Violence in the Contemporary World

Probing the Boundaries

Series Editors
Dr Robert Fisher Lisa Howard
Dr Ken Monteith

Advisory Board

Simon Bacon Ana Borlescu

Katarzyna Bronk Ann-Marie Cook
John L. Hochheimer Peter Mario Kreuter
Stephen Morris John Parry
Peter Twohig Karl Spracklen
S Ram Vemuri

A Probing the Boundaries research and publications project.

http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/probing-the-boundaries/

The Hostility and Violence Hub

‘Violence’

2014
Violence in the Contemporary World:

An Interdisciplinary Approach

Edited by

Paromita Chakrabarti, Natália De'Carli

and Joana Patrício

Inter-Disciplinary Press
Oxford, United Kingdom
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 Table of Contents

Introduction vii
Paromita Chakrabarti, Natália De'Carli and Joana Patrício

Part I: Sexualized and Intimate Partner Violence:

Encouraging Disclosure

Violence in Pre-marital Relationships in Iran 3

Ladan Rahbari

Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence: 15

Perpetration and Victimization
Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, Francine Lavoie, Martin Blais,
Nataliya Dragieva and Catherine Moreau

Intimate Partner Violence against Women: Victimization and 33

Leaving Processes
Joana Patrício

Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice and the Normalization 45

of Sexual Violence against Boys
Athena Elton

A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality 55

towards Domestic Violence: A Theoretical Construct
and Empirical Evaluation
Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vicent Egan

Part II: Urban Violence: Crime and Fear in the Contemporary World

Casualties of War: An Analysis of the Violence Increase in 69

Puerto Rico and Its Relation to the Drug Business
Alexis Rodríguez Ramos

The Account of Urban Violence: Numbers, Statements and 77

Omissions in a Marginalized Brazilian Community
Natália De'Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes

Violence and Youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories: 89

Gaza Strip Case Study (2000-2012)
Ibrahim Natil
Part III: Representing Violence: A Critical Analysis

Women’s Bodies, Men’s War: The Political Economy of 99

Military Rape and Gender Violence
Paromita Chakrabarti

‘Remaining Men Together’: A Critique of Modern Experience 109

in Palahniuk’s Fight Club
Mahinur Akşehir

John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: 119

Not Violent Enough?
Noora Shamsi Bahar

Two Concepts of Violence in the Hardt and Negri 131

‘Empire’ Trilogy
Boris DeWiel

Songs of Pain: Female Active Survivors in Claudia Llosa’s 141

The Milk of Sorrow
Rebeca Maseda

Film Form as Violent Expression: Visual Art and 151

Formal Manipulation
Thomas Joseph Watson

Part IV: Violence and Political Destabilization: War, Elections and

Corporations

War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility 165

Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert

Do Elections Trigger Violence? Explaining Election 177

Related Violence in Africa: A Comparative study of
Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroon
Tambe Ojie

Corporate Violence 187

Kathleen O’Donnell
 Introduction

Paromita Chakrabarti, Natália De'Carli and Joana Patrício

The twentieth century will be remembered as a period marked by violence.
Along the history of civilization, society has never existed without the presence of
violence. Pervading the lives of many people around the world, violence and its
consequent sense of insecurity and fear, has been configured as a complex
phenomenon. A vast number of disciplines have tried to tackle the topic of
violence, its conceptualizations and impacts on society in order to understand the
different meanings, actions and reactions that exist when it comes to comprising
the consequences of this phenomenon.
Understanding violence in the context of the contemporary world leads us to an
infinite number of viewpoints and theoretical frameworks which, according to Ray,
could be quite fragmented within the sociological backdrop.1 Not only the study of
violence has been largely split into specific groups, but at the same time different
disciplines seem to have assumed the existence of a peaceful society in which
violence occurs only in specific places and events - including armed conflicts, civil
unrest and violent crime. However, it is a slippery concept that transcends unstable
limits between public and private, legitimacy and illegitimacy, individual and
collective spheres.
Moreover, violence is presented in three main categories: self-inflicted (suicide
or self-harm behaviours), interpersonal (family/partner or community) and
collective (social, political or economic). Each category is subdivided in order to
include the specific nature and the context of violence (physical, sexual,
psychological and deprivation or neglect)2. However, the segmented vision of these
categories of violence is valid only for organizational or methodological
approaches, but never to be considered as an univocal, isolated and specific
concept: in other words, each form of violence has its own genealogy which would
be related to each other.
Nevertheless, this understanding of a visible and apparent violence in terms of
conflict and unrest is described by Slajov Žižek as a clear and manifest form of
subjective violence.3 However, there is a classification that includes target rates of
violence, which are quite invisible in certain cases. These forms of objective
violence (violence inherent to the system) are called by the author as symbolic and
systemic violence. Žižek mentions the symbolic violence as a concept which
appears not only in social domination relations, but also are reproduced in our
speeches as a part of our language. On the other hand, systemic violence is related
to the political and economic system. These different forms of violence can not be
understood from the same point of view.
The ebook Violence in a contemporary world: an interdisciplinary approach is
a major collection regarding the multiple faces of violence and its effect in the
contemporary world and gives an overview of the 11th Global Conference
viii Introduction
__________________________________________________________________
Violence: Probing the Boundaries that took place between 9-11th of May 2013 in
Prague, Czech Republic, organized by Inter-Disciplinary.Net.
Through a multi and inter-disciplinary approach, the Violence project aims to
identify and understand violence in the contemporary world, its complexities and
social relations. The Violence Conference joins researchers, academics and other
professionals with different backgrounds and experience with a common aim: to
discuss violence as a social phenomenon which influences individuals’ everyday
life. Violence marks historical and political events, and often can be represented in
art – such as literature, cinema, painting, music.
The book is a collection of seventeen chapters, organized in four parts:
Sexualised and Intimate Partner Violence: encouraging disclosure; Urban
Violence: crime and fear in the contemporary world; Representing violence: a
critical analysis; Violence and Political destabilization: war, elections and
corporations. Each chapter reflects the research carried out by the authors who
present different approaches to violence manifestations.
Violence and crime inside the family and between intimate partners has been a
hidden issue. Until the mid-XXth century, family relationships were maintained
outside the State regulations’ realm.4 Violence and crime committed against adults
and children inside the family were not regulated or criminalized. For the last four
decades, violence inside private relationships has been object of a progressive
disclosure, regulation and criminalization.
The ebook flows from violence phenomenon strongly connected to gender
discrimination and inequality, where perpetrators and victims are often family
bonded – affecting mostly women and children – to other settings of violence
outside intimate relationships. From identifiable and family related perpetrators
and victims, the book progresses to violence phenomenon as a collective problem
that affects a larger community. This may be the case of war and conflict situation,
urban violence, political violence, corporate violence, where less identifiable
perpetrators and, perhaps, victims, suffer violence committed by a group, a public
and non-physical entity such as a state or an organization (political party, criminal
gang, the police).

1. Sexualized and Intimate Partner Violence: Encouraging Disclosure

To encourage sexualized violence and intimate partner violence’s disclosures,
the book focus its circumstances in several countries. Violence in close
relationships is a worldwide spread and identifiable problem, strongly connected
with gender discrimination, affecting namely women and children. Recent research
and international policies brought to discussion new dimensions of the problem:
dating violence, same-sex partner violence, violence against men in heterosexual
relationships. Ladan Rahbary’s presents ‘Violence in Pre-marital Relationships in
Iran’ an original paper which gives the results of a qualitative research with dating
victims. Rahbary gives an insight of a society where pre-marital dating is ‘legally
 Paromita Chakrabart, Natália De' Carli and Joana Patrício ix
__________________________________________________________________
and culturally forbidden’, an issue that contributes to hide the problem of dating
violence and hampers its denounce. The chapter ‘Distinguishing Profiles of
Adolescent Dating Violence’ by Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, Francine Lavoie,
Martin Blais, Nataliya Dragieva and Catherine Moreau, brings to discussion the
‘co-occurrence of multiple types of dating violence in which adolescents are
involved as both perpetrators and victims’. This Canadian quantitative research
highlights the importance of examining the patterns of escalation of partner
violence among adolescent couples. Joana Patrício’s ‘Intimate partner violence
against women’ chapter focuses on the leaving processes of women who went to
shelters due to male intimate partner violence, analysing women’s ‘victimization as
life course process, interrupted by key episodes and turning points’. Patrício’s
qualitative research addresses Portuguese reality and legal framework. Athena
Elton’s ‘Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice and the Normalization of Sexual
Violence’ uncovers the problem of sexual abuse and violence of under-aged boys
by adult males, a problem that is parallel to women’s segregation from the
Afghan’s public sphere. Though an interdisciplinary approach, Elton calls the
attention to a ‘socially acceptable practice’ of boys’ abuse. Suzila Ismail, Robyn E,
Holliday and Vicent Egan present ‘A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants
of Spirituality towards Domestic Violence’ and bring to discussion the issue of
spirituality and domestic violence perpetration. Their qualitative and quantitative
research ‘introduces a standard measurement to measure spirituality towards
domestic violence perpetration in Malaysian context’.

