Stripping away the hype, this book describes how, when, and why media violence can influence children of different ages, giving parents and teachers the power to maximize the media's benefits and minimize its harm. There are many opinions about media violence and children, but not all are supported by science. In this book, the top experts gather the latest results from 50 years of scientific study as the basis for a comprehensive, in-depth examination of the complex issues surrounding the effects of media violence of different types. Each chapter focuses on a particular issue of concern, including "hot" topics such as brain development, cyber-bullying, video games, and verbal aggression. Articles take into account factors such as economics, differences based on the ages of children, and differences between types of media violence. This book provides the information parents and those who work with families need to make the best choices. It includes chapters specifically relevant to the types of bullying schools have the most trouble identifying and controlling. Most importantly, the writing is both intelligent and accessible so that parents, educators, pediatricians, and policymakers can understand and apply the findings presented. Includes the newest research on topics of particular concern today, including cyber-bullying, video games, song lyrics, and brain development Covers all major media, including television, movies, music, video games, and the Internet Describes the psychological processes through which media violence influences attitudes, emotions, and behaviors Provides the context necessary to understand why media violence does not affect everyone the same way Discusses how media violence intersects with public policy, identifies the problems with the existing rating systems, and suggests strategies to improve the situation and foster children's healthy development

Sporting contests have provided mass entertainment throughout history, and today generate revenues of approximately $200 billion annually in the US alone. Like in the entertainment industry, the modern sports industry s revenues are based on the entertainment value of output and more entertaining sporting contests imply greater game-day attendance, television revenues and sales of merchandise. Research by economists has attempted to understand and explain behavior as it relates to sporting contests, showing that standard microeconomic theory used to explain consumer and producer behavior can also be applied to the behavior of fans, team owners, league executives and players. One commonality among many ancient and modern sports is the existence of violence and aggression in contests. Compare, for example, a modern NASCAR race with a Roman chariot race: Only the technology has changed. From the perspective of an economist, violence in sporting contests is an outcome of the forces of supply and demand, and the phenomenon exists because fans respond to it. Spectator preferences for violence bid up the monetary return to this behavior, and the rational response is a more violent or aggressive output.

The optimum level of violent or aggressive play in sporting contests is an empirical issue and this book contains chapters on violence and aggression in sports, concentrating on the reasons for the existence and persistence of such behavior. Following a chapter devoted to the history of violence and aggression in sports, subsequent chapters are designed to cover the breadth of international professional sports including American football, soccer, ice hockey, basketball, baseball, auto racing, and fighting sports. Each chapter will contain econometric analysis of violence and aggressive play in a given sport. The individual chapters will examine whether or not a given sports league or governing body should intervene to reduce violence, and where intervention is warranted, extent of appropriate interventions is evaluated. In addition to academics and students concerned with the economics and history of sport, the book s emphasis on policies at the league and governing-body levels means this book will also be of interest representatives of those institutions.."

In this study, a group of working-class women narrate their own stories, lives, and "place" in Belfast, showing how the geography, community, and--perhaps most of all--conflict becomes deeply intertwined with identity. These women, who have been socially excluded and economically disadvantaged, describe their lives during war and a now precarious peace. Challenging traditional methods of conducting research in the social sciences, McIntyre enlists Participatory action research to understand how these women see themselves, their world and their place in it. Participatory action research includes creative and interactive projects--collages, painting, poetry, and photography--to enable free expression. We see in this volume how the Belfast women negotiate and struggle with the intersections of violence, politics, gender, parenting, community work, religion, fear, humor, friendship, and their deeply held views of what it means to be an Irish woman.

Macciomei and Ruben provide the first compendium entirely devoted to the exigency and pathology of serious teen aggression, including homicidal and combative problems. It responds to the national wave of school shootings and teen crime dangerously threatening classrooms. Failures of traditional disciplinary practice cause perennial frustrations for principals, teachers, and school districts in general.

This professional guide steps up to the challenge of this chaos and provides empirically tested methods for classroom application including advancing steps to integrate school and community, alternative assessments, cultural diversity programming, and peer-mediation innovations. Easy-to-use methods based in research discussion prove that public school systems can win the war against urban oppression.

This unique book examines the relationship between wounding and sexuality, bringing together issues around sexuality, gender, power, violence and representations. Drawing on a range of disciplines including cultural and media studies, sociology and psychology, it explores social practices such as S&M, cosmetic surgery and extreme sports.

