| Violence in Europe: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives Contributor(s): Body-Gendrot, Sophie (Editor), Spierenburg, Pieter (Editor) |
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ISBN: 0387745076 ISBN-13: 9780387745077 Publisher: Springer OUR PRICE: $104.49 Product Type: Hardcover - Other Formats Published: December 2007 Annotation: Has violence changed over the centuries? Has it always held the same meanings for us?Will it always be a given in society? Taking the sociocultural long view, Violence in Europe analyzes the prevalence and role of violence?from street crime to terrorist attacks, homicide to genocide?in the evolution of human and national behavior. The editors and 14 colleagues in history, anthropology, sociology, and psychology focus on Northern and Western Europe, examining centuries of violent phenomena, from the cultural logic of the Middle Ages to today's soccer riots and security alerts. The contributors? examination of social constructions (honor codes, class and gender roles) and public ambivalence (acceptance, abhorrence, fascination) regarding violence sheds needed light on current dynamics in law enforcement, political systems, and what many have termed ?the civilization of violence.? Findings from Britain, France, Ireland, Belgium, and Scandinavia explore: The paradoxes of ethnic violence and insider/outsider thinking in an increasingly multicultural world; Trends in interpersonal violence during wartime and peacetime; The gendering of violence, from early French marital laws to London's underground nightlife; The growth of cities: modernization, conflict, aggression; Modern prevention and surveillance strategies: effective solutions, complicating the problem, or some middle ground? Reflecting innovative methods of research and interpretation, Violence in Europe is thought-provoking and instructive for researchers and students in psychology and criminology. And with the mounting global presence of violence today, this is reading with profound implications for the future. |
| Additional Information |
| BISAC Categories: - Social Science | Criminology |
| Dewey: 303.609 |
| Physical Information: 0.68" H x 6.05" W x 9.55" (1.11 lbs) 272 pages |
| Descriptions, Reviews, Etc. |
| Publisher Description: Sophie Body-Gendrot How much related are present and past violence? The answers are complex due to the limited knowledge scientists have gathered, even after spending a life-time studying this very enigmatic and most serious social phenomenon called violence. All authors agree that the present level of interpersonal violence cannot be sufficiently understood without taking the earlier long-term decrease into account. Ted Robert Gurr (1981, 1989) was one of these pioneers who und- took a statistical overview of the development of homicides from the Middle Ages to the present, looking at England in particular. On his curve, 20 ho- cides per 100,000 inhabitants were recorded in the High and Late Middle Ages and one case in the twentieth century put an end to the curb. Gurr interpreted this long-term decrease in interpersonal violence as ''a manifestation of cultural change in Western society, especially the growing sensitization to violence and the development of an increased internal and external control on aggressive behavior'' (Gurr, 1981:258). Currently, both the present and the past have to be considered in any attempt to answer the following questions: is the higher incidence of violence which still prevails a temporary exception or a new trend related to structural dynamics of modern societies? In which regions of Europe is it more specifically pronounced? More generally, this volume claims that historical knowledge of changes in violent behavior and of violence forms an indispensable contribution to an understanding of the manifestations of violence in contemporary societies. |