ABSTRACT
Violence has been a subject for human reflection for hundreds of years. However, rather than presenting an anthology of the different views on violence as found, for example, in the Sermon on the Mount and the writings of MACHIAVELLI, HOBBES, SOREL, and many others, we wish to discuss the usefulness of various definitional criteria proposed by social scientists. Webster's Third International Dictionary defines violence as “exertion of any physical force so as to injure or abuse.” 1 An important distinction is added in the Oxford English Dictionary which denotes violence as “the exercise of physical force so as to inflict injury on, cause damage to, persons or property.” Differentiating between violence against human beings and violence against nonhuman objects is generally accepted among social scientists.