2. Urban Violence: Crime and Fear in the Contemporary World

Contemporary cities are under an incredible transformation and it is extremely
difficult to pinpoint the specific causes which determine urban violence or the
perception of urban insecurity which increase the suspicion and distrust of
everyday life, reducing sociability and causing a loss of urban experiences. The
steady process of violence that global cities are going through have different causes
and specific consequences to urban communities. In a number of urban violence
scenarios this has been the result of the urbanisation of internal or international
armed conflicts.
To better understand the dynamics of urban crime and violence in Puerto Rico
and effectively discuss different approach on prevention, Alexis Rodríguez Ramos
observes the increase of homicide rates over the past decade in his country. Ramos
analyses whether a certain repression device known as ‘strong hand’ is helping to
increase the homicide rates and the perception of insecurity rather than reducing it.
In addition, the author brings into question a multiplicity of interrogations such as
the role of the government during the dramatic growth in homicide rates which
began in 1980, the responsibility for the victims of the drug trafficking conflict and
the search for alternatives to deal with drug-related business issues.
x Introduction
__________________________________________________________________
On the other hand, Natália De'Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes bring out the
relationship between violence and the perception of insecurity in a marginalized
community in Brazil. The chapter analyses the contradiction between the official
figures of homicide rates and the everyday experiences of fear inside the
community. Through a social-spatial research carried out in the district of Santo
Amaro, in the Brazilian city of Recife, the authors have linked fear to public space,
and have wondered whether there is an appropriate indicator to measure a city's
safety or if the low homicide figures are enough to consider an urban environment
as safe.
Bringing the youth's point of view Ibrahim Natil studies urban violence among
Palestinian aged between 15 and 30 years old in the Occupied Palestinian
Territories - OPT, a study which takes place in Gaza Strip. The chapter evokes the
activities delivered by international agencies and different organisations to educate
youth in social and political levels. Through an intense economical, political and
social description of the historical fact - which have influenced youth violence in
the OPT between 2000-2012 - the author observes the role of young people to
provide a social change, building strategies of resistance and empowering
marginalized groups.

3. Representing Violence: A Critical Analysis

This section looks at the various ways in which violence is represented in
literature, philosophy and films and is a response to the conditions of human
society that produce it. Literary and filmic representations of violence have a
whole range of effects on the reader and the viewer. Mapping the ways in which
modes and acts of gender violence have been represented in contemporary times as
well as in the immediate historical and philosophical context, the chapters in this
section explore the relationship of discourse with the material body. While the
chapters discuss the idea of representation of violent acts they also question the
violence of representation. The chapters address the ethical and moral implications
of literary or cinematic translation of violence and in what significant and sustained
way does representations of violence change our perception of ourselves and our
relationship with our world.
Paromita Chakrabarti’s ‘Women’s Bodies, Men’s War’ is an analysis of the
gendered nature of violence through an examination of rape as a politico-military
strategy and mechanism of institutionalized control, subjugation and
disempowerment of women. In order to understand the ways in which wartime
rape is framed within the paradigms of gender, and is constitutive of economic and
political imperatives, her chapter discusses Pakistani-American writer Sorayya
Khan’s novel Noor with special reference to the large scale rapes that took place in
erstwhile East Pakistan during the 1971 civil war. Mahinur Aksehir in her chapter
‘Remaining Men Together’ discusses Palahnuik’s Fight Club showing how
Palahnuik uses the concept of pain as a reminder of being alive and how he
 Paromita Chakrabart, Natália De' Carli and Joana Patrício xi
__________________________________________________________________
manages to make a striking critique of the modernity paradox of the binary of the
body and the mind. Aksehir observes how Fight Club narrates the struggle of a
man to free himself from the ‘iron cage’ of modernity and discover his real self and
inner nature through violence and bodily pain. Shamsi Bahar discusses the politics
of representation of Holocaust as a violent and traumatic event in John Boyne’s
novel The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. She locates the work as children’s fiction
and analyses the process of sanitization of historical reality that the novelist
deliberately undertakes to make it palatable. Her chapter questions the lack of
essential violence and critiques the very legitimacy of such representation.
Boris DeWeil’s chapter ‘Two Concepts of Violence’ is a philosophical
intervention into the ideas of violence that has been expounded by Michael Hardt
and Antonio Negri in their trilogy Empire. DeWeil focuses on the idea of creative
violence. He observes that social self-creativity is described in Hardt and Negri as
an antagonistic process by which the working class separates itself existentially
from its oppressors in a process that includes violence giving force to the notion of
ontological antagonism that accompanies necessary violence. Rebeca Maseda in
her chapter ‘Songs of Pain’ analyses Claudia Llosa’s film The Milk of Sorrow to
discuss the representation of female trauma and the politics of pain. Her analysis
reveals the different strategies that the filmmaker uses to represent trauma not
necessarily from the position of victimhood but as strategy to deal with absolute
violence. In ‘Film Form as Violent Expression’ Thomas J. Watson discusses the
idea of the film as monstrous image. By examining various action films and
documentaries, Watson argues that the very form of the audio-visual lends itself to
the encoding of violence and appropriation of violent forms.

4. Violence and Political Destabilization: War, Elections and Corporations

In this section Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert will analyse war crimes
and soldiers responsibility providing a profound investigation of military conflict
and moral responsibility. Understanding social cognitivist accounts of personality
the authors argue how military training disseminate the use of violence which
consequently may lead to war crimes.
Another perspective of violence and political destabilization will be presented
by Tambe Ojie who examines the election related violence in African countries.
Studying Tanzania in 2005, Kenya in 2007 and Cameroon election in 2011 the
author shows different perspectives of violent situation that somehow exposed
those countries to a destabilised and threatened collapse. Ojie also aims to
investigate about the democratic quality of election and the challenges facing
democratic governance in African countries.
The concept of Corporate Violence will be introduced by Kathleen O'Donnell
who will show examples in the context of Bhopal, the Piper Alpha disaster and the
Herald of Free Enterprise which have generated an immeasurable loss of life and
environmental devastation. The author will try to understand the relation between
xii Introduction
__________________________________________________________________
industrial disasters and its accidents as a new for of violent crime and how the law
and criminal justice systems are working to deter such violence with a comparative
study of the Australian model of criminal accountability related to corporate
violence.
The Violence project intends to achieve a deeper understanding of violence
phenomenon in contemporary life. However, in the conference final discussion,
and also in the O’Donnell’s paper, the issue of violence committed against the
natural world was brought up, the violence as a human action which affects not
only human society and social relationships but also the wildlife environment.

Notes
1
Larry Ray, Violence & Society (London: Sage, 2011), 3-11.
2
Etienne Krug, et al., Word Report on Violence and Heath (Geneva: World Health
Organization, 2002), 329.
3
Slavoj Žižek, Violence: Six Sideways Reflections (New York: Picador, 2008), 19-
36.
4
Liz Kelly, ‘Inside Outsiders: Mainstreaming Violence against Women into
Human Rights Discourse and Practice,’ International Feminist Journal of Politics
7.4 (2005): 477.

Bibliography
Krug, Etienne, Linda L. Dahlberg, James A. Mercy, Anthony B. Zwi and Rafael
Lozano. Word Report on Violence and Heath. Geneva: World Health Organization,
2002.

Kelly, Liz. ‘Inside Outsiders: Mainstreaming Violence against Women into Human
Rights Discourse and Practice.’ International Feminist Journal of Politics 7.4
(2005): 471-495.

