What is social violence?

We live in an increasingly globalized society that allows more or less frequent acquaintance and contact with people with different opinions, beliefs and ways of seeing the world. While this usually creates a current of understanding between different cultures, sometimes it also can degenerate into social violence.

And it is that contact with different currents of thought allows an evolution of society towards values ​​such as tolerance and respect mutual, but for some people it can be aversive when perceiving the differences between the ways of living and thinking with other peoples and collective, being in some cases in direct opposition to their own beliefs and assuming the perception of inequality or the loss of social power. Thus, the loss of power and the lack of understanding of other ways of seeing the world, considering one's own ideals as the only ones or the most appropriate ones, can degenerate into violence.

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Social violence: what is it?

Social violence is understood to be any act with social impact that threatens physical, mental or relational integrity of a person or a group, these acts being carried out by a subject or by the community itself.

In some cases, this violence is applied with the purpose of achieving an improvement in living conditions or as a form of protest for a treatment that is considered vexatious, as occurs in some riots and revolts. On other occasions, it is intended to decrease the power of others in order to harm them or their points of view, or to increase the perception of one's own authority.

But in general, we can determine that the objective of social violence as such is gaining or maintaining power and social status. However, on many occasions this is linked to political violence, in which violent acts are carried out with the aim of achieving political power or economic violence, in which the objective is to obtain capital.

Types of social violence

There are multiple forms of social violence, some of which are domestic violence, racist and/or homophobic attacks, terrorist attacks, kidnappings, murders or homicides, sexual assaults, vandalism, bullying at school or work or any type of action that seeks to disrupt public order through the exercise of violence.

However, this type of violence does not cover only criminal acts carried out directly, but also aspects such as values, stereotypes, prejudices and slanders transmitted culturally or through the media that may incite hatred or contempt for a person or collective. Clear examples of this are the promulgation and expansion of beliefs that incite machismo, the homophobia or racism.

Associated factors

Social violence can originate in very different and diverse contexts, being incited by the interaction of a large number of variables. Thus, there is no single cause of social violence but rather it has a multiple origin, requiring an investigation of the different factors that may end up leading to it. Some of these factors are as follows

1. Perception of inequality

On many occasions, social violence is exercised in conditions in which individuals perceive the existence of inequality.

The observation or belief that other people who in principle should receive the same treatment as the subject himself receive favorable treatment from the institutions or companies, or even more important that the person or group itself receives unfair treatment or worse than it should, can generate a comparative grievance that can end in some type of violence. The perception of inequality may be behind mass phenomena such as riots and riots.

2. Threat to own position

As we have said, the objective of social violence is to maintain or increase one's own status or social power. One of the main reasons for this is the consideration that power itself is threatened. The exercise of power by others can be considered as incompatible with autonomy and one's own power, with which the individual or group is frustrated and seeks to increase the self-control of others through violence.

On the other hand, the idea that there is an entity external to society that puts its stability at risk is often used as an excuse to undertake aggressive population control measures, something for which justification is needed clear. In order to avoid this danger, the welfare of minorities can be compromised.

3. Social exclusion

Although it is linked to the previous factors, social exclusion is by itself an important factor when it comes to explaining some acts of social violence. The feeling of not be considered by the whole of society as part of it it generates frustration and anger towards the world and the society in which one lives. Acts of vandalism, robberies and assaults are some of the types of violence that are usually generated by this factor.

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4. rigid and restrictive education

Educational patterns are of great importance when it comes to explaining social violence. An excessively rigid and restrictive education can cause the person to be unable to flex their views, opinions and beliefs. This encourages one to think that the way of doing things to which the subject is accustomed is the only or the most valid, other options being inconsistent and unacceptable.

For example, identity politics, based on contempt for what is different, can be based on an education based on Manichaeism and the demonization of people who are perceived as alien to the group to which they belong. belongs.

Vulnerable groups or frequent targets of social violence

As a general rule, social violence tends to be applied against minorities, especially those who they have traditionally been persecuted or oppressed but with the passage of time have increased their social acceptance, power and rights.

