Violence and Society ((3))

Catalog description

This course examines the social causes and contexts of the various manifestations of physical violence in society. At its core, this course addresses three interrelated questions: What is violence? What are its consequences? Why does it occur? This course approaches the study of violence from a multidisciplinary perspective, considering the role of individual, situational, historical, environmental, and cultural influences on violence. This course is divided into three sections: First, we define violence and examine common theoretical explanations of violence. Then, we examine legitimate forms of violence (including military, police, and sporting violence). Finally, we examine illegitimate forms of violence (criminal violence in the city, suburbs, and the home). In the examination of both legitimate and illegitimate forms of violence, special attention is given to the relevance of standard theoretical explanations of violence and on exploring the effects of legitimate violence on issues related to quality of life.