Understanding Violence: A Historical and Conceptual Analysis
Violence: A Historical and Conceptual Overview
Violence has been a part of history since the earliest recorded times, as exemplified by the biblical story of Cain and Abel.
Historical Periods of Violence (Guthman, 1991)
- Up to Medieval Times: Violence lacked a negative connotation.
- Medieval Period: Violence was viewed negatively, seen as corrupting purity and harmony with God, a sin against the Church, and a violation of feudal order.
- Renaissance: Violence became instrumental, used as a means of acquiring power and in political maneuvering (Machiavelli).
- Modernity: Violence integrated negative connotations and instrumentality, becoming legitimized within the state rather than in private hands.
There is a tendency to focus on specific forms of violence rather than violence in general (Specific Discourses of Violence – DEV), which can depoliticize the concept.
Defining Violence
What constitutes violence?
Aristotle distinguished between natural movements (e.g., a stone falling) and violent movements (e.g., throwing a stone), where an external force intervenes (RAE, 2001).
Violence can be defined as any attack directed against a human being, whether self-inflicted or directed at another (Morfaux, 1985).
A key element of violence is that it results in injury or damage (Jackman, 2001).
Violence encompasses threats or actions that cause injury. This damage can be physical, psychological, material, or social, and actions can be physical, verbal, or written.
Aggression: An intentional act of war that alters the emotional state, often assessed biologically (e.g., aggressiveness in business).
Violence and the State
The normal exercise of power by the state involves:
The state is that human community within a given territory that successfully claims a monopoly on the legitimate use of physical coercion (Weber, 1969).
Physical violence is exerted to uphold a legitimate idea or rule.
Violence is fundamentally installed as a guarantee, enabling the holder to maintain power through symbolic means (Madriaza, 2006).
The Relationship Between Violence and Power
Violence involves relations between people that create physical, psychological, or social exclusion for one or more parties.
- The victim may not perceive the situation as violence (symbolic violence).
- The perpetrator may or may not act intentionally or consciously (e.g., a joke about minorities or disabled individuals).
- It involves an imbalance of power and strength, where power is exercised without consent.
- Others may or may not perceive the relationship as violence, as the concept is relational and historically contingent.
The Faces of Violence
Physical Violence: The use of physical force, such as hitting.
Verbal Violence: Abuse, cruelty, screaming, etc.
Structural Violence and Social Exclusion: Unequal access to essential goods for major social groups (poverty). This is often invisible and not considered violence by the system that produces it, especially by those who suffer from it (symbolic violence).
Symbolic Violence and Power: Any power that manages to impose meanings and legitimize them conceals the power relations that underlie its own force. This power, exerted by a social agent with the consent of others (Bourdieu and Passeron), is itself symbolic (Bourdieu).
Types of Violence
Reactive Violence: Arises when an individual experiences a level of frustration or difficulty that exceeds their ability to cope (Frustration-Aggression, Dollard and Miller, 1939).
Violence is more likely to occur when reinforced by achieving certain objectives, especially if justified and when no alternative exists, leading to instrumental violence.