Said change is perceived by some individuals as a threat to their own power and beliefs, trying to perpetuate traditional roles through direct or indirect violence. However, in other cases it is the minority that begins to exercise violence, as a form of protest or claim or in order to achieve a specific objective, as occurs in some riots popular.

Likewise, in some cases other groups are targets of indirect social violence in order to be used as means for the perpetuation of their own power, transforming originally neutral individuals or even the very person subjected to violence into a transmitter of said violence. Let's look at some of the groups that are either especially vulnerable or have been subject to social violence throughout history.

1. Childhood

One of the most vulnerable groups in the face of social violence, whether it occurs directly on them or, on the contrary, observes it indirectly, is that of children. Boys and girls are especially vulnerable, taking into account that they are immersed in a development process that has not yet provided them with sufficient neither physical nor psychic tools to efficiently deal with violent situations.

As a general rule, social violence exerted on children tends to have the objective of dominating a more vulnerable being in order to increase one's perception of power, or as an indirect means to harm a person or institution.

Likewise, the continued observation of violence as a method of control can provoke thinking and the belief that attack is an adequate and adaptive strategy to achieve one's own goals goals.

2. disabled

People with both physical and intellectual disabilities can also be the object of social violence, not allow them to participate in society or exercise different types of action on them as a form of domination and exercise of power.

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3. popular classes

The popular classes and the population with less purchasing power It is often the object of social and institutional violence, taking advantage of its precarious and unstable situation. The same occurs in groups with a high risk of social exclusion, such as people under state guardianship or drug addicts.

4. Women

The role of women in society has been changing throughout history, arriving in recent times to seek equality between the sexes. However, some individuals and sectors of society resist the existence of equality, which in many cases implies a loss of power and the traditional role assigned to men.

Some examples of social violence against this group are gender violence, the forced perpetuation of traditional roles, the difficulties of accessing the workplace or the inequalities that are still present.

5. Immigration, ethnic and religious minorities

Another classic target of social violence is ethnic and/or religious minorities. Although also in this aspect, the general society seeks equality between people of different ethnic groups and cultures, some sectors do not welcome the incorporation into the community of individuals with characteristics that do not match the most usual. The type of social violence that is most frequent is linked to racism, which can include physical attacks, harassment and even attacks.

• Related article: "The 8 most common types of racism"

6. LGBT community

The LGBT community is another group that traditionally has been persecuted, harassed and belittled. Over time, this group is seeing how it is increasingly accepted in the community, gradually achieving equal rights with respect to the heterosexual population. However, as with equality between the sexes and between races, some individuals and sectors of society consider that equal rights should not be given, exercising different types of physical, mental or social violence against this collective.

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Effects of social violence

The effects of social violence, like its causes, can be multiple and varied.

The person, group or institution attacked may suffer a deep sense of humiliation that can greatly diminish their self-esteem and autonomy, and even cause the death of the part violated.

In some cases the entity attacked can be forced or coerced to perform certain behaviors due to fear of the consequences of the opposition or due to a change in attitude after experiencing the violent episode. In others, the display of violence can awaken the reactivity of the victim and increase their determination to pursue their ideals or to maintain their position despite the risks.

Similarly, knowledge and observation of violent behavior can wake up a call effect and unleash new attacks. In other cases it can, as it happens with children, teach them that violence is a useful mechanism to achieve one's goals.

One of the risks of social violence is that it is often minimized, through mechanisms such as habituation, desensitization, invisibility and normalization. These mechanisms cause the population to become unconcerned in the long run about the commission of violent acts (for example, we are used to receiving news of aggressions, violence or casualties in other countries due to wars and natural disasters, to the point that we have become desensitized and do not usually do anything about it. regard).

In order to avoid the repetition of violent acts, it is necessary to recognize and fight against the mechanisms that elicit it, such as those mentioned above, and ensure that said acts of violence are not covered up or hidden, but rather recognized and fought.

Bibliographic references:

• Corsi, J. and Peyru, G.M. (2003). social violence. Ariel.