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 violencea "from street crime to terrorist attacks, homicide to genocidea "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 todaya (TM)s soccer riots and security alerts. The contributorsa (TM) 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 a oethe civilization of violence.a

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 Londona (TM)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 forthe future.

This two-volume collection of essays provides a comprehensive examination of the idea of social control in the history of Europe. The uniqueness of these volumes lies in two main areas. First, the contributors compare methods of social control on many levels, from police to shaming, church to guilds. Second, they look at these formal and informal institutions as two-way processes. Unlike many studies of social control in the past, the scholars here examine how individuals and groups that are being controlled necessarily participate in and shape the manner in which they are regulated. Hardly passive victims of discipline and control, these folks instead claimed agency in that process, accepting and resisting--and thus molding the controls under which they functioned. In both volumes, an introduction outlines the origins and the continuing value of the concept of social control. The introductions are followed by two substantive sections. The essays in part one of volume I focus on the interplay of ecclesiastical institutions and the emerging states; those in part two of volume I look more explicitly at discipline from a bottom-up perspective. The essays in part one of volume 2 explore the various means by which communities--generally working-class communities--in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Europe were subjected to forms of discipline in the workplace, by the church, and by philanthropic housing organizations. It notes also how the communities themselves generated their own forms of internal control. Part two of volume 2 focuses on various policing institutions, exploring in particular the question of how liberal and totalitarian regimes differed in their styles of control,repression, and surveillance.

This two-volume collection of essays provides a comprehensive examination of the idea of social control in the history of Europe. The uniqueness of these volumes lies in two main areas. First, the contributors compare methods of social control on many levels, from police to shaming, church to guilds. Second, they look at these formal and informal institutions as two-way processes. Unlike many studies of social control in the past, the scholars here examine how individuals and groups that are being controlled necessarily participate in and shape the manner in which they are regulated. Hardly passive victims of discipline and control, these folks instead claimed agency in that process, accepting and resisting--and thus molding the controls under which they functioned. In both volumes, an introduction outlines the origins and the continuing value of the concept of social control. The introductions are followed by two substantive sections. The essays in part one of volume I focus on the interplay of ecclesiastical institutions and the emerging states; those in part two of volume I look more explicitly at discipline from a bottom-up perspective. The essays in part one of volume 2 explore the various means by which communities--generally working-class communities--in nineteenth-and twentieth-century Europe were subjected to forms of discipline in the workplace, by the church, and by philanthropic housing organizations. It notes also how the communities themselves generated their own forms of internal control. Part two of volume 2 focuses on various policing institutions, exploring in particular the question of how liberal and totalitarian regimes differed in their styles of control,repression, and surveillance.

Present-day unease about the treatment of lawbreakers has deep historical roots. Pieter Spierenburg traces the long period of evolution that gave rise to the modern debate about punishment, and relates it to the development of Western European society. He argues that two elements, the public character of punishment and its infliction of physical suffering, were originally at the heart of the penal system. From the sixteenth century onwards, however, these elements began to decline. Spierenburg explains that this development reflected a wider change of attitudes which, in turn, was related to changes in society at large. The book deals successively with each of the parties involved in public executions: the hangman, the magistrates, the crowd, and the victim. Among the themes dicussed are the infamous reputation of the excutioner, the functions of ceremonial, and the social background of those about to suffer.

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.

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 behaviour. 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 (honour 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.

There is growing interest in the history of masculinity and male culture, including violence, as an integral part of a proper understanding of gender. In almost every historical setting, masculinity and violence are closely linked; certainly violent crime has been overwhelmingly a male enterprise. But violence is not always criminal: in many cultural contexts violence is linked instead to honour and encoded in rituals. We possess only an imperfect understanding of the ways in which aggressive behaviour, or the abstention from aggressive behaviour, contributes to the construction of masculinity and male honour. In this text eight scholars explore the interrelationship of masculinity, honour and the body. The essays focus on the United States and Western Europe from the 17th to the 20th centuries.