The culture of violence theory addresses the pervasiveness of specific violent patterns within a societal dimension.[1] The concept of violence being ingrained in Western society and culture has been around for at least the 20th century.[1] Developed from structural violence, as research progressed the notion that a culture can sanction violent acts developed into what we know as culture of violence theory today.[1] Two prominent examples of culture legitimizing violence can be seen in rape myths and victim blaming.[2] Rape myths lead to misconstrued notions of blame; it is common for the responsibility associated with the rape to be placed on the victim rather than the offender.[2]
Furthermore, the culture of violence theory potentially accounts for inter-generational theories of violence and domestic violence.[3] Childhood exposure to violence in the household may later lead to similar patterns in marital relations.[3] Similarly, early experience with domestic violence is likely to increase an individual's potential for development of clinical symptoms.[4] Additionally, presence of a preexisting mental disorder may heighten the chances of becoming involved in an abusive relationship.[5]
There are many factors which contribute to the persistence of violence among individuals and on a societal level; gender is one relevant factor to understanding the culture of violence theory.[6] In the United States, a majority of reported rapes involve female victims.[2] However, there is a growing body of evidence to support the notion that women can perpetuate relational cycles of violence.[6] While a culture of violence has an impact on people as a whole, for individuals who have experienced trauma in their lives the impact can be much larger.[4][6][7]
As mentioned previously the culture of violence theory addresses the pervasiveness of specific violent patterns within in a societal dimension.[1] Specifically, culture of violence theory explains how cultures and societies can sanction violent acts.[1] While related to structural violence, cultural violence theory is different by explaining why direct acts of violence or violence built into systems of society exists and how they are legitimized.[1] Research suggests that cultures can encourage and permit violence to exist as a response to various environmental obstacles, such as widespread resource impoverishment.[8] This can be seen within various aspects of culture, such as film, television, music, language, art, and propaganda.[1][8][9][10]
Austrian peace researcher Franz Jedlicka has made an attempt to measure the culture of violence in different countries of the world with his "Culture of Violence Scale 2023".[11]
See also: Gun violence in the United States and Race and crime in the United States |
Rape myths refer to the inaccurate views and stereotypes of forced sexual acts, and the victims and perpetuators of them.[9] These notions are prevalent among the general population and often suggest that the victims of non-consensual sexual acts have bad reputations, are promiscuous, dress provocatively, or are fabricating assault when they regret the consensual acts after the fact.[9] These views are often legitimized by the status quo of men dominating women across domains such as family, education, work, and many others.[9] Rape myth acceptance can lead to poor assault/rape prevention measures, decrease in reporting of assaults/rapes, increases of assaults/rapes, and re-victimization.[9]
See also: Domestic violence in the United States |
Violence in relationships, commonly referred to as intimate partner violence (IPV), is impacted by various factors including the presence of mental illness or use of substances.[12][13][14] Specifically, individuals with depression, generalized anxiety (GAD), or panic disorder are potentially at risk for physical violence towards a partner; findings are consistent for both men and women regarding the connection between psychiatric diagnoses and perpetuation of relationship violence.[12] Additionally, propensity to engage in specific behaviors such as gambling or endorsement of violent pornography have also been associated with increased risk for relationship violence occurrence.[13][15] Individual factors have also been suggested to be associated with relationship violence including anger, aggressiveness, and adverse emotional internalization.[16] Contrarily, exposure to relationship violence is also linked to the later development of mental health symptoms or diagnoses.[17]
The prevalence of legitimization of violence may be facilitated by its presence in various media.[9][15] There is evidence to suggest that sex-related crimes account for nearly 10% of all dialogue on television related to sex, most of which is found on fictional programs.[9] Additionally, research has also found a positive relationship between pornography consumption and attitudes supporting violence against women, especially when the pornography in question is violent in nature.[15] However, consideration of individual differences is necessary in evaluating exposure to violent media and overall outcomes.[18] Factors which influence media content exposure and subsequent outcomes include gender and personality traits.[18] Individuals who are male, hostile, impulsive, and are low on empathy are more likely to be susceptible to violent media exposure.[18]
Public justification of violence arise when those not necessarily directly involved in the violent act will not react negatively to the violence because they believe it is warranted.[9] Examples of public justification of violence are most evident in rape myths and victim blaming, as discussed above.[1][2][9] However, the common belief regarding legitimate violence tends to place responsibility on victims or potential victims of violence.[1][2][9] Another example that is not as often noted, is the pervasive notion of the "chosen one," within some extremist religious language and various nationalism propaganda that will function as a means to perpetuate the undermining of the other and allowance of violence against the other.[1]
Turkish sociologist Fatma Müge Göçek has argued that the Armenian genocide and other violent repression in the Ottoman Empire was caused by the Committee of Union and Progress' adoption of a "culture of violence"; she argues that this culture of violence remains embedded in Turkish political culture.[19][20]