This edited volume examines theoretical and empirical issues relating to violence and war and its implications for media, culture and society.

Over the last two decades there has been a proliferation of books, films and art on the subject of violence and war. However, this is the first volume that offers a varied analysis which has wider implications for several disciplines, thus providing the reader with a text that is both multi-faceted and accessible. This book introduces the current debates surrounding this topic through five particular lenses:

• the historical involves an examination of historical patterns of the communication of violence and war through a variety sources
• the cultural utilises the cultural studies perspective to engage with issues of violence, visibility and spectatorship
• the sociological focuses on how terrorism, violence and war are remembered and negotiated in the public sphere
• the political offers an exploration into the politics of assigning blame for war, the influence of psychology on media actors, and new media political communication issues in relation to the state and the media
• the gender-studies perspective provides an analysis of violence and war from a gender studies viewpoint.

Violence and War in Culture and the Media will be of much interest to students of war and conflict studies, media and communications studies, sociology, security studies and political science.

Linda Forcey writes in her introduction to this important new book that more than forty years have passed since Albert Einstein prophesied unparalleled catastrophe were we not to change our modes of thinking. Learning how we should go about this is peace studies. This book explores the meanings of peace, including political approaches and strategies for better understanding and change from a wide range of ideological and philosophical perspectives. The chapters, by scholars of sociology, history, psychology, political science, and several interdisciplinary fields, pose challenging philosophical, ideological, and pedagogical questions. The contributors encourage active thought about the complex interrelationship of the personal and systemic dimensions of peace.

Ideal for interdisciplinary, introductory peace study courses, this volume stimulates thought about the peace process by examining individual behavior and responsibility as well as that of the political and social collective. It challenges the reader into thinking deeply about peace by focusing on the complex interrelationship of its personal and structural dimensions. Although the book is organized into three parts--Meanings, Politics, and Strategies--the themes presented necessarily overlap. As is stated in the introduction, the meanings we give to the process of peace, the politics that govern the ways in which we view the world and our place in it, and the strategies for a better world we choose to pursue are so interrelated as to forestall neat compartmentalization.

Violence is a prevalent and persistent theme in all aspects of human affairs. A comprehensive understanding of violence therefore requires exposure to the research coming out from all the disciplines in the social sciences: their different methodologies, findings and insights.

This book promotes the merits of an interdisciplinary agenda. By bringing together scholars of violence working in political science, political theory, international relations, economics, philosophy, sociology, psychology and public health, this book explores the complexity of violence and the interface between the empirical and normative dimensions central to this problem. The aim is to investigate the ways in which a correct understanding of this phenomenon must deal with both empirical and normative issues.

There is a tendency for scholars of violence to work predominantly within the narrow parameters of their own discipline: philosophers tend to read fellow philosophers on violence; criminologists tend to rely on the work of fellow criminologists; sociologists tend to trust the writings of fellow sociologists; and so on. This book invites the reader to embrace an interdisciplinary approach towards the universal problem of violence. (178 words)

This book analyzes widespread global ethnic conflicts that tear asunder nations and regions, such as the former Yugoslavia. Dan Chirot casts his analysis in a discussion of the conflict between national and ethnic identity, discovering that ethnic identity, rooted in centuries of tradition and habit, often trumps national identity, which may be of more recent gestation and have a weaker hold on people. His analysis affords insights into the recent aggressive U.S. posture on nation building, ' showing the blindness of this approach to deeply-entrenched ethnic identities. His timely book can be used in classes on globalization, international development, political sociology, social movements, and theory. The goal of this new, unique Series is to offer readable, teachable "thinking frames" on today's social problems and social issues by leading scholars, all in short 60 page or shorter formats, and available for view on http: //routledge.customgateway.com/routledge-social-issues.html For instructors teaching a wide range of courses in the social sciences, the Routledge Social Issues Collection now offers the best of both worlds: originally written short texts that provide "overviews" to important social issues as well as teachable excerpts from larger works previously published by Routledge and other presses.

This anthology provides fresh theorization of gendered dimensions of learning, war, and violence, with a view to offering new insights on the impact of violence on women's learning and well being. The collection is an important contribution to emerging interdisciplinary approaches to the role and effectiveness of civil society, especially women's NGOs, working in war and post-conflict zones, and to the relationship between neoliberal, global ?feminist? projects and the re-emergence of colonial and imperial feminisms. This collection is also an exploration of the plausibility of current peace education strategies augmenting the political and leadership role of women and their civic engagement.

