence refers to economic and political structures that constrain human capabilities. This type of violence is often called the violence of hunger, poverty, or humiliation. While not directly imposing manifestations of physical force, structural violence involves policies and institutions that indirectly cause harm and constrain opportunities for individuals or groups. An example of structural violence is a World Bank/International Monetary Fund policy called "structural adjustment," which did not directly mandate physical force against people but did impose regulations on governments. These policies constrained access to lifesaving social services for millions of civilians living in developing countries. Symbolic violence is the imposition of perceptions and groupings of thought upon a marginalized social agent who accepts this social order as just, thereby perpetuating the dominant structures. An example of symbolic violence is gender inequity. Specifically, symbolic violence is at play when a woman sees it as her role to take on an unequal share of burdensome work. Yet in her actions, she is also upholding an economy that men dominate.

As a social problem, violence is pervasive globally. More than 1.6 million people die every year from violence. In addition, the wake of violence causes injury to millions more and has numerous health, social, and economic consequences. The harmful effects of violence on health include physical symptoms such as bruises and serious brain injuries, psychological consequences such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, and behavioral consequences such as alcohol and drug abuse. Social consequences of violence include strained relationships and social isolation, which can impact school performance and employment opportunities. Violence also places a sizeable burden on economies through exorbitant health care and legal costs as well as lost productivity. Increasingly, people perceive violence as a public health concern because of its related physical, sexual, reproductive, and mental health ramifications. In some countries, health care expenditures due to violence have accounted for up to 5 percent of the gross domestic product. Yet violence cannot be understood solely in terms of its physical and material scars. It also involves serious assaults on the dignity of people and has the potential to create a pervasive sense of insecurity and fear.

According to the World Health Organization, of the more than 1.6 million fatal victims of violence worldwide in 2000, nearly one third (520,000) were homicides, about half (815,000) were suicides, and an estimated 310,000 (19 percent) died as a direct result of war. The highest rates of homicide exist among men ages 15 to 44 years, mostly from low- and middle- income countries, and the highest suicide rates are among men age 60 years and over. Often associated with its liberal gun policies, U.S. homicide rates are particularly high when compared with homicide rates in other industrialized countries. Every day, more than 80 Americans die from gun violence. Nevertheless, the U.S. homicide rate is still lower than in most developing nations.

References:

1) Bourdieu, Pierre and Wacquant, Loic. 2004. "Symbolic Violence." Pp. 272-74 in Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology, edited by N. Scheper-Hughes and P. Bourgois. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

2) Galtung, Johan. 1969. "Violence, Peace, and Peace Research." Journal of Peace Research 6(1):167-91. "On Nonviolence & Violence." 2007. Special Issue of Daedalus: Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 136(1).

3) Scheper-Hughes, Nancy and Philippe Bourgois. 2004. Violence in War and Peace: An Anthology. Malden, MA: Blackwell.

4) World Health Organization. 2002. "World Report on Violence and Health."

5) World Health Organization. 2007. "Third Milestones for a Global Health Campaign for Violence Prevention Report, 2007: Scaling Up." 

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on Controversial Topics at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to Controversial Topics and other relevant topics.