ABSTRACT
This chapter explores in-depth experiences of committing violence against others and also of being victimised. It comprises of two main substantive sections. The first section explores men's views on how they approach and deal with potentially violent and threatening situations. It draws on ethnographic data of the interactional dynamics of confrontational situations. The second section delves beneath the surface of the interactional context of violent encounters between men and focuses more on subjectivity. It comprises of three 'case studies' of particular contextualised violence, although these are not mutually exclusive categories that comprise a 'typology of violence'. These case studies excavate the motivations and emotions that lie behind violence and the masculine subjectivities that perpetrate it. Real violence, which has been a feature of these men's lives, is driven by raw brutal determination and a willingness to inflict damage with little regard for the consequences.