This collection is designed to create a space for conversation across disciplines on such issues as how to advance our conceptualization of gender-related education and conflict; how to provide empirically-based case studies and transnational analyses that improves our understanding of the impact of war and violence on women's learning; and how to contribute to national and international policy analyses to improve education for women and girls, through related policy reforms or humanitarian aid programs in post-war reconstruction efforts.

This book was published as a special issue in the International Journal of Lifelong Education.

Through an examination of the poetry of Anne Sexton, Audre Lorde, and Gloria Anzaldúa,We Heal From Memory paints a vivid picture of how our culture carries a history of traumatic violence--child sexual abuse, the ownership and enforcement of women's sexuality under slavery, the transmission of violence through generations, and the destruction of non-white cultures and their histories through colonization. According to Cassie Premo Steele, the poetry of Sexton, Lorde, and Anzaldúa allows us to witness and to heal from such disparate traumatic events.

Beirut is the cultural, commercial and economic hub of Lebanon. But to what extent has the city affected and shaped the formation and perceptions of Lebanese national identity? Ghenwa Hayek here explores how anxieties over the past, present and future of Beirut have been articulated through a sense of dislocation present in Lebanese writing since the 1960s. Drawing on theories of cultural studies, geography and history, the author uses an interdisciplinary framework to explore the role that spaces - from rural to urban - have played and continue to play in the defining, and re-defining, of national identity in the seventy years since the creation of the Lebanese nation state. This theoretical perspective coupled with a close reading of little-explored contemporary writings lead Hayek to question the predominant assumption that Lebanese novelists only became engaged in discourses about place identity and individual and social belonging with the start of the fifteen-year civil war and the destruction of Beirut's city centre. Instead, the book shows that particular geographical imaginaries have been mobilized to describe, question and debate Lebanese identity since the 1960s and that some go back even further into the late nineteenth century. This re-reading calls for a re-evaluation of some of the most predominant assumptions about Lebanon and the processes of Lebanese identity formation across the country's modern history. Examining a wide range of modern and contemporary literature, Hayek charts the rise to cultural prominence of the city of Beirut as a significant player in shaping perceptions of Lebanese culture and identity.

Although many people consider excessive police violence disconcerting, if, when, and how they voice their opinion or respond by taking some sort of action has generally remained empirically unknown. In the hope of understanding this process, Ross has developed a four-stage model, based on a review of the literature and on interviews with the relevant actors. He then uses this tool to analyze police violence that occurred in Toronto, Canada and New York City, over a fifteen-year period. To better focus the study, he uses in-depth case studies of three well-publicized cases of police violence from each city, matched on important criteria. This study addresses a difficult, timely, and important topic for victims, for police personnel, and for society. Ross concludes that, in general, most individuals do not respond to police use of excessive force; further, if and when they do usually depends on the context of the violence. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, Ross's model integrates a variety of approaches to improve our understanding of how communities come to define and control the use of force by police, including literature on the role of media efforts and their impact upon police violence. The work concludes with an analysis of the reasons why people react so infrequently to incidents of excessive force.

This book argues that with the rise of market fundamentalism and the ensuing economic and financial crisis, youth are facing a crisis unlike that of any other generation. With the collapse of the welfare state, youth are no longer seen as a social investment but as troubling and, in some cases, disposable, especially poor minority youth. Caught between the discourses of consumerism and a powerful crime-control-complex, young people are increasingly either viewed as commodities or are subjected to the dictates of an ever expanding criminal justice system.

Constructing a new analytic of youth, Giroux explores the current conditions of young people and their everyday experiences within this emerging crime complex, a politics of disposability, and the ever present market-driven forces of commercialization and commodification. Drawing upon the work of theorists such as Zygmunt Bauman, Judith Butler, Agamben, Foucault, and others as a theoretical foundation for addressing the growth of a rigid market fundamentalism and a punishing state, Giroux explores both the increasing militarization and commercialization of schools and other public spheres, and what can happen to a society in which young people are increasingly portrayed as dangerous and, hence, no longer appear to be a referent for a democratic future. But Giroux does more than examine the implications this new war on youth has for American society, he also analyses the role that educators, parents, intellectuals, and others can play in both challenging the plight of young people deepening and extending the promise of a better future and a sustainable and viable democracy.http: //www.henryagiroux.com/

Leading scholars summarize the current research on risk, protection, and resilience in the context of youth violence and its implications for practice with children and families. It describes an emerging framework for understanding social and health problems and for developing more effective programs for interventions. This book describes resilient children by examining risk factors for violence and explores the factors that lead some children to resist or adapt to risk.

