The Microsociology Of Violence By Randall Collins

From prehistory to 21st century, violence and warfare permeate human existence. Tribes, cities, and nations have pitted their youth against one another in hopes improving their position. However, these Soldiers regularly fall short of maximizing their killing potential. In the book On Killing, Dave Grossman scrupulously examines war throughout recent history; specifically the human element in killing. His thorough assessment of the psychological factors associated with homicide is vitally important to individuals who wish to successfully lead their Soldiers during and after combat. Its ultimate value clearly visible in light of four major facets: the background of the writer, the general points of the book, analysis of essential concepts, and the insight provided.

As Americans, living in a egotistical and self centered society, we often think that we are the best, the top 1 percent in every aspect. However, When compared to other countries of the world, America is ranked 14th in education, 44th in health care efficiency, and 101th in peace. But it ranks first in incarceration, 2nd in ignorance, and 3rd in global competitiveness. One can see how the rankings that America is top in are those that promote violence in one way or another. In the book Violence and Culture: A Cross-Cultural and Interdisciplinary Approach by Jack David Eller, the author discusses violence in American society in one of his chapters. In this chapter, he mentions some social characteristics that represents and plays a role in

ESSAY TITLE: “Aggression is necessary for survival: Discuss. Base your answer on psychological theories and models introduced in class.”

Many studies have been conducted to determine the reason otherwise nonviolent people can commit vehement actions against another human: otherwise innocent people have proven to be capable of the most unimaginable of acts after being caught up in their actions. Maxine Kumin’s poem, “Woodchucks,” indirectly addresses this issue by presenting a metaphor of a woodchuck infestation being controlled by a fanatical hunter. The poem can either be interpreted to recount a simple, meaningless woodchuck hunt or to serve as a representation of the manners by which people can be overcome by desires for violence. Though a reader might at first overlook the violent genocidal references throughout the poem, after a thorough analysis

What has America come to? Although the articles, “We’re No.1(1)!” written by Thomas Friedman, and the article “Violence is Who We Are,” by Steven Crichley, have different overall subjects, they have a similar arguments. The world isn’t as great as it used to be, we are lacking good leadership, and we happily invite wrong doings into our lives.

A society that presumes a norm of violence and celebrates aggression, whether in the subway, on the football field, or in the conduct of its business, cannot help making celebrities of the people who would destroy it, (Lapham, 1985). Unfortunately, such acts of rampage have become a prevalent factor in the Canadian culture. As a result of endless media coverage, Canadians now are constantly bombarded with countless images of violence. Many of which often portray a victim avenging their opponent by force. Thus, indoctrinating individuals to believe that it is only through aggression that problems are resolved. Rather than being punished for acts of violence, those who commit such offenses are often praised for their “heroism”. In addition,

David Nirenberg talks about two types of violence, “cataclysmic violence” and “systematic violence”. The first part of the book discusses “cataclysmic” violence, while the second part of the book focuses on “systematic violence.”

It is said that up to thirty thousand men may have died at the battle of Hastings, a conflict that occurred almost one thousand years ago. World War II, which lasted less than seven years, has been estimated to be responsible for up to forty million deaths. Thus, many people often ask the question why? Why does such conflict occur? Who or what is responsible? The culprit does not hide nor has it escaped scrutiny and blame. It comes in many shapes and sizes, faces and places. It is called violence and the potential for it resides in every single person on this earth. Whose violence conquers all? It is hard to measure the significance of violence, especially when it can cause so much destruction and death as well as stimulation. However,

n this article “Maybe Violence Is The Answer?”, Michael Harriot discussed on the killing of Terrance Crutcher being brutally killed by police officer Betty Shelby. After Crutcher's death there were lots of riots and protests in Tulsa Oklahoma. Shelby was charged with manslaughter for the murder of Crutcher. Thousands of miles away from Tulsa Oklahoma in Charlotte North was another killing where cop kills a black person. Keith Lamont Scott was the other black gunned down by a white cop.

Athens’ interviews led him to conclude that violent dangerous individuals are created by way of a socializing process that included a strong influence of a phantom community. It was a four stage experiential process that he termed violentization. The progression of stages is: 1) brutalization, 2) belligerency, 3) violent performance and 4) virulency, and individuals have to go through the attendant social experiences in one stage before they can enter the next higher stage of violence development. The following outline provides some of the factors and explanations associated with each stage in the progression.

The history of humanity is written in blood. Even as violence as a whole is decreasing, acts of extreme violence continue to be perpetrated. To be clear, this essay is not about individuals violent and cold at their core. Such people are readily understood within the image of a lone, antisocial killer set apart from humanity by their very lacking of it. This essay is about violence conducted on a scale that can only be enabled by the participation of people who, under normal circumstances, would not act violent. The puzzle of how and why genocides, apartheid, state brutality, torture, and mob killings are perpetrated by ordinary people points to psychosocial mechanisms as their cause. Ordinarily non-violent people commit extreme violence

Violence is a necessary proponent to history. Without violence we as human species would struggle to evolve and the United States would currently not exist. In the decade preceding the civil war, sectional and political tensions regarding the expansion of slavery into new territories grew larger. With the emergence of the Republican Party in the mid ninetieth century, the United States experienced a sectional pull between those who were pro-slavery Democrats, and those who were anti-slavery expansion Republicans. Emotions regarding the expansion of slavery yielded barbaric acts across the country including the canning of Charles Sumner, the hanging of John Brown, and the violence that construed in the Kansas territory. Each of the victims were white, were antislavery, and fell victim to the violence of a pro-slavery Democrat outraged by their actions. These acts of violence swayed many Democrats voters to the Republican Party setting the platform for success for Republican Presidential Candidate Abraham Lincoln who won the election of 1860 with 180 electoral votes to Southern Democratic candidate Breckenridge 's 72.

Violence and war is notable throughout history. However, it is lazy to say that this proves humans are naturally violent. Rather than using nature as an excuse for those who chose to act violently it’s important we recognize that we have a choice to decide how we act. In Howard Zinn’s, “Violence and Human Nature” He shows that violence is not an instinct but that the environment in which they live in provokes them to act violently or peacefully depending on their choice (43). In City of God, a film concentrating on the gangs of Rio de Janeiro during the 1960’s to the 1980’s, specifically the township of Cidade de Deus, we are introduced to various characters who all make different choices under different motivations. Rocket, the little brother to a member of the Tender Trio, who are essentially the Robin Hood’s of the City of God, to act non-violently despite his environment and the influences around him.

The books Child of the Dark by Carolina Maria de Jesus and Testimony by Victor Montejo describes the lives of two individuals from different societies. In both of these societies there was much hardship and violence. The two main characters who wrote these books describe life through their point of view and explains the hardship and challenges they had living in a society filled with violence.

The history of human nature has been bloody, painful, and even destructive. Nonetheless, before understanding their environments humans used to kill each other based on their own mindset on the ideal of violence, and what it actually meant. Pinker describes narratives of violent acts from the past, that today are foreign to us. He gives us a tour of the historical human violence and how the violence in human nature has changed throughout time. The main idea from Pinker’s book,“The Better Angels of Our Nature ', is “for all the dangers we face today, the dangers of yesterday were even worse.” He provides its readers with explicit violent stories beginning from 8000 BCE to now, and describes how violence has evolved from a blood lost to more of a peaceful existence.