Ray, Larry. Violence & Society. London: Sage, 2011.

Žižek, Slavoj. Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. New York: Picador, 2008.
 Part I:

Sexualized and Intimate Partner Violence:

Encouraging Disclosure
 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships in Iran

Ladan Rahbari

Abstract
Violence against women is still happening around the world, generating physical
and psychological pain and disability for many of its victims. Violence in pre-
marital relationships is an implicit aspect of violence against girls and women in
Iranian society. Young girls who get involved in pre-marital relationships are very
vulnerable to all forms of violence due to the lack of socio-cultural and legal
support. Pre-marital relationships are legally and culturally forbidden and
considered unacceptable and sinful especially for young girls. Cultural emphasis
on female values such as virginity and chastity prohibits any kind of heterosexual
relationship before marriage. Nevertheless, dating is a common and secret part of
the lives of Iranian youth. In this chapter, physical, sexual, psychological and
social violence against female dating partners is investigated in urban Iran, as a
common aspect of pre-marital dating relationships. Having fear of stigmatization
and losing marriage prospects, fear of facing more violence by male family
members, and not getting any support from family, society, police and legal system
has made young girls easy targets of victimization in pre-marital relationships. By
using a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews with dating victims,
this chapter will explore their experiences of violence, addressing the very cultural
factors that lead to their victimization. It will also be mentioned that the cultural
mechanisms lead to the victims’ inability in ending such abusive relationships and
ending up in a cycle of violence.

Key Words: Culture, cycle, dating, pre-marital, sex, victimization, violence.

*****

1. Introduction
Literature of violence against women has brought up debates over many aspects
of violence. A common typology of violence, considers five dimensions: physical
violence, sexual violence, psychological violence, social violence and economic
violence.1-2
One theory that has gained most attention in the case of violence is patriarchal
theory. It discusses that patriarchy is the systematic organization of men’s authority
and women’s subordination3. This theory claims sexual inequalities which are
rooted in the cultural-historical system of patriarchy cause violence against
women.4 Patriarchy is the key issue in the works of most radical feminists like
Chesney-Lind.5
Main ideas of patriarchal theory include: 1. Gendered relations are the bedrocks
of patriarchal society 2. Men control women’s possessions and ideas 3. The first
4 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships
__________________________________________________________________
step to women’s freedom is to end their subordination6. Patriarchy deprives women
of all forms of freedom. There seems to be a negative correlation between freedom
and all types of violence.7
Lenore Walker believes that predominant sexual roles in patriarchal societies
lead to encourage female victimization as a natural right of male relatives.
Patriarchy is important because it brings to the mind an image of gender hierarchy,
subordination and sexual power distribution.8 Walker also introduces the concept
of battered women’s syndrome. This concept refers to the intricate psychological
mechanisms by which men maintain women in abusive relationships by repeating
the cycle of abuse, expressing regret, compensating and starting over.9
Although in recent decades, the problem of violence in dating relationships has
been globally recognized, comparatively little is understood about partner
violence.10 In Iranian society, dating violence is widely ignored by researchers.
Pre-marital relationships are legally banned and culturally rejected in Iran.
Families mostly react severely to those who violate cultural prohibitions on pre-
marital relationship. However pre-marital relationships are common among the
youth. While there is no official data on the rate of pre-marital relationships, there
is evidence that 28.8 percent of high school boys and 12.8 percent of high school
girls have experienced sexual relationships.11 This rate reaches 63.6 among
university students.12 Considering that many pre-marital relationships do not lead
to sexual relationship, it is presumable that many youth experience pre-marital
relationships since high school.
This chapter will explore components and abundance of four types of violence
and will investigate how they are in practice in pre-marital dating relationships in
urban Iran.

2. Research Method
Scholars have emphasized on appropriateness of qualitative methods to study
sensitive gender issues such as sexual violence.13 This research has been conducted
using semi-structured in-depth interviews. Research sample was defined by
targeted sampling. Interviewees met research criteria if they were between ages of
18 and 30; they were single and had a pre-marital relationship with a boyfriend
during past year, and if they had experienced any kind of psychological, social or
sexual or physical violence by their dating partners.
Interviews were conducted in two sessions for three main reasons: 1. Girls were
screened for eligibility over the first interviews; second interviews were scheduled
for those who met the study criteria 2. I established more trust and intimacy during
the first interview with interviewees; 3. Timetables of some interviewees limited
our time for one-session interviews. First interviews lasted approximately 15-25
minutes; they were conducted with 62 girls; 44 interviewees (70.9% of the sample
population) remained for in-depth face to face second interviews. Second
interviews lasted approximately 1-1.5 hours. Participants were informed about the
 Ladan Rahbari 5
__________________________________________________________________
range of topics to be covered in the interviews and were assured about the
confidentiality of the interview process in the first session.
Interviews were conducted in the university dormitory. Dormitories are among
few places in which women can interact freely and they have a favorable ambient
for discussing youth problems.
Quality assurance check was conducted on many segments of audiotapes and
compared with prepared transcriptions of audios. Participants’ average age was
22.4 years. They were all university students. 63.6% were studying for bachelor’s
degree; while the other 36.3 percent were studying for a higher education degree of
master or doctorate.

3. Results
As indicated in table 1, high percentage of sample is being victimized with one
or more types of violence.

It must be noted that in Iranian culture, sexuality is considered to be a highly

private matter and it is mostly suggested that reported statistics of sexual problems
reflect a lower amount than the existing realities.14 Components and prevalence of
psychological, physical, social, and sexual violence are discussed orderly as
follows.

3.1. Psychological Violence

Psychological violence is the second prevalent type of violence against dating
partner after social violence which will be discussed later. It is mostly perpetrated
verbally and is reported in the forms of mocking and cursing, threatening, accusing
and acting indifferently.
Calling the partner, her friends or family members by sexually harassing words
is a common form of expressing anger or dissatisfaction among young boys. An
interviewee explains:

When he gets angry I am a ‘bitch’, so are my friends; I know he

does not mean it but (...) It really hurts me (…) for some reason I
think it is not important after he apologizes (…) [of course] it
hurts more when he curses my family (…) mostly my sister. He
says she is corrupting me.
6 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships
__________________________________________________________________
The most reported psychological violence is accusing the partner of infidelity
and unfaithfulness. Checking girlfriend’s text messages, e-mails or even her bag to
find proof of infidelity and brainstorming by questions to confuse her and find out
if she is lying, followed by expressing extreme love and emotion is reported.
Power dynamics in patriarchal societies put limitations on women’s agency and
spheres of social practice. Women are required to keep distance from the other sex
under all circumstances. The case is more extreme in pre-marital relationships in
which there is no legal limitation to restrict the behaviors of the parties. As an
interviewee puts it:

He feels insecure. If I do not answer my phone for five minutes

he calls 100 times and then I have to find some reliable witnesses
to prove I was not cheating on him; (…) I cannot break up with
him now; (…) he has some pictures of me. I have to get them
back first (…) he might show them to someone.

Threatening is a mechanism boyfriends mostly use to keep girlfriends in an

abusive relationship. Threatening to cause physical damage to their girlfriend or
sometimes to themselves is reported. An interviewee mentions her boyfriend
threatened to throw acid on anyone who marries her. ‘If he can talk about it, he can
do it. He might throw it on me. It’s no joke’, she says.
Threatening to talk to girlfriends’ parents or male family members such as
uncles or brothers who are considered to be the single girls’ guardians or to expose
her pictures in inappropriate places is also mostly an effective way to achieve one’s
goals. ‘I wish I could tell my parents to free myself ‘ says an interviewee, ‘but my
brothers would kill me for sure if they knew’.
Indifference is also currently used to force dating partner to accept unfavorable
terms.

