ABSTRACT
Types of violent events: Violence is a blanket term that covers several analytically distinct social phenomena. These can be understood sociologically only when they are treated as elements in an event, as part of a meaningful interaction between a number of persons. In the wake of this study, and a re-examination of my earlier work on personal violence and perusal of the pertinent literature, I conclude that there are at least five distinct major types of violent events:
Personal violence exercised as a kind of social power, including socially approved coercion.
Personal violence as a cry for help, including some instances of attempted suicide.
Eliminatory personal violence against a person or an imagined body social, such as murder, suicide and rape.
Personal violence as reaction to a physical or mental stimulus, as described by frustration-aggression theory.
Violence routinely practiced by states and other powerful organizations, ranging from incarceration, torture, assassination and warfare, to terror and other organized violent acts.
This chapter explains the distinctive structure and traits of each type of violent event and also explores some of the variations occurring in each type and suggests possible affinities between the types.