The concept of resilience has been applied to family, school, neighborhood, and organizational contexts. Educational, family, and community resilience are used as the framework to describe social systems that possess risk factors. By understanding why some systems with risk factors are adaptable, information for assessment can be applied to service plans, that will be more effective in treating children at risk of antisocial, aggressive behavior.

Violence is a more and more ubiquitous phenomenon. While a great deal of attention has been paid to certain aspects, terrorism for example, it has not been studied as a political phenomenon in and of itself. In The Legitimization of Violence eight well-known specialists explore various types of violence, from ideological to fundamentalist movements, within a framework of comparative theory.

Zizek argues that the physical violence we see is often generated by the systemic violence that sustains our political and economic systems. With the help of eminent philosophers like Marx, Engel and Lacan, as well as frequent references to popular culture, he examines the real causes of violent outbreaks like those seen in Israel and Palestine and in terrorist acts around the world. Ultimately, he warns, doing nothing is often the most violent course of action we can take.

'Get your daughters to read this, but only after your partners and sons have finished it' Jo Brand 'An astute and persuasive page-turner' Observer _____________________________________________________ Too often, we blame women. For walking home alone at night. For not demanding a seat at the table. For not overcoming the odds that are stacked against them. This distracts us from the real problem: the failings and biases of a society that was not built for women. In this explosive book, feminist writer and activist Laura Bates exposes the systemic prejudice at the heart of five of our key institutions. Education Politics Media Policing Criminal justice Combining stories with shocking evidence, Fix the System, Not the Women is a blazing examination of sexual injustice and a rallying cry for reform. ________________________________________________ 'Powerful' Sunday Times 'I am in awe of Laura Bates . . . her writing is nothing short of perfect' Sofie Hagen, author of Happy Fat 'A blistering manifesto for change' Dr Pragya Agarwal 'Finish the book furious - before rallying for the next fight' Grazia Latest Must-Reads

Norman Cousins once wrote that "In any inventory of the natural resources on this planet", Steve Allen's conscience is "high on the list". It is this wonderfully prolific, highly educated conscience which prompted each of the articles included in But Seriously ... Steve Allen Speaks His Mind. Such a dynamic, energetic conscience has encouraged Allen throughout his career as an author and entertainer to examine the innumerable facets of modern American society, identifying the many problems which desperately need to be corrected and developing provocative new solutions to do so. Allen's razor-sharp insights always cut to the core of the issue, whether the topic involves labor relations, the atomic bomb, gifted education, or the lessons to be learned from the nomination of Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. This collection of speeches, articles, personal correspondence, and other writings constitutes a well-reasoned anthology filled with good humor, irony, and a deep concern for the human condition. Allen's devotion to common sense and serious social involvement carves a path for others to follow.

Demonstrating that animal cruelty behaviours are another form of antisocial behaviour, alongside human aggression and violence, and almost without exception are carried out by the same individuals, this book offers clear recommendations for future research on animal cruelty and future action aimed at prevention.

At 7:30 a.m. on June 16, 1944, George Junius Stinney Jr. was escorted by four guards to the death chamber. Wearing socks but no shoes, the 14-year-old Black boy walked with his Bible tucked under his arm. The guards strapped his slight, five-foot-one-inch frame into the electric chair. His small size made it difficult to affix the electrode to his right leg and the face mask, which was clearly too large, fell to the floor when the executioner flipped the switch. That day, George Stinney became, and today remains, the youngest person executed in the United States during the twentieth century.How was it possible, even in Jim Crow South Carolina, for a child to be convicted, sentenced to death, and executed based on circumstantial evidence in a trial that lasted only a few hours? Through extensive archival research and interviews with Stinney's contemporaries-men and women alive today who still carry distinctive memories of the events that rocked the small town of Alcolu and the entire state-Eli Faber pieces together the chain of events that led to this tragic injustice. The first book to fully explore the events leading to Stinney's death, The Child in the Electric Chair offers a compelling narrative with a meticulously researched analysis of the world in which Stinney lived-the era of lynching, segregation, and racist assumptions about Black Americans. Faber explains how a systemically racist system, paired with the personal ambitions of powerful individuals, turned a blind eye to human decency and one of the basic tenets of the American legal system that individuals are innocent until proven guilty. As society continues to grapple with the legacies of racial injustice, the story of George Stinney remains one that can teach us lessons about our collective past and present. By ably placing the Stinney case into a larger context, Faber reveals how this case is not just a travesty of justice locked in the era of the Jim Crow South but rather one that continues to resonate in our own time. A foreword is provided by Carol Berkin, Presidential Professor of History Emerita at Baruch College at the City University of New York and author of several books including Civil War Wives: The Lives and Times of Angelina Grimke Weld, Varina Howell Davis, and Julia Dent Grant.

