Violence

Violence

Violence Definition

Violence may be defined as a physical attack of another person. Activities that may legally involve violence include hunting, law enforcement, sports, and war. Crime includes many illegal forms of violence.

The first point that has to be clarified is the meaning of the world violence. There are, after all, many types of violence in our cities, ranging from baby battering to the suppression of political demonstrations by police. For the purposes of this essay I shall limit discussion to the violence which most concerns city dwellers in Britain nowadays: riots, robbery and physical assault on the streets.

What measures can be taken to combat this kind of violence? Well, to begin with, it is often argued that violent crime should be punished more severely. That is to say, more offenders sent to prison, longer prison sentences, and even the reintroduction of the death penalty. The first two ideas seem reasonable, but ignore the problem that our prisons are already full, and also that ex-prisoners are more likely to commit crime than other people. In addition, it is very expensive to keep people in prison. As for the death penalty, there is no hard evidence that it has any effect on the commission of the crimes. Punishing crime more severely, then, does not seem to work.

A more effective measure would be to improve the service provided by the police. More people would say that British policemen should carry guns, but I do not agree, since this would lead to more guns being used by thieves, and consequently more violence, probably involving innocent bystanders. Also, we must remember that not every policeman is phsycologically fit to carry a gun. Nevertheless, certain changes can be made. Firstly, the size of the police force could be increased, by improving salaries and conditions. Equally importantly, the police should receive better training, so that they can deal effectively with trouble without becoming unduly violent themselves. Clearly, a large, well-trained police force must be an important factor in any attempt to tackle crime.

However, none of these ideas deals with the root of urban violence, and that is what I shall turn to for the rest of this essay. It has been said that the stress caused by just living in a modern city is an important factor in making people violent. This may be true, but little can be done about it, since we can hardly all return to the countryside. Similarly, it might be argued that people are naturally violent, and that the only solution is to change ourselves from the inside. Religion, meditation, psychoanalysis and so on might be helpful in this respect, but it is difficult to be optimistic.

It seems to me that another idea might offer more hope. I believe that street crime is mainly caused by the predicament of many young people on leaving school: that is to say, unemployed, with no money and with little hope for the future. No amount of punishment and no police force will deter young people from taking to a life of crime when the law-abiding life which is the alternative is empty of hope, interest and achievement. The solution is clear. The government must ensure that jobs are provided for young people. Until young people have work, money and hope, it will be impossible to walk safely in the streets.

Similar Concepts

For information on:

* crimes of violence, see Assault; Manslaughter; Murder; Rape; Homicide; Duress; Mayhem; Robbery; Juvenile Crime

* other legal forms of violence, see Hunting; Use of Deadly Force; War; Warfare; Self-Defense

* form of violence that had both legal and illegal forms, see Duel

* sustained violence between families, see Feud; Vendetta

* violence as a learned behavior, see Aggression

* domestic or family violence, see Domestic Violence; Family Violence; Child Abuse

* examples of political violence, see Fascism; Political Violence; Sylvestre Ntibantunganya; Terrorism; Tiananmen Square Protest

* examples of ethnic violence, see Burundi; Rwanda: Civil War; Pogrom

* violence and the police, see Use of Deadly Force; Fannie Lou Hamer; Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; Civil Rights Movement; Southern Christian Leadership Conference

* psychological repercussions for victims of violence, see Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

* physiological explanations for violent behavior, see Criminology; Aggression

Main Source: “Violence,”Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia

Electoral Violence in Election Law

Any harm or threat of harm to persons or property involved in the election process, or to the process itself. All forms of violence can become electoral violence when they are used with the intent to delay, impede, intimidate, prevent or eliminate political opponents, voters and/or the electoral process itself.

Resources

See Also

  • Social Problem
  • Crime
  • Delinquency
  • Juvenile Delinquency
  • Delinquent
  • Social Issues
  • Crime Prevention

Resources

See Also

  • Election Law
  • Electoral Laws
  • Electoral Legislation

Hierarchical Display of Violence

Social Questions > Social affairs > Social problem
Politics > Politics and public safety > Trends of opinion > Non-violence
Law > Criminal law > Offence > Crime against individuals
Law > Criminal law > Offence > Crime against individuals > Sexual offence > Sexual violence
Science > Humanities > Behavioural sciences > Criminology
Politics > Politics and public safety > Public safety > Government violence
Employment And Working Conditions > Organisation of work and working conditions > Working conditions > Harassment at work

Violence

Concept of Violence

See the dictionary definition of Violence.

Characteristics of Violence

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Resources

Translation of Violence

Thesaurus of Violence

Social Questions > Social affairs > Social problem > Violence
Politics > Politics and public safety > Trends of opinion > Non-violence > Violence
Law > Criminal law > Offence > Crime against individuals > Violence
Law > Criminal law > Offence > Crime against individuals > Sexual offence > Sexual violence > Violence
Science > Humanities > Behavioural sciences > Criminology > Violence
Politics > Politics and public safety > Public safety > Government violence > Violence
Employment And Working Conditions > Organisation of work and working conditions > Working conditions > Harassment at work > Violence

See also

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