The academic field of peace studies emerged during the Cold War to address the nature and sources of interstate and internal conflict, as well as the methods to prevent this conflict and deal with its consequences.
Peace studies, much like political science itself, is an interdisciplinary field, built upon contributions from psychology, sociology, history and economics among others. It differs from related fields, such as strategic studies or security studies, in its implicit normative and teleological orientation: an expectation that scholarly research can contribute to reducing the sources of conflict to produce a more just and peaceful world.

Globally, rates of sexual violence remain unacceptably high, with disproportionate effects on women and girls. While most scholars and practitioners uniformly concur about the scope of the problem, there is currently little agreement about how to prevent sexual violence before it occurs.Drawing on diverse disciplines such as criminology, education, health promotion, law, psychology, social work, socio-legal studies, sociology and women's studies, this book provides the first interdisciplinary collection on the primary prevention of sexual violence. The volume addresses the key causes or determinants of sexual violence, including cultural attitudes, values, beliefs and norms, as well as systemic gender-based inequalities that create the conditions underlying much violence against women. Including contributions from internationally renowned experts in the field, the volume critically investigates the theoretical underpinnings of prevention work, describing and analysing the limits and possibilities of primary prevention strategies 'on the ground'. The chapters collectively examine the role that structural violence and gender inequality play in fostering a 'culture' of sexual violence, and reflect on the relationship between macro and micro levels for understanding both sexual violence perpetration and prevention.This book will be a key resource for scholars, practitioners and policymakers involved in the fields of sexual violence prevention, education, law, family violence, and child sexual abuse.Including contributions from Victoria L. Banyard (University of New Hampshire, USA), Alison Cares (Assumption College, USA), Moira Carmody (University of Western Sydney, Australia), Gillian Fletcher (La Trobe Univeristy, Australia), Wendy Larcombe (University of Melbourne, Australia), Claire Maxwell (University of London, UK), Mary M. Moynihan (University of New Hampshire, USA), Bob Pease (Deakin University, Australia) and Antonia Quadara (Australian Institute of Family Studies, Australia).

Why did the Rwandan genocide take place? How could parents feed their own children drinks laced with poison in Jonestown? As we see many parts of the world being engulfed in fratricidal frenzy, we wonder if it can happen in this country. Gupta examines contemporary cases of genocide and mass murder and seeks to explain why certain societies are more prone to these actions and others are relatively immune. Gupta sees a dialectical tension between our two identities: the self and the collective. The end of the medieval period was marked by the emergence of individualism in Europe. With time, the march of individualism engulfed the entire Western world and permeated every aspect of its culture, tradition, and academic paradigm. Neoclassical economics is the embodiment of this single-minded pursuit of the rationality of individualism. However, our psychobiological evolution has also imbued us with the irrepressible desire to form groups and to act upon its welfare. The reason for this eternal conflict lies in our own struggle with our two identities. When the pendulum swings to the extreme end of collectivism, genocide and other forms of social abnormalities--collective madness--occur. When we move too far into individualism, people tend to seek something greater beyond selfish pursuits. Through his panoramic view, Gupta provides an explanation for both social order and political pathology that will be of interest to students, scholars, and other researchers involved with ethnic conflict, collective behavior, and conflict resolution.

This newly revised edition includes two new chapters exploring events in policing since the death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, MO in 2014. More than summarizing historical events, Cooper contextualizes the subsequent riots in light of classic sociological theory and political philosophy, and offers a potential and compelling new direction for improving both police use of force and the relationship between police and communities.

Refractions of Violence collects the recent essays of leading cultural critic and intellectual historian Martin Jay. Ranging over a wide variety of subjects, from Walter Benjamin's response to World War I to the Holocaust and the events of 9/11, this collection addresses the troubling issues of the intersection of violence and visual culture. It argues that we live in a closed economy of violence in which no outside can provide us with a safe haven from the treat of sudden, perhaps even fatal injury, either real or symbolic. By examining a number of ways in which the dialectic of violence and counter-violence finds its way into the arts, both high and low, and permeates visual experience in general, it hopes to cast some light on the dark recesses of contemporary life.