This timely volume shows how abuse impacts every segment of society-and how society is seeking effective ways to respond. Abuse, a key theme of health education curricula, is also a major issue faced by many segments of society. Intended for high school students as well as undergraduates and the general reader, this comprehensive encyclopedia explores abuse in all its forms-physical, sexual, emotional, and verbal-among a variety of age and demographic groups from children to the elderly to the disabled. It sheds light on causes and symptoms of abuse, examines lasting impacts, and suggests avenues for prevention and treatment. Specific topics of concern to a secondary school audience include bullying and cyberbullying; abuse of those in same-sex relationships; and sexual abuse through rape, date rape, incest, and sexting. Elder abuse, which has become of greater concern as our society ages, is covered, as are domestic abuse, child abuse, and abduction. Through up-to-date entries by expert contributors, readers will learn about the causes and results of specific types of abuse, as well as their legal and sociological dimensions. The title will also serve as a gateway to further study-and as a resource for readers seeking help. Offers an introductory essay that places the subject in context and provides a framework within which to study and understand abuse Features entries from leading scholars who provide a contemporary approach to the issues Covers a wide range of types of abuse, individuals and organizations affected by abuse, and people working to reduce and eliminate abuse Includes summaries of laws that apply to various forms of abuse Provides a "topic finder" to assist readers in locating information relative to particular types of abuse

Containing contributions from leading experts in the field, this Handbook explores the many ways gender and violence interact across different contexts and offers a range of disciplinary perspectives. This comprehensive work connects micro-level interpersonal violence to macro-level structural forms of violence across three discrete but interrelated sections: concepts, representations, and contexts. Part one considers the core concepts of gender and violence alongside related concepts including sex, sexualities, patriarchy, and security, elaborating on the research tools used within these areas. Part two investigates the different ways in which gender and violence are enacted through various representational practices, including film, policy, and online. The final part is devoted to the examination of gender and violence in a range of empirical settings, including different spheres of activity, from economic to juridical. Presenting an in-depth overview of the topic, this Handbook on Gender and Violence will be a key resource for researchers who are new to the study of gender and violence. More experienced academics will also benefit from the up-to-date insights on key research themes in the field. Contributors include: J. Auchter, D. Bandelli, R. Bleiker, K. Boyle, L. Broughton, C. Corradi, D. de Vos, D. Duriesmith, B. Fileborn, P. Griffin, J.J. Hagen, E. Hutchison, K. Kelly-Thompson, R. Krystalli, E. Lombardo, A.W. Lusvardi, S. Marcus, A. McDonnell, S. McDonnell, P. Meth, C. Montoya, J. Nagel, D. Otto, K. Quek, L. Rolandsen Agusti n, L.J. Shepherd, J. Spangaro, B. Swanton, S.L. Weldon, T. Wimpelmann, S. Yao, M. Zalewski

Do the fractious groups of Arabs and Israelis actually need each other? Can the Pentagon find new enemies to replace the USSR? Are married couples held together by a shared sense of enmity toward outside parties and even each other? Who is more likely to cultivate enemies - men or women? Is the "devil" a created enemy? Is the need for enemies psychological, sociological, or biological? These and other fascinating questions are explored by David P. Barash as he skillfully combines findings from biology, psychology, sociology, politics, history, and even literature to shed new and unexpected light on the human condition.
Barash also offers startling and controversial observations about who we are as human beings and why we seem to thrive on adversarial relationships. He argues that we create and perpetuate our "enemy system" by "passing the pain along" - from child abuse to ethnic antagonism. We may well harbor a vestigial "Neanderthal mentality," which induces us to behave in ways that were adaptive in our evolutionary past but which have broad and even global implications today. Beloved Enemies concludes with a hopeful message: We can overcome, not simply our enemies, but our need to have enemies, and our penchant for creating them. To those who seek a better understanding of the nature of conflict and to those who remain confident that we can find answers to seemingly endless and complex antagonisms, Beloved Enemies offers much food for thought.