3.2. Physical Violence

Physical violence is referred to any intentional action that leads to physical
damage.15 Observed physical violence by male partner in the sample includes
slapping, battering, and beating and hurting with an object or substance. All
physically violent boyfriends have committed violent actions more than once. An
interviewee mentioned her boyfriend’s explanation for battering her as ‘He said he
is sorry but he also said he could not promise not to lose control again’. Some
victims have undergone physical traumas, face injuries and psychological strain
after being abused by boyfriends.
Despite being physically abused, young girls do not get out of the relationship
due to several reasons such as fear of consequences, having fallen in abusive cycle
and emotional complications.
 Ladan Rahbari 7
__________________________________________________________________
The violence cycle is recognizable in many pre-marital relationships. The fact
that violent boyfriends have all perpetrated violent actions more than once and
victims’ narrative of subsequent behaviors of the violent partner indicate that there
might be a cycle at work. A victim explains her cycle as follows:

He swore he won’t do it again. But he did (…) then he came to

me and started crying and apologized (…) maybe deep-down I
knew it was not the last time but I accepted anyway (…) next
time it got worse; he sprayed aftershave in my eye.

Escalation of violence as mentioned above, according to Johnson is an

inevitable aspect of violence cycle.16 Some girls who uphold gender ideology and
sexual archetypes, justify distinctions in female/male attitudes by using statements
such as ‘He is a man, you know’ or ‘men are naturally like that’ demonstrating the
importance of gendered archetypes in socialization and essentialist sexist ideology
in justifying violent acts of their abusive boyfriends.
Culturally reinforced female virtues such as unconditional love to the partner,
toleration and patience make it easier for abusive boyfriends to victimize their
girlfriends. ‘I cannot leave him, I love him so much as if he were my husband’,
says an interviewee after mentioning that she was beaten with her cellphone by her
boyfriend while texting to a female friend.

3.3. Social Violence

Social violence is referred to limiting someone’s social interactions and social
processes such as visiting friends and family members, going to parties and
attending reunions.17 Social violence is the most common form of violence in the
sample.
Male friends monopolize their girlfriend’s social interactions to their so-called
legitimate spheres characterized by their own presence. An interviewee explains ‘I
have to ask for his permission to go to my aunt’s; another girl complains of being
chased secretly. Escorting the dating partner everywhere she goes damages her
public image and pictures her as a dependent person.
In the case of social violence, not all incidents are perceived as negative by
interviewees; some girls interpret such actions merely as symptoms of ‘male
natural jealousy’ or ‘love’. ‘Men are more jealous (…) jealousy is good to some
extent’, mentions an interviewee. Young girls do not take social violence as
seriously as other types of violence and do not challenge socially restricting
regulations ordained by their boyfriends to fit in to the ancient role model of ‘good,
obedient and pious woman’ portrayed in Iranian literature and popular culture.18
8 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships
__________________________________________________________________
3.4. Sexual Violence
Sexual violence is the most covert aspect of violence against women. It is
referred to coercive forms of sexual practice such as forcefully kissing, touching or
coercive types of sexual intercourse including alternative types of sex such as anal
and oral sex.19
In Iranian culture, there are different rules of sexual behavior for men and
women. These rules provide the permissions, prohibitions and possibilities which
form the basis of practical erotic life. Sexual interaction is believed to be an action
initiated by men.20 Female sexuality is historically rooted in a binary cultural
system that defines sexual desirability and attractiveness of women by regulations
based on men’s sexual needs and desires. In such a society men dominate, oppress
and sexually exploit women.21
Patriarchal attitudes relating sexual conduct institutionalized in cultural system
of Iranian society are enforced through traditional beliefs and normative social
institutions which have led women to endure special sexual actions which might be
against their desire, health and safety. Having sex is not seen as an interactional
process practiced by both men and women; rather as a male action. This idea is
also reinforced by other common cultural forms; for example, in colloquial Farsi
language, the word ‘doing’ is referred to male sexual behavior and ‘giving’, to
female sexual practice.
Girls in pre-marital relationships have to deal with paradoxical requirements: to
stay pure and to satisfy sexual needs of their dating partners. Many are forced to
have anal or oral sex which are not commonly considered to be as dishonorable as
losing one’s virginity.
There is also a common lack of sexual agency as the ability to make sexual
choices according to one’s will lacking among interviewees. Some girls confess
they mostly give up and carry out their boyfriends’ demands because such actions,
despite being coercive and pain inflicting have no severe social consequences as
long as their virginity is protected. An interviewee who has been engaging in
alternative sexual relationships with her boyfriend to keep her virginity says:

I do not consent with pre-marital sex. I would not have done it if

I had not been forced to; (…) I hate myself for doing it though
(…) having vaginal sex is just out of question. I am not that kind
of girl. That is something one must do only with their husbands.

Having sexual relationship with a boyfriend is considered to be a win for the

boy and a loss for the girl. As an interviewee explains:

You know that the worst possible legal punishment for the boy in
case his sexual interaction is exposed is the obligation to marry
the girl, but losing virginity has a much higher price for us. We’d
 Ladan Rahbari 9
__________________________________________________________________
better be dead if that happens. If one stays alive she will be a
stain of shame on her family’s social image.

Male family members mostly perpetrate severe physical and social violence in
case a female relative is exposed to have pre-marital sexual relationship. ‘I do not
want to become the shame of my family’ says another interviewee also noting that
having sex with a male partner is a way to lose dominance over one’s relationship
and ‘becoming a slave; the same person who has you, will think of you as a
prostitute’. Although there is no official available record of the honor killings,
Iranian newspaper reports show that they are still happening.22 Societies, in which
women’s virginity is related to familial honor, even reporting rape might lead to
marriage with the rapist or being murdered by the male relatives to protect family
pride.23
There are four almost-rape victims and one rape victim in the sample who does
not approve of using the word rape because the abusive boyfriend has promised to
marry her. The popularity of the definition of rape as a coercive action forced by an
anonymous assailant prevents the victim from using the word although sexual
intercourse was physically forced on her. As other researchers also have noticed,
socio-cultural contexts define at what point sexual action can be defined as
abusive.24-25

3.5. Abused Women’s Syndrome

Abused Women’s Syndrome was introduced by Walker to refer to women’s
psychological mechanisms as consequences and facilitators of violence cycle.26
Women’s psychological response to violence puts them in a repetitive cycle of
abuse that gets more severe by time. Accepting and pardoning any kind of violence
smoothens the way for further violence.
In pre-marital dating relationships in Iran, there are no legal bonds of
responsibility; the relationship is not considered legally or socially valid and it can
be ended anytime, but breaking up with an abusive boyfriend is highly
problematic. Abused women syndrome was basically brought forth to be a
psychological concept; while social factors seem to be at work in putting women in
an unending cycle too. Three main factors seem to have restricted young girls’
ability to get out of abusive pre-marital relationship:
Lack of social support by family or legal system: The legal system considers
both parties of pre-marital relationships criminals and worthy of punishment;
besides, as Shahla Ezazi notes, courts, police and forensics are dominated by sexist
ideology.27 Families also usually react very harshly to girls who violate cultural
purity rules. All victims agree that family support is more important than legal
support. ‘I can go to jail but I do not know how to respond to my family’, points
out an interviewee.
10 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships
__________________________________________________________________
Threat: fear of being exposed to families, being murdered, physically injured or
publicly embarrassed, compels victims to tolerate abusive rapport. Statements such
as ‘he will kill me’ or ‘no one else will marry me’ are indications of such fears.
Cultural patriarchal ideology: gender ideologies and uneven power distribution
between partners in patriarchal societies are related to male violence toward
women.28 Privileging the ideal of men as strong, arrogant and protective beings
logically promotes a culture of dominance and control over women.

