It seems that the daily news in plagued with more and more talk of ongoing violence occurring in some part of the world. We hear of unspeakable acts and homicides transpiring all around us and we often ask ourselves the motives of the individuals carrying out these violent acts. It is much more logical and research backed to see it as a learned characteristic as opposed to them being “born this way” and that these violent individuals were once care free kids, who’s violent conduct is resulting from learned behavior and their social upbringing. Even young children almost always understand that something as miniscule as playground bullying and teasing is not okay, and those that do participate usually are dealing with the issue themselves. From a young age, they are aware of social norms as well as what is right and wrong, often without being told but rather through observation. Similarly, if they observe violent acts occurring and going on unpunished, they are drastically more likely to participate and see it as okay.
Looking at the Wall Street Journals: ‘Violence Vanquished’ article, Steven Pinker explains that “Violence has been in decline for thousands of years, and today we may be living in the most peaceable era in the existence of our species.” If natural violence, the feeling of being urged to physically harm someone that exists by itself without being controlled, were truly innate, this would not be the case; especially since population has grown exponentially in the past century alone. If violent nature was truly apart of human character and was engraved in our genes, society, as we know it would cease to exist. Rather then this occurring, raw data has shown us that violence in general has overall slowed down tremendously...
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...ll have a choice on our hands. Think of yourself to be a firework and imagine that the world is full of matches that are ready and waiting to light you on fire and watch you explode. All you have to do is make sure you avoid flames and you will be okay. At each and every single moment, you’re always in control of yourself, you always have a choice and you can dictate your present with your judgements, actions and reactions. You cannot simply state that every human being is naturally violent because our upbringing and personalities/ideas vary from one another. We are all born unique from each other and our experiences and up brining change our characteristics. To say that violent nature is encoded in our genes would in essence pre determine our actions in the future. We alone can shape our present and future to create an institution where violence ceases to exist.
Domestic violence is a way of violent and hostile behavior in a home usually a form of abuse towards the spouse. Domestic violence is not something that is new to us for many women and even men have suffered from this by their spouse. Can this living environment affect the children? Will they become abusers or maybe victims in the future due to watching their mother or father being abused or one of them abusing the other? In discussions of domestic violence, one controversial issue has been, can children living in a home where domestic violence is present be affected. Children living in a home where domestic violence is present can be very traumatic and can cause many mental, emotional and physical effects on them.
For example, according to Dara lind “Officer’s aren’t supposed to shoot to kill. They’re supposed to do whatever is necessary to disable the threat”(Lind). Whenever an officer gets caught up in a difficult situation where deadly force is needed for the most part officers do shoot to kill because they feel like there life is in danger themselves. Yes like they said they are supposed to do whatever is necessary so therefore if shooting to kill someone is necessary to them then for police officers it is the right thing to do. But in reality in some occasions deadly force by a cop resulting in someone’s death is not needed and there should be other alternatives to handle difficult problems like that. In addition, “Usually, the point from where the officer believes he has to use deadly force to the point where he uses deadly force -- where he pulls
But incidents like the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting are predictable; they are not a random act of brutality because such violence is a learned behavior. Americans glorify violence and this attitude is illustrated through the tolerance of violence portrayed through the media. And although distinguishing between violence as pure entertainment and violence as social criticism is important, good intentions can still lead to terrible outcomes. The effect of viewing violent films has been insufficiently considered, yet plays a significant role in encouraging aggressive behavior.
Violence will be with us forever. We cannot change that. However, we can, and must change the way our children and we relate to it. Leonard Pitts Jr., columnist for the Miami Herald, explains it this way:
Throughout human history, violence, for the most part, has been a perpetual struggle we’ve faced. It does not discriminate against location, color, or creed, and it has an impact, lasting or not, on each of us at some point during our lives. Living in a Western country, many of us have become accustomed to the idea that true violence only lives in the ravaged lands of warring countries or the dilapidated streets of rundown neighborhoods, but in truth it can be found anywhere. Community center’s, schools, churches, and even the most secluded towns all encounter violence, though sometimes behind closed doors, everyone is vulnerable to it. But what prompts it to occur exactly? Violence itself stems from the causality of several different factors,
The world has a problem with violence. It is not a new problem, and it not one that is likely to disappear soon. It is estimated that around 1.6 million people die of violence each year. Half of these deaths are attributed to suicide, while the other half are attributed to homicide, war and other conflicts combined. Historically, violence was seen as a social ill. Before the 1970’s, when genetic research began to take hold, most researchers believed that violence was caused by a number of social aspects. Even with our increased knowledge, there are still groups that view violence as a social ill. This is evident in the fact that there are groups like MAVAV, Mothers against Video Game Addiction and Violence, and Parents against Violence. These groups aim to reduce the amount of violence shown in video games and other media, in a hope that it will reduce the rate of violence. Technological advances have allowed researchers to delve into the causes behind violent acts and tendencies. Although genetics does not fully predict who will have violent urges, it does play a large role in the predisposition towards violent tendencies. Some of these causes are linked to hormones, like the amount of adolescent testosterone. Others are linked to brain activity, mainly in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex and the orbitofrontal cortex. There is even some evidence that the MAOA enzyme can play a role in violent expression. Of course, not all causes are genetically based. Although genetics can help determine who will have a predisposition towards violence, there are other factors at play. The peer group that one associates with, the environment that they are raised in, and the home life that they experience all play a role in determining if the vi...
