Violence

Violence is an intentional, unwanted, nonessential act that is harmful to individuals (Hamby, 2017), specifically that undermines the actualization of full human potential (Galtung, 1969, p. 169), and that leads to organic dysfunction. Violence may be categorized by its Mode (direct or indirect), its Valence (positive or negative), its Target (body, emotions, cognition, finances), its Type (physical, emotional, psychological), and its Temporality (manifest of latent). Violence is a component of Toxic Socialization and toxic socialization leads to the 5Ds of Toxic Existence.

Elements of Toxic Socialization

Toxic Socialization > Chaos, Destruction of Attachments, Indoctrination, Neglect, Parentification, Violence

Related LP Terms

Violence > Actual Realization, Authority, Boundary Violation, Full Realization, Human Flourishing, Indoctrination, Potential Realization, Psychic Wound, Systemic Violence, Trauma-Focused Therapy

Non-LP Related Terms

Violence > Actual Realization, Authority, Boundary Violation, Full Realization, Human Flourishing, Indoctrination, Potential Realization, Psychic Wound, Systemic Violence, Trauma-Focused Therapy

Categorization

Violence may be categorized by target, valance, type, mode (Personal/Direct versus Indirect/Structural), and temporality.

Temporality

Whether the violence is occurring IRL, or whether it is virtual, existing in your head as the consequences of the threat of violence. A child staying quiet while they are drawing to avoid getting yelled at or shamed. An abused spouse who anticipates abuse if she doesn't cook a good dinner.

Targets

Targets of violence include the physical body (physical violence), the emotions (emotional violence), the cognitive systems (cognitive violence), sexuality (sexual violence), the finances (financial violence), the nervous system (neuronal violence), and one’s connection systems (colloquially, spiritual violence).

Mode

The mode of delivery of the violence, whether it is direct/personal violence or indirect/structural. Indirect (or Structural) Violence occurs when societal structures or institutions, norms, ideas, and values limit people's ability to fully develop and live full and healthy lives.

    1. Direct (or Personal) Violence

This is the kind of violence most people recognize immediately. If you are paying attention, it can easily be identified because it involves a clear perpetrator, obvious weapons, and a clear victim. As we have seen, direct violence can take many forms and can target many different bodily systems (the types of violence from last lesson). A spouse hitting their partner is an example of direct violence targeted at their partners physical body, emotions, and cognition. A parent spanking a child using physical-type violence to undermine a child’s sense of power, autonomy, and self-esteem. A teacher marking a child down or giving special treatment, or a parent providing conditional love, is using positive emotional violence to shape thoughts and behavior.

    2. Indirect (or Structural) Violence

This form of violence is more hidden but equally harmful. It occurs when societal structures or institutions limit people's ability to live full and healthy lives. This is violence built into the norms, rules, and values of an institution.  Examples include grading systems that disadvantage certain cultures, lack of access to healthcare, and systemic discrimination. Unlike direct violence, structural violence doesn’t always have a clear perpetrator; instead, it is embedded in the way society functions. For example, a student in a low-income neighbourhood attends an underfunded school with outdated textbooks, broken equipment, and overcrowded classrooms, while students in wealthier areas have access to modern technology, well-trained teachers, and more extracurricular opportunities.

Valence

Violence may be categorized by its valance, as either positive or negative (Galtung, 1969).Negative Violence is violence that diminishes as a consequence of pain and suffering. Positive Violence is violence that diminishes as a consequence of pleasure and reward. Negative violence diminishes individuals by causing emotional, psychological, spiritual, financial, or physical pain while positive violence diminishes individuals by shaping thoughts and behaviour via operant conditioning, where expected behaviours are rewarded (love, money, attention, sex) while unwanted behaviours are punished with violence, chaos, and neglect. Both forms of violence are designed to influence and control individuals and society in a direction generally antagonistic to their own full development.

Type

The type of violence is the method of delivery by which the positive or negative violence is delivered to the target. An individual can target emotions, with emotions (e.g., the “silent” treatment) but also with words, finances, and so on. Types of violence include physical-type violence (using your body to harm), psychological-type violence (using thoughts and words to harm), emotional-type violence (using emotions like anger, fear, love to harm), financial-type violence, sexual-type violence, and ideological-type violence.

Physical-Type Violence: Physical violence is any physical action that causes physical discomfort, pain or damage to the Physical Unit. Physical violence arises when physical force is used to cause pain or discomfort, usually in an effort to exert control. Physical violence includes  spitting, hitting, strangling, burning, stabbing, choking, biting, weapons, confinements, withholding of medication or medical attention, violent personal care, and anything else that causes physical discomfort, pain, and damage.

Emotional-Type Violence: Emotional violence is anything that hurts somebody's feelings or that undermines an individual's emotional well-being and self-esteem, or that creates feelings of fear, obligation, guilt. Emotional violence is characterized by emotional manipulation and emotional assault designed to hurt feelings and control behavior. Emotional violence includes yelling, name calling, shaming, blaming, invalidating, the "silent treatment", isolation, constant criticism, humiliation and degradation (in private or public), intimidation, threats of abandonment, threats of harm, emotional withdrawal, denial of abusive behaviour, and deflection.