Weaving together a social history of the American beef industry with her own account of growing up in the shadow of her grandfather's cattle business, Halley juxtaposes the two worlds and creates a link between the meat industry and her own experience of the formation of gender and sexuality through family violence.

Recent research has begun to highlight the importance of German arguments about legitimate resistance and self-defence for French, English and Scottish Protestants. This book systematically studies the reception of German thought in England, arguing that it played a much greater role than has hitherto been acknowledged. Both the Marian exiles, and others concerned with the fate of continental Protestantism, eagerly read what German reformers had to say about the possibility of resisting the religious policies of a monarch without compromising the institution of monarchy itself. However, the transfer of German arguments to England, with its individual political and constitutional environment, necessarily involved the subtle transformation of these arguments into forms compatible with local traditions. In this way, German arguments contributed significantly to the emergence of new theories, emphasising natural rights.

School shootings have raised considerable interest among scholars as a global (media) cultural phenomenon and have increased specifically in the 1990s developing into a seeming cultural epidemic. This book contributes to the current academic discussion on school shootings by analysing this phenomenon in a broader context of mediatization in contemporary social and cultural life. Mediatized logic has the power to influence us as individuals communicating about the shootings and experiencing the shootings as victimizers, victims, witnesses or bystanders. In three sections, this book explores shootings from different, yet interconnected, perspectives: (1) a theoretical focus on media and school shootings within various sociological and cultural dimensions, specifically how contemporary media transform school shootings into mediatized violence; (2) a focus on the practices of mediatization, with emphasis on mediated coverage of school shootings and its political, cultural, social and ethical implications; and (3) an examination of the audiences, victims and witnesses of school shootings as well as organizations which try to manage these public crimes of significant media interest.

Governance and Crisis of the State in Africa explores the problems and challenges of disruptive conflicts and conflict management in West Africa. Based on a robust analysis of a large stock of theoretical and empirical studies on the nature of the state in Africa and the incidents of state failure, fragmentation and collapse, the author argues that a major explanation of state weakness in Africa is the lack of the imperatives of good governance - itself rooted in the trajectory of the emergence of these states. Using the recent internal wars and ongoing conflicts in some West African states such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Guinea- Bissau and Cote d'Ivoire as case studies, the author explains how the use of inappropriate methods of conflict management exacerbates these conflicts and the crisis of the nation-state in Africa. ________________ John Emeka Akude holds a PhD in political science from the University of Cologne, Germany where he teaches African Politics, Politics of Development and International Political Economy. His research interests include political economy, the state and economic development, conflict studies, state collapse and war economies as well as the transformation of political order. His publications include "Krisen und Krisenmanagement in Afrika," Zwischen Wunschdenken und Ohnmacht: Der Anspruch der Afrikanischen Union auf Konfliktmanagement in Afrika," "Bad Governance and State Collapse in Africa" as well as "Weak States and Security Threats in West Africa." He is a member of the Working Group on the Transformation of Political Order at the Chair of International Relations, University of Cologne, Germany.

How to manage and respond to escalating violence towards staff working in the human services is a pressing professional problem. This workbook.
Empowers individuals by providing a range of useful skills that can help in managing aggression
Enables staff placed in difficult or dangerous situations by their employers to address the issue effectively
Clarifies the responsibilities of the manager in ensuring staff are safeguarded
Builds confidence in staff and their managers by offering workable solutions to reducing levels of aggression in the workplace.
Highlighting examples of good and bad practice, Managing Aggression is a book for anyone who has ever faced, or is likely to face, aggression at work.

