VIOLENCE IN SOCIETY: THE IMPACT ON OUR LIVES
A VIOLENT WORLD
- Violent by nature
- Since ancient times the world has been a violent place where many people have had to fight to survive.
- Human beings are unique as a species, use violence to gain dominance over other individuals, groups or nations for personal, racial, religious or economic advantage.
- In addition, television, radio and newspaper reports of wars, murders, rapes, and child abuse make us all aware of the violence that exists in the world.
- Defining Violence
- Violence : physically aggressive behaviors that do, or potentially could, cause injury or death.
- Violence can be psychological: a person maybe mentally damaged by repeated cruelty or threats
- Sexual abuse and rape also usually involve coercion (forcing someone to do something they don’t want to do)
- Children and adults exposed to all sorts of violent situations, such as long-term family violence or war, sometimes suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, which can affect both their physical and mental health for a long time.
- What makes people violent?
- “We are by nature basically aggressive, violent and selfish and… there exists in all of us a beast waiting to get out.”
- Social factors: poverty, inequality, and family upbringing
- Poverty is the worst kind of violence.
- There are relatively less crime in prosperous, democratic countries such as Sweden, Norway and Japan.
- Violence in war
- War is the most devastating violence that human beings inflict on each other.
- All weapons of war are designed to kill; nuclear bombs and missiles
- The vast majority of wars have been civil wars caused by ethnic differences and poverty.
- Of the world’s most indebted countries, 12 have suffered civil war. Angola, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Ugandan and Mozambique.
- Is Violence ever acceptable?
- We may or may not describe certain acts as criminal or violent depending on our culture and the circumstances in which they occur.
- Ex: Sweden has banned corporal punishment among children while Great Britain and U.S., parents are still permitted to spank children.
- Is Violence ever inevitable?
- There are some examples of nonviolent societies.
- Hutterites
- Samoa (an island in the Pacific)
FAMILY VIOLENCE
- Happy families?
- Family life involves more emotional intensity and personal intimacy than most other human relationships.
- Our society fails to give children their real value. Children are often seen as objects to exploit, not individuals, so their needs aren't given the priority they deserve.
- Children and family violence
- Child cruelty is defined as neglect, physical injury, sexual or emotional abuse inflicted or knowingly not prevented, which causes significant harm or death.
- In some Indian families there is an emphasis on corporal punishment but this is seen as an expression of parental concern
- Traditional Chinese culture emphasizes on filial devotion which could even mean the child sacrificing his or her own life for the sake of the parents.
- Who are the abusers?
- For many children some form of violence is a part of their everyday lives because their abuser is another family member.
- Physical cruelty – women exceed men especially to children under 4 years old.
- Child sexual abuse – men are the main abusers.
- Factors: social factors (poverty and unemployment), having no power with adult relationships, having been abused as a child