ABSTRACT

The media often makes sense of violence in terms of 'randomness' and 'evil'. But the reality, as the contributors to The Meanings of Violence demonstrate, is far more complex. Drawing on the diverse subject matter of the ESRC's Violence Research Programme - from interviews with killers to discussions with children in residential facilities - this volume locates the meaning of violence within social contexts, identities and social divisions. It aims to break open our way of speaking about violence and demonstrate the value in exploring the multiple, contradictory and complex meanings of violence in society. The wide range of topics include:
*Prostitute and client violence *Violence amongst young people at school and on the streets *Violence in bars and nightclubs *Violence in prison *Racist and homophobic violence
This book will be fascinating reading for students of criminology and academics working in the field of violent crime.

chapter |14 pages

Introduction

Conceptualising the meanings of violence

part |2 pages

Part I Conceptualising the meanings of violence

chapter 1|15 pages

Headlines from history

Violence in the press, 1850–1914

chapter 3|20 pages

Violence against children

Neal Hazel, Deborah Ghate, Susan Creighton, Julia Field and Steven Finch

part |2 pages

Part II Violence, meaning and social identities

part |2 pages

Part III Violence, meaning and social contexts

chapter 8|16 pages

Defined by men’s abuse

The ‘spoiled identity’ of domestic violence survivors

chapter 10|19 pages

Violence in a changing political context: Northern Ireland

Northern Ireland and South Africa

part |2 pages

PART IV Violence, meaning and institutional contexts

chapter 11|19 pages

Institutional violence

Prison conflicts in context

chapter 12|19 pages

Violence, fear and ‘the everyday’

Negotiating spatial practice in the city of Belfast