Research in Human Social Conflict

Guns are everywhere: three quarters of a billion guns - from pistols to machine guns - exist in the world today. And guns are everything: a hard-won symbol of individual freedom, an index of crime and disorder, a whole industry legitimately contributing to an economy, a popular piece of sports equipment, and an object of desire, endlessly duplicated by toys, video games and films. Open Fire presents a broad analysis of the social, cultural and political significance of firearms and the worlds they create. Illustrated with a wide range of case material - from North and South America, Europe, Asia and Africa - Open Fire explores and questions this global icon of our times. Why do guns proliferate? What does it mean to shoot or to be shot? Who owns guns and who does not? How is a firearm, a manufactured thing, very different from any other object? Is there such a thing as a "gun psychology"? How are firearms regarded in places where they are largely non-existent? Is a gun a different thing when held by a white man?

"While most analyses don't define violence and regard it as an essentially contested concept, this book argues for an ontological definition of violence as a reduction of being. This enables a critical sociology to move beyond tacit acceptance of a historically contingent definition of violence as profferred by the state"--Provided by publisher.

America is fascinated by violence - where it comes from in ourselves, how it spreads through society, and what effect it has on the next generation. This collection of essays examines numerous facets of violence in contemporary American culture, ranging across literature, film, philosophy, religion, fairy tales, children's play, photojournalism, and sports. In particular, Why We Watch is the first book to offer a careful look at why we are drawn to depictions of violence and why there is a market for violent entertainment.

The preparation of this volume began with a conference held at Trier University, approximately thirty years after the publication of the first Belief in a Just World (BJW) manuscript. The location of the conference was especially appropriate given the continued interest that the Trier faculty and students had for BJW research and theory. As several chapters in this volume document, their research together with the other contributors to this volume have added to the current sophistication and status of the BJW construct. In the 1960s and 1970s Melvin Lerner, together with his students and colleagues, developed his justice motive theory. The theory of Belief in a Just World (BJW) was part of that effort. BJW theory, meanwhile in its thirties, has become very influential in social and behavioral sciences. As with every widely applied concept and theory there is a natural develop mental history that involves transformations, differentiation of facets, and efforts to identify further theoretical relationships. And, of course, that growth process will not end unless the theory ceases to develop. In this volume this growth is reconstructed along Furnham's stage model for the development of scientific concepts. The main part of the book is devoted to current trends in theory and research."

The chapters of Religion, Gender, and Family Violence: When Prayers Are Not Enough have been written from multiple disciplinary perspectives (sociology, religious studies, law) and based on research within diverse religious traditions including Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, as well as new religious movements. Similarities and differences between traditions are highlighted based on empirical research which shows how people actually deal with family violence in different contexts. This book also addresses some of the larger historical and political backgrounds that impact the experiences of family violence amongst ethno-religious minorities. The lives of religious victims and perpetrators of family violence are considered, as well as the responsibilities of religious leaders, congregations and secular professionals in addressing this widespread social problem.

Many of our children live in communities where violence, fear, and despair are commonplace. This book describes how one city developed a collaborative effort between law-enforcement and mental health professionals in order to help these children and their families. The Child Development-Community Policing Program in New Haven, Connecticut, was initiated in 1991 to deal more effectively with children who are victims or perpetrators of violence. Police officers, preparing for the new responsibilities of community-based policing, have become familiar with an array of strategies for preventing and responding to community violence. Mental health professionals have learned firsthand about the texture and trauma of the lives of children at risk. Police and mental health professionals working together have been able to mobilize treatment services more quickly and effectively and to assure that treatment plans are carried out. This manual provides a model, case studies, and guidelines for training the participants, operating a consultation service, and evaluating the program on an ongoing basis, all of which will be useful for other communities seeking to implement a similar project.

Gangs have spread throughout the entire sector of society, and what was once viewed as an inner-city problem can now be found everywhere, including suburbia. This guide for teenagers, their families, and impacted communities addresses the youth gang issue in understandable, manageable terms. Quotes from teens themselves provide valuable insight into the problems that can cause kids to join gangs: absent parents, the need for excitement or to belong to a group, following in the footsteps of family members who are involved in gangs. These factors and others are explored (including an examination of the workings of the adolescent mind), and sound solutions are suggested to help kids resist gang membership.