4. Discussion and Conclusion

This article described some male hegemonic attitudes within pre-marital dating
relationships that lead to women’s physical, social, psychological and sexual abuse
in Iran. This study shows that dating violence has a wide variety and is perpetrated
in substantial percentage by young boys in dating relationships. Boys usually use
violence to keep dominance and control over the dating partner,29 but also as a
threat to maintain the dating partner in the abusive relationship.
Three main social factors of lack of support, repetitive intimidation and cultural
patriarchal ideology are recognized to have restricted young girls’ ability to end up
in the cycle of violence . Families’ avoidance of acknowledging dating relationship
and their aggressive reaction to dating youth have made dating girls easy targets of
violence victimization. While fear of public embarrassment or physical injury
compel dating girls to stay in the relationship, patriarchal ideologies of female
obedience, patience and tolerance are also influencing their passivity towards
victimization.
This chapter’s findings are consistent with other studies such as Chung’s study
that examined young women in heterosexual relationships and their attitudes about
sexual inequality,30 and Lavoie, Robitaille and Hebert’s study that explored several
aspects of violence in dating relationships.31
Structural support seems to be the first step to reduce women’s susceptibility to
violence. Although the responsibility of violence lies solely with the assailant, it is
possible to empower girls in pre-marital relationships to stop the cycles of
violence. Predominance of romantic approach impacts young women’s capacities
to negotiate for an equal relationship and to judge their experiences as violent and
abusive. Essentialist ideas of male behavior are also reported. These ideas can be
damaging because believing in the stability and naturalness of male violence will
result in acceptance of one’s situation and abstaining from seeking help.
This study provides a basic understanding of the nature of violence in pre-
marital relationships. Etiology and analysis of the issue require further
investigations.
 Ladan Rahbari 11
__________________________________________________________________
Notes
1
Azade Azam, Razie Dehghanfard, ‘Violence against Women in Tehran: The Role
of Socialization, Resources and Family Relation’, Iranian Journal of Research on
Women 4 (2006): 159-179.
2
Mehrangiz Kar, A Research about Violence against Women in Iran (Tehran:
Roshangaran and Motaleate Zanan Publication, 2000).
3
Sylvie Walby, Theorizing Patriarchy (Oxford: Blackwell, 1990), 20.
4
Kathryn Bell, Amy Naugle, ‘Intimate Partner Violence, Theoretical Framework:
Moving toward a Contextual Framework’, Clinical Psychology Review 10 (2008):
2.
5
Meda Chesney-lind and Lisa Pasko, The Female Offender: Girls, Women and
Crime (London: Sage, 2004).
6
Densie Kindschi Gasselin, Heavy Hands: An Introduction to the Crimes of
Family Violence (London: Prentice Hall, 2009).
7
Robert Hampton, Papmela Jenkis, and Thomas Gullota, eds., Preventing Violence
in America (London: Sage Publications, 1996).
8
Gwen Hunnicut, ‘Varieties of Patriarchy and Violence against Women:
Resurrecting Patriarchy as a Theoretical Tool’, Violence against Women 15 (2009):
533-573.
9
Lenore Walker, The Battered Women Syndrome (New York: Springer, 1984).
10
Laura Hickman, Lisa Jaycox, and Jessica Aronoff, ‘Dating Violence among
Adolescents: Prevalence, Gender Distribution, and Prevention Program
Effectiveness’, Trauma Violence Abuse 5 (2004): 125.
11
Gholamreza Garmarudi, Jalil Makarem, Shohre Alavi, Zeinab Abbasi, ‘Risky
Health Habits of High School Students in Tehran’, Iranian Payesh Journal 29
(2009): 13-19.
12
Pezhman Bagheri, Hoessein Faramarzi, ‘Distribution of Risky Sexual Habits’,
Iranian Journal of Medical Research 14.2 (2011): np.
13
Kresti, Yllo, and Michele Bogard, Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse
(California: Thousand Oaks, 1988).
14
‘Violence in Iranian Families’, last modified 23 May 2006, Viewed 1 January
2013, http://www.pezeshk.us/?p=2900
15
Azam and Dehghanfard, Violence against Women in Tehran, 167.
16
Michael P. Johnson, ‘Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence’,
Journal of Marriage and the Family 57.2 (1995): 286.
17
Kar, A Research about Violence against Women in Iran, 346.
18
‘A Speech on Women and Defining their Advantages and Disadvantages’,
Viewed 27 February 2013, http://ganjoor.net/saadi/boostan/bab7/sh21/
19
Ibid., 346.
12 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships
__________________________________________________________________

20
Melanie Randall and Lori Haskell, ‘Sexual Violence in Women’s Lives:
Findings from the Women’s Safety Project, a Community-Based Survey’, Violence
against Women 1 (1995): 23.
21
Walby, Theorizing Patriarchy, 20.
22
‘Another Honour Killing’, last modified 4 October 2012, Viewed 26 January
2013, http://www.entekhab.ir/fa/news/76489
23
World Health Organization, ‘Violence against Women’, trans. S. Rafeifar,
Parsinia (Tehran: Tandis Publication, 2001): 52.
24
Francine Lavoie, Line Robitaille and Martine Hebert, ‘Teen Dating
Relationships and Aggression: An Exploratory Study’, Violence against Women
6.6 (2000): 24.
25
David Finkelhor and Kresti Yllo, ‘Rape in Marriage, A Sociological View’,
Crime and the Family, eds. A. J. Lincoln and M. A. Straus (Springfield IL: Charles
C. Thomas, 1983), 121-133.
26
Walker, The Battered Women Syndrome.
27
Shahla Ezazi, ‘Structure of Society and Violence against Women’, Iranian
Journal of Social Welfare 4.14 (2009): 48-74.
28
Shamita Das Dasgupta and Sujata Warrier, ‘In the Footsteps of Arundhati: Asian
Indian Women’s Experience of Domestic Violence in the United States’, Violence
against Women 2 (1996): 238-259.
29
Elizabeth Kande Englander, Understanding Violence (London: Psychology
Press, 2006).
30
Donna Chung, ‘Violence, Control, Romance and Gender Equality: Young
Women and Heterosexual Relationships’, Women’s Studies International Forum,
No. 28, (2005).
31
Lavoie, Robitaille, Hebert, Teen Dating Relationships and Aggression, 6-10.

Bibliography

Azam, Azade and Razie Dehghanfard. ‘Violence against Women in Tehran: The
Role of Socialization, Resources and Family Relation.’ Iranian Journal of
Research on Women 4.1 (2006): 159-179.

‘Another Honour Killing.’ Last modified 4 October 2012, Viewed 26 January

2013, http://www.entekhab.ir/fa/news/76489

‘A Speech on Women and Defining their Advantages and Disadvantages’, Viewed

27 February 2013, http://ganjoor.net/saadi/boostan/bab7/sh21/
 Ladan Rahbari 13
__________________________________________________________________

Bagheri, Pezhman and Hoessein Faramarzi. ‘Distribution of Risky Sexual Habits.’

Iranian Journal of Medical Research 14.2 (2011): 15-17.

Chesney-Lind, Meda and Lisa Pasko. The Female Offender: Girls, Women and
Crime. London: Sage, 2004.

Chung, Donna. ‘Violence, Control, Romance and Gender Equality: Young Women
and Heterosexual Relationships.’ Women’s Studies International Forum, No. 28,
(2005).

Dasgupta, Shamita Da and Sujata Warrier. ‘In the Footsteps of Arundhati: Asian
Indian Women’s Experience of Domestic Violence in the United States.’ Violence
against Women 2 (1996): 238-259.

Englander, Elizabeth Kande. Understanding Violence. London: Psychology Press,

2006.

Ezazi, Shahla, ‘Structure of Society and Violence against Women.’ Iranian

Journal of Social Welfare 4.14 (2009): 48-74.

Finkelhor, David and Kresti Yllo. ‘Rape in Marriage, a Sociological View’, in

Crime and the Family, edited by A. J. Lincoln and M. A. Straus, 121-133.
Springfield, IL: Charles C. Thomas, 1983.

Gasselin, Densie Kindschi. Heavy Hands: An Introduction to the Crimes of Family

Violence. London: Prentice Hall, 2009.

Hampton, Robert, Pamela Jenkins, and Thomas Gullota. Preventing Violence in

America. London: Sage Publications, 1996.

Hickman, Laura, Lisa Jaycox and Jessica Aronoff. ‘Dating Violence among
Adolescents: Prevalence, Gender Distribution, and Prevention Program
Effectiveness.’ Trauma Violence Abuse 5 (2004): 123-142.

Hunnicut, Gwen. ‘Varieties of Patriarchy and Violence against Women:

Resurrecting Patriarchy as a Theoretical Tool.’ Violence against Women 15 (2009):
533-573.

Johnson, Michael P. ‘Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence.’

Journal of Marriage and the Family 57.2 (1995): 283-294.
14 Violence in Pre-Marital Relationships
__________________________________________________________________

Kar, Mehrangiz. A Research about Violence against Women in Iran. Tehran:

Roshangaran and Motaleate Zanan Publications, 2000.

Lavoie, Francine, Line Robitaille and Martine Hebert. ‘Teen Dating Relationships
and Aggression: An Exploratory Study.’ Violence against Women 6.6 (2000): 6-36.

