• LIFESPAN PERSPECTIVE (table 2.1, p.26)

 
• infancy: low incident rate in all cultures, based on liability to group

 
• 60% by M, with great pain

 
• reasons:

 
• illegitimate
• deformed
• abnormal birth (eg. twins)
• unwanted (wrong sex--girl)

 
• childhood. most types of child violence occurs only in a few societies 

 
• 26% of societies studied never used physical punishment

 
• sibling fighting occurs in only 44% of societies studied 

 
• adolescence. 

 
• adolescence not universal

 
• initiation ceremonies in 55% of societies

 
• genital operations in 47% of societies

 
• Note: circumcision and clitorectomy serve very different social functions

 
• adulthood. 

 
• wifebeating most common form of violence, 

 
• occurring sometimes in 85% of all societies; 

 
• in 100% of couples in 19% of societies (prescribed wifebeating)

 
• husband-beating occurs only in cultures where wifebeating does not occur

 
• old age. 

 
• killed due to age in 21% of societies

 
• Conclusions of study

 
• Only a few forms of family violence are common in the world: wifebeating, physical punishment of children, and sibling fights

 
• Adult women are most likely to be the victims of violence, while adult men are most likely to be perpetrator and least likely to be victim

 
• Most people in the world have experienced or witnessed family violence

 
• Wifebeating is more likely to occur in societies where husbands have domestic authority and control economic resources

• Physical punishment of children as routine childrearing is more likely to occur in more complex societies

 
• Violence (physical punishment of children, wifebeating, sibling fights) is NOT an inevitable consequence of family life

 
• Male economic control, mediated by male domestic authority and social restrictions on divorce is the best model of wife abuse from cultural data. 

 
• Wifebeating is part of a broader cultural pattern of violence in a community, 

 
• Wifebeating is consistently related to other forms of violence in a culture:

 
• cruelty to animals (eg bullfighting), 

 
• physical punishment of criminals (eg. death penalty), 
• fighting between adults (eg. boxing), 
• military glory as a source of male pride, 
• painful female initiation ceremonies (eg. feet and breast binding). 

 
• Child abuse is unrelated to cultural patters of violence

Matrix for Organizing Risk Factors for Violent Behavior 
 

Units of Observation and Explanation	Proximity to Violent Events and Their Consequences
SOCIAL Macrosocial	Predisposing	Situational	Activating
	Concentration of poverty Opportunity structures Decline of social capital Oppositional cultures Sex role socialization	Physical structure Routine activities Access: weapons, emergency medical; service	Catalytic social event
Microsocial	Community organizations Illegal markets Gangs Family disorganization Pre-existing structures	Proximity of responsible monitors Participant's social relationships Bystander's activities Temporary communication impairments Weapons: carrying, displaying	Participant's communication exchange
INDIVIDUAL Psychosocial	Temperament Learned social response Perception of rewards/ penalties for violence Violent deviant sexual references Social, communicatrion skills Self identification in social hierarchy	Accumulated emotion Alcohol/drug consumption Sexual arousal Premeditation	Impulse Opportunity recognition
Biological	Neurobehavioral "traits" Genetically mediated traits Chronic use of psychoactive substances or exposure to neurotoxins	Transient neurobehavioral "states" Acute effects of psychoactive substances	Sensory signal processing errors

* Reiss, A.J. & Roth, J.A. (1993). Understanding and preventing violence. Washington DC: 

National AcademyPress, P. 297.