Exploring Interpersonal Violence

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One of the most common ways of defining violence is to only consider forms of criminal violence and to argue that violence is the use of force that has been prohibited by law (Riedel & Welsh, 2002, p.3). The Oxford dictionary when taking a legal dimension, defines violence as “the unlawful exercise of physical force”. This definition suggests that violence is harm that results in physical pain. It may be criticised for not taking into account emotional and psychological pain often associated with interpersonal violence. Interpersonal violence is said to include domestic violence, family violence, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, child abuse or elder abuse. Other forms of violence which occur within schools, workplaces, neighbourhoods and other organisations can also be considered interpersonal. These forms of violence may be economic, emotional, sexual or physical. Interpersonal violence includes acts which can be considered as violent or harmful. This essay will look at different forms of interpersonal violence and whether or not they use physical force to harm victims. It will also compare other definitions of violence against the above statement to establish how it defines interpersonal violence. It will consider if ‘violence’ is always unlawful as suggested, or whether it may be justified under certain circumstances.

The above Oxford English Dictionary statement suggests that there is a strong relationship between violence and acts of physical force. Whilst some acts of interpersonal violence involve physical force, there are many acts which also involve economic, emotional, psychological harm. This statement is therefore too narrow a description when defining interpersonal violence, which is rarely pur...

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Sociological Research Online, Volume 11, Issue 2,

Violence as an Essentially Contested Concept

Willem de Haan

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