Randall, Melanie and Lori Haskell. ‘Sexual Violence in Women’s Lives: Findings
from the Women’s Safety Project, a Community-Based Survey.’ Violence against
Women 1 (1995): 6-31.

‘Violence in Iranian Families.’ Last modified 23 May 2006. Viewed 1 January

2013, http://www.pezeshk.us/?p=2900

Walby, Sylvie. Theorizing Patriarchy. Oxford: Blackwell, 1990.

Walker, Lenore. The Battered Women Syndrome. New York: Springer, 1984.

World Health Organization. Violence against Women. Translated by Rafeifar, S.

Parsinia, Tehran: Tandis Publication, 2000.

Yllo, Kresti; Bogard, Michele, ‘Feminist Perspectives on Wife Abuse’, California:

Thousand Oaks, 1988.

Ladan Rahbari is a PhD candidate in sociology and lecturer at the University of

Mazandaran. Her research interests include gender politics, human rights and urban
anthropology.
 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence:
Perpetration and Victimization

Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, Francine Lavoie, Martin Blais,

Nataliya Dragieva and Catherine Moreau
Abstract
The prevalence of violence in dating relationships of adolescents is considered to
constitute a major public health problem, resulting in injuries and other mental and
physical health consequences.1 This study sought to understand the co-occurrence
of multiple types of dating violence (i.e., psychological, physical and sexual
violence) in which adolescents are involved as both perpetrators and victims. A
sample composed of 135 high school students (aged 14-18, M=15.87) who
reported being in a romantic relationship during the past year was used to explore
whether different profiles of dating violence could be identified. Additional
analyses were conducted to compare the dating violence profiles using
sociodemographic characteristics, reported injuries and measures of psychological
distress and acceptance of couple violence. Results of a TwoStep cluster analysis
revealed four distinctive dating violence profiles: (1) low violence (n=39), (2)
mutual psychological violence (n=39), (3) perpetration of violence (n=20), and (4)
mutual violence (n=37). Compared to the low violence group, the mutually violent
adolescents report having suffered more injuries following a fight with their
partner. Furthermore, they present higher rates of psychological distress and less
negative attitudes towards couple violence. Fewer significant differences were
found among profiles of the adolescents involved in mutual psychological violence
or unidirectional perpetration of violence. While the proportion of boys and girls
are similar across the four profiles, a few marginally significant demographic
differences were found according to grades. Findings offer insight on the complex
relationships between different acts of violence and highlight the importance of
examining patterns of escalation of partner violence among adolescent couples.
The implications of the results for future research on violence in adolescent dating
relationships will be discussed.

Key Words: Adolescents, dating violence, romantic relationships, mutuality,

acceptability of violence.

*****

1. Introduction
Violence in adolescents’ romantic relationships is alarmingly prevalent and is
associated with negative physical and mental health consequences that make it an
important public health concern.2 In addition to physical injuries, the consequences
of dating violence (DV) for teen victims include psychological distress, depression,
16 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________
symptoms of post-traumatic stress, suicidal ideation and school difficulties.3
Compared to victimization, data on DV perpetration is far more limited and
variable. Available findings indicate that teens who utilize abusive behaviors
toward their intimate partners have an increased risk of being involved in recurrent
aggressive relationships.4 For instance, O’Leary and Slep found that 50% of boys
and 75% of girls who reported engaging in physical aggression against a partner
resorted to violence again in the three months following the initial assessment. 5
Some authors also suggest that the aggressive habits adopted in adolescent
relationships may crystallize into stable characteristics and increase the likelihood
of experiencing intimate partner violence in adulthood.6 DV perpetration may raise
the likelihood of adolescents maintaining or developing attitudes and beliefs more
accepting of DV,7 which in turn may increases the risk of these aggressive
behaviors being carried over into adult romantic relationships. Furthermore,
Gomez has highlighted the fact that experiences of child abuse and adolescent DV
are highly predictive of violence in adult intimate relationships.8 Aside from DV
acceptability, many other risk factors of DV have been identified, such as drug and
alcohol use.9 For example, a recent meta-analysis provided evidence suggesting
that alcohol use significantly increased the risk of perpetrating DV for youths aged
11–21 years.10
The different forms of DV (i.e., psychological, physical, and sexual) are
unlikely to occur in isolation. In fact, more than half of teens who have reported
inflicting DV say they have used more than one form of aggression.11 In addition,
there is accumulating evidence that for a large proportion of adolescents DV is
mutual (perpetrated by both partners).12 However, while several studies have
shown that DV is often perpetrated by both boys and girls, there is still
considerable controversy over whether the experience of teen DV is the same for
both.13 For example, Hamby and Turner have found that if more boys report being
victims of physical DV; girls are in turn more likely to report physically injurious
or fear-inducing incidents of DV.14
Hence, adolescent DV occurs in many forms and contexts. While research has
sought to identify similarities between individuals who experience it, it is now
necessary to take into account the heterogeneity of DV experiences in order to
increase our understanding of this complex phenomenon.15 One way to clarify the
complexity and heterogeneity seen in patterns of victimization and perpetration of
DV is to construct typologies that gather individuals with similar characteristics
together into meaningful groups which are distinct from one another. In addition to
gaining a better understanding of teen DV, this approach may allow us to identify
adolescents who are at higher risk of experiencing violence in their relationships.
Such typologies can provide foundation for theory development and provide
information in order to better prevent, detect and stop adolescent DV.16
Until now, much of the existing typologies have focussed on describing the
heterogeneity of patterns of DV perpetrated by adult men (e.g., men in therapy
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 17
__________________________________________________________________
groups for domestic violence)17 and most of them are limited to physical
unidirectional DV.18 In this context, the main purpose of this exploratory study is
to examine the heterogeneity of patterns of victimization and perpetration of
multiple forms of DV (i.e., psychological, physical and sexual) experienced within
a group of dating adolescents. Then, we aim to further distinguish the profiles
according to sociodemographic characteristics, reported injuries, psychological
distress, alcohol and drug use and acceptance of couple violence. This approach is
likely to identify specific patterns of DV in youth’s relationships which will
increase our understanding of this important problem.

2. Methodology
The study was carried out in 11 classrooms of secondary III, IV, and V in
Quebec, Canada. A research assistant presented the objectives and scope of the
study to each class. Consenting students completed the questionnaires during class
time under the supervision of research staff. A total of 135 adolescents who
reported having a girlfriend or boyfriend during the past year were included in the
current analyses. This sample consists of 75 girls (55.6%) and 60 boys (44.4%)
who ranged in age from 14-18 years old (mean age=15.87, SD=1.06; 80.7%
Caucasian; 51.1% lived with both parents). In addition to socio-demographic
characteristics, self-report questionnaires assessed physical and psychological
violence (six items adapted from the CADRI19) and sexual violence in adolescent
dating relationships (three items from the SES20), attitudes about the acceptance of
DV (eight items from the Acceptance of Prescribed Norms scale21), and
psychological distress (K1022).
In keeping with the exploratory nature of this study, TwoStep cluster analyses
were used to explore whether different profiles of DV could be identified. Six
variables, associated with the presence or absence of violent behavior
(dichotomous variables), were used for grouping: (a) psychological DV
victimization and (b) perpetration, (c) physical DV victimization and (d)
perpetration, and (e) sexual DV victimization and (f) perpetration. A multivariate
analysis of variance (MANOVA) was then conducted to determine whether the DV
profiles differed significantly in terms of psychological distress and acceptance of
DV. Finally, chi-square analyzes were used for comparisons involving categorical
variables such as socio-demographic characteristics and reported injuries.

3. Major Findings
Frequency of DV by perpetrator/victimization status and by gender is presented
in table 1. There are 39 (65.0%) boys and 47 (62.7%) girls who indicated having
been victims of at least one form of DV while 65.0% of boys and 69.3% of girls
reported perpetrating at least one form of DV in the past 12 months. In order to
examine the differences between boys and girls on the proportions of the different
forms of DV in adolescent relationships, Chi-square analyses were conducted. The
18 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________
absence of significant results suggests that both boys and girls were as likely to
report being victims or perpetrators of DV.

Table 1: Dating Violence Frequency among Adolescents by Gender and

Victim/Perpetrator Status.