Psychological-Type Violence: Psychological violence is anything that undermines or diminishes a person's cognitive capacities, or that distorts their perceptions and understanding of self and reality. Psychological violence arises in environments where psychological force is used to intimidate, coerce, and control. Psychological violence overlaps with emotional violence and includes threats of harm, verbal aggression, verbal intimidation, social/familial isolation, condescending behaviour, passive-aggressive attacks, constant criticisms, taking control of life decisions, etc.

Note, In practice, emotional and psychological violence often occur together and reinforce each other in an abusive relationships.

Sexual-Type Violence: Sexual violence is anything that interferes with and undermines an individual's sexuality, and sexual and gender identity. Sexual violence occurs when a person is forced or manipulated into unwanted sexual activity or when they are made to feel uncomfortable with their sexual and gender orientations. Sexual violence includes touching without consent, rape, unwanted physical assault, unwelcome sexual comments, jokes, or leering behavior, denial of privacy, forced prostitution, withholding of sexual affection, purposeful exposure to STDs, etc. Sexual violence also includes various invalidations of sexual and gender identity, particularly when coupled by shame and derision.

Economic-Type Violence: Economic violence is violence perpetrated against individuals for the purpose of causing economic harm. Corporate CEOs who inflate prices, government officials and banks who raise interest rates, employers who economically exploit their employees, and abusive spouses who use money as a means of controlling are all engage in economic

Ideological-Type Violence: Ideological violence is violence that alters the way we see ourselves and our world in a way that benefits the Accumulating Class. Ideological-Type violence lowers self esteem, creates compliance, normalizes a violence and oppressive status quo, and diminishes Connection.

All forms of violence, no matter how "minor" they might appear, damage the body and diminish it's potential.

Galtung defines violence as the "cause of the difference between the potential and the actual, between what could have been and what is." This statement refers to the fact that violence undermines and prevents the realization of one's full potential. Violence "decreases mental potentialities.

Galtung suggests that violence is characterized by avoidable damage. Someone dying of tuberculosis in the 18th century did not die violently, but an individual that does today does, since the death is avoidable and caused by the withdrawal resources that would otherwise have prevented that death.

Galtung suggests a distinction between negative and positive violence, both of which may undermine potential and diminish the subject. Negative violence cause (emotional, psychological, spiritual, physical) pain while positive violence causes pleasure. The diminishing and damaging impact of negative violence are obvious. The diminishment associated with positive violence is less obvious, but there nonetheless. A husband that rewards his wife with presents and attention every time she dresses up and looks pretty is influencing her behaviour in the direction of gender conformity.

Galtung distinguishes between personal violence and Structural Violence. Structural violence is violence where the violent actor has disappeared to be replaced by an institutional fabric that obscures violent human acts. A human resources department that sanctions an employee is engaged in a violent act supportive of specific human interests (owners, shareholders), but the act is enabled by rules and norms and the agent whom the violence benefit have disappeared from clear view.

The practice of violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is to a more violent world. No one engaged in thought about history and politics can remain unaware of the enormous role violence has always played in human affairs, and it is at first glance rather surprising that violence has been singled out so seldom for special consideration.

Arendt argues violence is distinguished from power, force, authority by its instrumental character. She sees violence and war-making as the "principal structuring force in society," and that it plays a key role in maintaining The System. She also analyzes the violence in the service of revolution, or in the interests of more narrow groups interests.

Violence is a component of Toxic Socialization. Violence can be used to force compliance and also to achieve political goals. See for example the work of Hanna Arendt

Violence may diminish the the physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual life of the individual.

• physical diminishment: Physical violence that damages and diminishes the physical body and mind. Includes hitting, biting, corporal punishment, prenatal exposure to drugs. denial of food/water. poisoning. sexual abuse: sexual contact or non-contact, sexual interference (Behl, Conyngham, & May, 2003). Confinement and restriction of mobility.
• psychological diminishment:Psychological violence abuse that damages and diminishes the physical body and mind, including impairment of intelligence, memory, perception, attention, imagination, and moral development (O'Hagan, 1995). Examples: Brainwashing/indoctrination
• emotional diminishment: abuse that impairs/damages the emotional life of the individual, including their ability to properly regulate emotions, and to take responsibility, be confident, be open to others when appropriate, maintain appropriate boundaries, and trust. Emotional abuse includes verbal abuse, excessive demands, excessively harsh judgments, and other abuse patterns that impact the child’s ability to feel happy and healthy in their own skin (O'Hagan, 1995).Examples: Brainwashing/indoctrination
• spiritual diminishment: Spiritual violence undermines an individual's ability to connect with theirSpiritual Ego. This is a massive and tragic diminishment since most people end up going through life largely disconnected, and with low CQ.

Full human development, Healing and Connection, requires the cessation of all forms of violence and the re-establishment of healthy, respectful, and nurturing spaces.

Resources

Bullied - Trailer for a film on the consequences of the bullying pandemic

Patreon Courses

• On Violence

Footnotes

References