Four distinct sections bring into focus the topic of youth gangs and ways to prevent kids from joining them. Part I describes many basic issues and needs all teens and pre-teens have in common and how these relate to gangs. Part II addresses how and why certain young people enter and sometimes exit gang alliances. Part III focuses on how several integral components of the teen's life and community can work together to resolve youths' involvement with gangs. Part IV analyzes the critical influence of families and the teens themselves as they approach important life choices. Wiener's unique approach includes suggestions and comments from the young people themselves to try to bridge the gap between themselves and the adults in their lives.

Bearing Witness: Violence and Collective Responsibility offers a unique layperson's introduction to the scope and causes of violence and trauma theory and suggests ways we can all work to attack these causes. Upon completing this work, you will have a better understanding of the social causes of the violence epidemic and concrete suggestions for its long-term control.Bearing Witness addresses the cycle of violence by discussing some of the biological, psychological, social, and moral issues that go into determining whether a person will end up as a victim, perpetrator, or bystander to violent events and what happens to us when we are in one or all three of these roles. The authors look at a number of intersecting factors that play interdependent roles in creating a culture that promotes, supports, and even encourages violence. Specifically, you'll gain invaluable insight into: trauma theory and traumatogenic forces--backdrops against which the chances of exposure to violence and the use of violence as a problemsolver are increased normal human development in the context of attachment theory and what occurs as a result of disrupted attachment bonds how rapid changes in modern society and the breakdown of the traditional family structure contribute to a level of social stress that promotes violence violence in the family, in the workplace, and in the schools--all places to which people turn for security social responses to violence--the ways in which certain responses decrease or increase the likelihood of violence the unhealthy balance of power between the genders and how violence or the threat of violence maintains this imbalance how our cultural standard of disavowing our normal emotional experience sets the stage for repeated and regular empathic failure, which leads to violenceA framework for understanding the various aspects of the problem of violence, Bearing Witness delves into the various aspects of trauma--what trauma does to the body, the mind, the emotions, and relationships--before beginning to formulate proposals for initiating processes that lead to problemsolving. Once this knowledge base has been established, the authors give you the beginnings of an outline for reorganizing society with the aim of establishing a community that is responsive to the basic human need for safety and peace.

First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Violence directed at victimized groups because of their real or imagined characteristics is as old as humankind. Why, then, have "hate crimes" only recently become recog-nized as a serious social problem, especially in the United States? This book addresses a timely set of questions about the politics and dynamics of intergroup violence manifested as discrimination. It explores such issues as why injuries against some groups of people--Jews, people of color, gays and lesbians, and, on occasion, women and those with dis-abilities--have increasingly captured notice, while similar acts of bias-motivated violence continue to go unnoticed.

The authors offer empirically grounded, theoretically in-formed answers to the question: How is social change on this order possible? Their analysis of the dynamics draws upon three established traditions: the social constructionist approach; new social movements theory; and the new institutionalist approach to understanding change as a process of innovation and diffusion of cultural forms. In this case, new social movements have converged of late to sustain public discussions that put into question issues of "rights" and "harm" as they relate to a variety of minority constituencies.

The authors couple their general discussion with close attention to many particular anti-violence projects. They thereby develop a compelling theoretical argument about the social processes through which new social problems emerge, social policy is developed and diffused, and new cultural forms are institutionalized.

A nonviolent environment provides many benefits to its population. Although all industries can reap the rewards of nonviolence, its positive impacts can particularly be examined in applied disciplines like conflict resolution, child development, criminal justice, and social work. Creating a Sustainable Vision of Nonviolence in Schools and Society is a unique reference source that discusses the value that nonviolent spaces can add to educational institutions and societies. Featuring extensive coverage on relevant topics including conflict skills, intersectional dialogue, mentoring, co-existence, and police brutality, this is an outstanding resource of academic material for educators, academicians, graduate students, and researchers seeking to expand their knowledge on nonviolent methods and techniques for educational environments.