Boys (n=60) Girls (n=75) pa

n % n %
Psychological DV
Victim 36 60,0% 44 58,7% ns
Perpetrator 38 63,3% 48 64,0% ns
Physical DV
Victim 15 25,0% 15 20,0% ns
Perpetrator 12 20,0% 18 24,0% Ns
Sexual DV
Victim 6 10,0% 12 16,0% ns
Perpetrator 10 15,0% 8 10,7% ns
Note: DV = Dating Violence
a
Differences between boys and girls on proportion of psychological,
physical and sexual dating violence (χ2)

A TwoStep cluster analysis (log-likelihood distance measure; Schwarz’s

Bayesian Clustering Criterion23) was employed in order to explore whether
different profiles of DV could be identified. We found, on the basis of a
combination of statistical and theoretical criteria, that the four group solution was
optimal for summarizing the range of DV experienced by adolescents. Table 2
presents the frequencies in percentage for each of the different forms of DV
according to cluster. The first cluster includes adolescents who report very little
DV in their relationship. Since no member of this group reported psychological or
physical violence and only a few teens reported incidents of sexual violence,
Cluster 1 was labeled the Low Violence cluster and accounts for 28.9% of the
adolescents in our sample. The second cluster includes teens who reported no
physical or sexual violence in their dating relationship, while they reported
psychological abuse perpetration and victimization. This group is labeled Mutual
Psychological (28.9% of the sample). The third cluster has the lowest percentage of
respondents (14.8% of the total sample) and was named Perpetration of violence.
Adolescents in this group mostly inflicted violence against their dating partner.
Indeed, while only 35% of adolescents in this group reported being victims of
psychological violence, 100% mentioned perpetrating psychological, physical or
sexual DV. The final cluster is characterized by mutual violence. All adolescents in
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 19
__________________________________________________________________
this group reported being victims or perpetrators of a least one form of DV. For
example, 48.6% of youths in this group report perpetration and victimization of
physical DV in their relationship. This last group is called Mutual violence (27.4%
of the total sample).

Table 2: Frequencies in Percentage of Dating Violence According to Cluster

All Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4

(n-135) Low DV Mutual Perpetration Mutual DV
(n-39) Psychological of DV (n=37)
(n=39) (n=20)

n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%)

Psychological DV
Victim 80 (59,3) 0 (0,0) 39 (100,0) 7 (35,0) 34 (91,9)
Perpetrator 86 (63,7) 0 (0,0) 33 (84,6) 17 (85,0) 36 (97,3)
Physical DV
Victim 30 (22,2) 0 (0,0) 0 (0,0) 0 (100,0) 30 (81,1)
Perpetrator 30 (22,2) 0 (0,0) 0 (0,0) 12 (60,0) 18 (48,6)
Sexual DV
Victim 18 (13,3) 3 (7,7) 0 (0,0) 0 (0,0) 15 (40,5)
Perpetrator 17 (12,6) 1 (2,6) 0 (0,0) 1 (5,0) 15 (40,5)
Note: DV = Dating Violence

Results of the Chi-square analyses (Table 3) suggest that there is no significant

between-group difference in the composition of clusters according to gender (χ2 =
0.46, p =.927) or the state of the relationship; that is, whether or not the
relationship was still intact at the time of inquiry (χ2 = 3.23, p =.358). However, a
marginally significant difference was found between groups with regard to grade
(χ2 = 15.64, p = .075); While a greater proportion of adolescents in grade 8 are
found in the Perpetration of DV cluster, more adolescents in grade 11 can be found
in the Low DV or Mutual Psychological DV clusters. Regarding alcohol and drug
use, only the consumption of drugs other than cannabis (e.g., ecstasy,
amphetamines, etc.) distinguishes marginally the four clusters (χ2 = 6.78, p =.079).
Finally, the results indicate that the adolescents in the Mutual DV cluster report
having sustained significantly more injuries as a result of the violence (27.0%) than
those in the Low DV group (0.0%) (χ2 = 18.20, p =.000).
20 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________
Table 3: Demographic Characteristics by Dating Violence Cluster

Cluster 1 Cluster 2 Cluster 3 Cluster 4

Low DV Mutual Perpetration Mutual DV
(n = 39) psychological of DV (n = 37)
DV (n = 39) (n = 20)

n (%) n (%) n (%) n (%) χ2 P

Gender
Girls 23 (59.0) 22 (56.4) 11 (55.0) 19 (51.4) .464 .927
Boys 16 (41.0) 17 (43.6) 9 (45.0) 18 (48.6)
Grade
9 16 (41.0) 9 (23.1) 11 (57.9) 11 (29.7) 15.635 .075
10 7 (17.9) 12 (30.8) 5 (26.3) 14 (37.8)
11 16 (41.0) 16 (41.0) 3 (15.8) 12 (32.4)
Other 2 (5.1)
Relationship
state
Dating 14 (41.2) 24 (70.6) 20 (55.6) 9 (47.4) 3.227 .358
No longer 20 (58.8) 10 (29.4) 16 (44.4) 10 (52.6)
dating
Alcohol use
Mild 24 (70.6) 20 (55.6) 9 (47.4) 20 (57.1) 3.173 .366
Moderate/ 10 (29.4) 16 (44.4) 10 (52.6) 15 (42.9)
Severe
Cannabis
use
No 13 (39.4) 16 (44.4) 7 (36.8) 9 (25.7) 2.854 .415
Yes 20 (60.6) 20 (55.6) 12 (63.2) 26 (74.3)
Other drug
use

No 26 (76.5) 32 (88.9) 15 (78.9) 22 (62.9) 6.782 .079

Yes 8 (23.5) 4 (11.1) 4 (21.1) 13 (37.1)
Injuries as a
result of DV
No 0 (0.0)a 2 (5.1) 1 (5.0) 10 (27.0)b 18.197 .000
a b
Yes 38 (100.0) 37 (94.9) 19 (95.0) 27 (73.0) .464
Note: DV = Dating Violence
a
Significantly different than the mutual DV cluster. (p < .001)
b
Significantly different than the low DV cluster.
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 21
__________________________________________________________________
Next, we conducted a MANOVA with cluster membership as the independent
variable and psychological distress and DV acceptability as dependent variables.
A significant group difference emerged from this analysis (Wilks λ = 0.868,
F(6,258) = 3,15; p < .01). Follow-up univariate tests indicated that there is a
significant group difference for psychological distress (F(3,130) = 4.055; p
< .01). Indeed, Post‐hoc Tukey comparisons revealed that adolescents in the
Mutual DV cluster have higher rates of psychological distress than the Low DV
youths. The clusters also differed in terms of attitudes toward the acceptance of
violence in dating relationships (F(3,130)=3.13, p < .05). Adolescents in the
Mutual DV cluster reported attitudes more accepting of DV than those in the
Low DV cluster. The results of this analysis are presented in Image 1.

23
*
21,7

20
* 18,4
18,1

15

10

5 3,4
2,2
1,4
2,1
*
0 *
Psychological distress Acceptance of DV
Low DV
Mutual Psychological DV
Perpetration of DV
Mutual DV

Image 1: Psychological Distress and Acceptance of Violence in Intimate. © 2013.

