Se habla mucho de la violencia pero se sabe muy poco acerca de sus causas. Los científicos suelen dividirse entre quienes ven fundamentalmente factores biológicos tras ella, o quienes conceden mayor importancia a los factores sociales. Este libro no se inclina ni hacia unos ni hacia otros, partiendo de la distinción entre agresividad y violencia, se muestra que la primera es instintiva, mientras que la violencia es el resultado que se sigue en algunos casos cuando determinados factores culturales inciden sobre la agresividad. La violencia ,así entendida, se manifiesta en diversos contextos y bajo formas diferentes. De esas formas de violencia quizás las más llamativas sean las que tienen por escenario la familia y el campo de batalla, por esto se les ha dado una atención preferente en este libro. En él no se quiere ofrecer tanto respuestas definitivas, cuanto concienciar acerca de los problemas de la violencia en nuestro tiempo, a la vez que se abre una puerta a la esperanza: si la violencia no está determinada biológicamente y, ciertamente, no lo está, educar en y para la paz puede ponerle remedio.
Se habla mucho de la violencia pero se sabe muy poco acerca de sus causas. Los científicos suelen dividirse entre quienes ven fundamentalmente factores biológicos tras ella, o quienes conceden mayor importancia a los factores sociales. Este libro no se inclina ni hacia unos ni hacia otros, partiendo de la distinción entre agresividad y violencia, se muestra que la primera es instintiva, mientras que la violencia es el resultado que se sigue en algunos casos cuando determinados factores culturales inciden sobre la agresividad.
¿Puede cualquiera actuar con violencia? ¿Están mentalmente enfermos los violentos? ¿Nacen o se hacen? ¿Está la violencia escrita en los genes? ¿Tienen las personas violentas un cerebro distinto? Roberto Colom y Antonio Andrés Pueyo, catedráticos de psicología y expertos en la materia, abordan en este libro adictivo, ameno e interesante, las claves sobre las causas de la violencia con un objetivo: contribuir a su erradicación de nuestra sociedad.
Nowadays, philosophy and methodology of science appear as a combination of novelty and continuity. This blend is clear both in the general approaches to science (those thought of as any science) and in the specific perspectives on every science, either formal or empirical. There are new topics for philosophical reflection, such as key issues in philosophy of medicine and central problems raised by neuroscience. Thus, new contents have brought attention to aspects that previously went almost unnoticed. In addition, there are new angles for philosophical study, such as the repercussion of society on scientific activity (in aims, processes, and results). But the background of the main philosophical and methodological trends of the twentieth century is, in many ways, still in place.
When cases of domestic violence spiked during the COVID-19 lockdowns, terror spread among potential victims, while governments that enforced the isolation seemed helpless to address the damages. Vulnerable partners, children, and parents were hostage to possible perpetrators, given the risks of retaliation at home and the danger of death by contamination in shelters. The alarm raises questions about under-examined triggers for violence against others and oneself. One common trigger is boredom. It is the elephant in the room, a known stressor in institutional settings–schools, prisons, and military installations–and otherwise out of focus despite the ubiquity of gender-based violence. Detecting the ravages of boredom in apparently safe domestic settings hints at a range of meanings for the word and a web of personal and collective dysfunctions, including anxiety, depression, feelings of worthlessness and anomie. Conventional remedies for these challenges do not address the escalating rates of violence to oneself and to others. Their evident ineffectiveness during the crisis laid bare structural flaws in standard human development strategies which span home and school environments, the law, and approaches to mental health. A major flaw has been the narrow perspectives of one or another discipline, when the dangers are interrelated and demand multidisciplinary approaches. Chronic violence and alarming rates of depression, before, during, and after the pandemic, show failures of predictable perspectives and their recommendations even in “normal” conditions. The question of how authorities should react to harm done begs the question of how to prevent harm from happening. Prevention–rather than punishment for crimes or treatment for pathologies–has become a preferred approach for both legal and clinical interventions. To stop violence before it irrupts requires investigation into its causes, because treating the effects of aggression–evacuating victims, punishing perpetrators, counselling patients–addresses symptoms rather than diseases. Why was the lockdown a time of increased domestic violence? What accounts for recent spikes in teen suicides? What are the existing and possible tools for measuring boredom? Answers from experts stay within foreseeable observations about the loss of jobs, the increase of alcoholism, social media addiction, and psychological stress. These familiar answers do not lead beyond the description of pathological patterns. But different approaches may follow from attending to the under-examined danger of having nothing to do.
How do women who have survived traumatic sexual violence cope with and manage their everyday lives? Karolin Eva Kappler analyses the everyday life of victims of sexual violence, combining the normalcy of their daily life with the overwhelming experience of rape and sexual abuse. Based on a qualitative study, the author detects five patterns which characterize the victims’ everyday coping practices and strategies. The grounded analysis of the interview material shows the fragility of the victims’ lives, depending on paradoxes which reduce their freedom of choice and which explain the individual and social invisibility of sexual violence. The book is valuable reading for academics and practitioners working in the fields of sociology, psychology, medicine, social work, and education.
This book draws on findings from psychology, neurology, and genetics, to offer a multi-dimensional analysis of criminal behavior. It explores the biological bases of emotions such as aggression, anger, and hostility and how they-- combined with social psychological influences, such as family history and environmental conditions-- may lead to violence. Specific case studies, including serial killings, mass murders, family violence, cannibalism, and hitmen, are referenced throughout, providing real-world examples of these theories in action. Issues of free will and the law are discussed as well as suggestions for curbing violent behavior.