Tio Hardiman, the creator of the Violence Interrupters Program, said, “You can give them a history lesson. Your daddy was violent, your granddaddy was violent, and your great granddaddy was violent. And now your brothers are messed up because you misled them” (James et al., 2012). He is describing how violence is a learned behavior from your family and close peers. Hardiman goes on to tell a little about his own family’s history with violence. When he was fourteen, a man tried to hurt him in the streets, but his stepfather killed the man right in front of him, and he recalls feelings good about it. This family taught him violence was okay through their own
The statement suggests that those with no history of violence within their family and/or those who had a good upbringing will most likely not go on to commit violent crimes. At first this does seem like a reasonable suggestion to make. However, once we look deeper into this topic we uncover more complex explanations that are used to understand the phenomenon that is violent crime. Psychological perspectives are widely used throughout the world of criminology in order to help comprehend why crime is committed and the patterns that occur between the type of offender and type of crime. There perspectives are broken down into four main areas within psychology; Biological/Evolutionary, Social/Learning theory, Psychoanalytical/Psychodynamic and finally
Many experts do not accept that biology alone creates children who kill. They believe that violence is a learned behavior. Being abused or witnessing domestic violence is an environmental factor in ju...
It was then that I first started to consider what causes man to become so enraged as to commit atrocities of the mind, body and soul. Violence - pure and simple, is intrinsic to humanity. It almost goes unnoticed as a way of life in many communities. Drive through North Philadelphia on a spring afternoon and witness what appears to be life disappearing, receding under the concrete and graffiti. Look closer and witness the bullet holes in the walls of homes and cars. Still, there are other communities, such as North Brooklyn, where the rate of crime has been diminishing for the past twenty-five years. It seems, in fact, that violent crime does not behave as predicted. Social scientists have begun to suggest that, in fact, violent crime needs to be viewed much like an infectious disease. Simultaneously, neurobiologists have developed intricate research models and techniques to examine whether or not there are biological triggers that cause individuals to act violently.
Is it an argument or something more? This has been a long time debate on a sensitive topic. Domestic violence is an ongoing epidemic and there is no right or wrong but multiple opinions clashing together.
Domestic violence is about intimidation, physical assault, battery, sexual assault, and/or other abusive behavior as part of a systematic pattern of power. Children who witness domestic violence can mean seeing actual incidents of physical/and or sexual abuse. That can simply mean hearing threats or hear fighting noises from the other room. Children that witness the aftermath like bruises and blood can also be affected in a traumatic way. How can children that witness and experience domestic violence develop socially?
Several years ago, technology and child’s play were not such as extremely developed as today. Thousands of teenagers have video game as their primary form of entertainment at home. The disagreement about violent video games is because they focus on several subjects such as violence scenes, pornographic content, racism and other resources. For many years, researchers have been debating if video games can cause dependence or not. However, an expert, Jack Flanagan believes video games have a really negative effect on a person’s life and even for children. Jack states that video game addiction exists, and can have the same effects as drugs and alcohol (Netzley 36-37). This shows that video game addiction can be like other addictions
The propensity for violence is caused by many reasons. Including the violence caused by the psychologically health, the lack of morality and the violence state under unconscious. There is an old saying in China: Like father, like son. I believe that the family education and environment is very important to children, it will affect to them for whole life just like the old saying.
Aggression and violence are the direct result of learned behavior. Our society is full of examples of violence and aggression that unfortunately have become a part of our daily lives regardless of where we live, work, or play.