Relationships According to the Four Dating Violence Cluster (*p < .05). Courtesy
of the authors.
22 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________
4. Conclusion
The main purpose of this study was to explore the heterogeneity of patterns of
adolescent DV based on the co-occurrence of victimization and perpetration. We
included a wide range of DV experiences (i.e., psychological, physical and sexual),
some of which had never been explored from a typological approach. In addition,
by focusing on DV in adolescent romantic relationships, this study aimed to
address a limitation in existing research that have mostly been interested in
describing the profiles of very violent adult men.
Four categories of adolescent DV that varied according to the type of violence
reported and the co-occurrence of victimization and perpetration were identified.
The four profiles are Low Violence (29%), Mutual Psychological (29%),
Perpetration (15%), and Mutual Violence (27%). Thus, reciprocal partner violence
characterized a little more than half the sample (56%) as both partners engaged in
aggressive behaviors in two of the four groups. These results are consistent with
prior research that found that teen DV is often mutual.24 The results also highlight
the distinction between mutual psychological DV and mutual violence which also
include forms of physical and sexual DV.
Adolescents in the Mutual DV cluster were found to be the most differentiated
from the low violent youths with higher rates of psychological distress and injuries.
This is consistent with previous research in showing that adolescents who
experience mutual DV are at greater risk for more frequent and severe
consequences.25 Mutual violence is more likely to be labeled as “severe” given the
involvement of both partners in the escalation of conflicts which in turn increases
the likelihood of being injured.26 It is important to note that almost all physical and
sexual DV victimization can be found in the mutual violence cluster. It is therefore
possible that part of the adolescents in this group enact violence as means of
retaliation or self-defense. To clarify patterns of DV reciprocity and injury
occurrence among young couples, future studies should also examine the
circumstance, motives or meanings of the violent acts (e.g,, anger, revenge, self-
defence).
In terms of individual characteristics, we examined if profiles differed
according to gender, grade and acceptance of couple violence. Our results are
consistent with prior studies and show that boys and girls are as likely to perpetrate
DV against their dating partner.27 It is important to note however that an analysis
performed separately for both sexes and including other variables, such as the
context in which the violence occurred, may have led to different results.
Regarding attitudes toward the acceptance of DV, teens in the mutual violence
group maintained more accepting beliefs and attitudes of DV than those in the Low
DV group. This result is consistent with social cognitive theory28 and corroborates
the findings of several researchers by showing that tolerance of DV increases the
likelihood of being involved in violent intimate relationships.29 These results
therefore confirm the importance for DV prevention programs to target beliefs
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 23
__________________________________________________________________
about the acceptability of violence in dating relationships.30 In addition to DV
acceptability, our results highlight the relevance for future studies and DV
programs to also address drug use. Indeed, although the differences found are
marginal, adolescents in the mutual violence group reported a greater use of drugs
other than cannabis.
A few limitations of this study are worth noting. First, given the structure of the
questionnaire and the small sample size, the chronicity and frequency of DV was
not taken into account. As shown in existing typologies, it is possible that we
would have been able to better distinguish the profiles if we had considered the
severity of DV.31 Another limitation is the reliance on self-report data, much of
which was retrospective. While self-reports are commonly used in research on this
topic, we need to consider that concerns such as social desirability could have
influenced the participants’ responses. However, in order to encourage an accurate
reporting of information, all questionnaires contained behaviorally specific
questions and were completed anonymously. Multiple sources of data, such as
dyadic data, could also help reduce bias.32 Future research should therefore
consider assessing the perspectives of both members of the couple. Collecting
dyadic data allows to model the experience of both partners and to gain insight on
the influence of one partner’s experiences on the outcomes of the other partner.33
Dyadic patterns of violence also have the potential of facilitating our understanding
of the trajectories of violence in adolescent dating relationships which could help
trace the evolution of mutual violence.34 In addition, as this study is cross-
sectional, a longitudinal design could provide better evidence of causality and help
determine the correct temporal sequence. For example, although attitudes more
accepting of DV may influence perpetration, the opposite could also be true;
perpetration of DV could also influence the development of beliefs promoting the
acceptability of violence.
This exploratory research adds new perspectives and insights to the study of
violence in adolescent’s romantic relationships. It showed that psychological DV is
very prevalent in adolescence and should not be neglected in prevention programs.
Also, although it is still premature to use this typology to advise specific preventive
or therapeutic approaches, our results are consistent with those of previous findings
and confirm the importance of taking into account the symmetry in DV.35 It is
indeed necessary to continue improving our understanding of the hostile relational
context in which some adolescent dating relationships evolve.

Notes

1
Victoria L. Banyard and Charlotte Cross, ‘Consequences of Teen Dating
Violence: Understanding Intervening Variables in Ecological Context,’ Violence
24 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________

Against Women 14.9 (2008): 998-1013; Vangie A. Foshee and Heathe Luz
McNaughton Reyes, ‘Dating Abuse Prevalence, Consequences, and Predictors,’
Encyclopedia of Adolescence, ed. Bradford Brown and Mitchell J. Prinstein (San
Diego, CA: Academic Press, 2011), 119-126.
2
Ibid., 1.
3
Diann M. Ackard, Marla E. Eisenberg and Dianne Neumark-Sztainerm, ‘Long-
Term Impact of Adolescent Dating Violence on the Behavioral and Psychological
Health of Male and Female Youth,’ Journal of Pediatrics 151.5 (2007): 476-481.;
Debbie Chiodo, et al., ‘Longitudinal Prediction and Concurrent Functioning of
Adolescent Girls Demonstrating Various Profiles of Dating Violence and
Victimization,’ Prevention Science (2011).; Kate B. Wolitzky-Taylor, et al.,
‘Prevalence and Correlates of Dating Violence in a National Sample of
Adolescents,’ Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
47.7 (2008): 755-762.
4
Kenneth A. Chase, et al., ‘Specificity of Dating Aggression and Its Justification
among High-Risk Adolescents,’ Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology 26.6
(1998): 467-473.; K. Daniel O’Leary and Amy M. Smith Slep, ‘A Dyadic
Longitudinal Model of Adolescent Dating Aggression,’ Journal of Clinical Child
& Adolescent Psychology 32.3 (2003): 314-327.; Tricia S. Williams, et al., ‘Risk
Models of Dating Aggression across Different Adolescent Relationships: A
Developmental Psychopathology Approach,’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical
Psychology 76.4 (2008): 622-632.
5
O’Leary and Slep, ‘A Dyadic Longitudinal Model of Adolescent Dating
Aggression,’ 314-327.
6
Ximena B. Arriaga and Vangie A. Foshee, ‘Adolescent Dating Violence: Do
Adolescents Follow in Their Friends’ or Their Parents’ Footsteps?,’ Journal of
Interpersonal Violence 19.2 (2004): 162-184.
7
Victoria Mueller, et al., ‘Adolescent Beliefs About the Acceptability of Dating
Violence: Does Violent Behavior Changet Them? ,’ Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 28.2 (2013): 436-450.
8
Anu Manchikanti Gomez, ‘Testing the Cycle of Violence Hypothesis: Child
Abuse and Adolescent Dating Violence as Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence
in Young Adulthood,’ Youth and Society 43.1 (2011): 171-192.
9
Johanne Vézina, et al., ‘Risky Lifestyle as a Mediator of the Relationship
between Deviant Peer Affiliation and Dating Violence Victimization among
Adolescent Girls,’ Journal of youth and adolescence 40.7 (2011): 814-824.
10
Emily F. Rothman, et al., ‘Does the Alcohol Make Them Do It? Dating Violence
Perpetration and Drinking among Youth,’ Epidemiologic reviews 34.1 (2012): 103-
119.
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 25
__________________________________________________________________

11
Heather A. Sears,E. Sandra Byers and E. Lisa Price, ‘The Co-Occurrence of
Adolescent Boys’ and Girls’ Use of Psychologically, Physically, and Sexually
Abusive Behaviours in Their Dating Relationships,’ Journal of adolescence 30.3
(2007): 487-504.
12
Heather M. Gray and Vangie A. Foshee, ‘Adolescent Dating Violence
Differences between One-Sided and Mutually Violent Profiles,’ Journal of
Interpersonal Violence 12.1 (1997): 126-141.; Jennifer Langhinrichsen-
Rohling,Candice Selwyn and Martin L. Rohling, ‘Rates of Bidirectional Versus
Unidirectional Intimate Partner Violence across Samples, Sexual Orientations, and
Race/Ethnicities: A Comprehensive Review,’ Partner Abuse 3.2 (2012): 199-230.;
Monica H. Swahn,Meltem Alemdar and Daniel J. Whitaker, ‘Nonreciprocal and
Reciprocal Dating Violence and Injury Occurrence among Urban Youth,’ Western
Journal of Emergency Medicine 11.3 (2010): 264-268.
13
Sherry Hamby, ‘The Gender Debate About Intimate Partner Violence: Solutions
and Dead Ends,’ Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
1.1 (2009): 24.
14
Sherry Hamby and Heather Turner, ‘Measuring Teen Dating Violence in Males
and Females: Insights from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to
Violence,’ Psychology of Violence (2012): Viewed 20 February 2013.
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2012-23870-001.
15
Sarah F. Lewis and William Fremouw, ‘Dating Violence: A Critical Review of
the Literature,’ Clinical Psychology Review 21.1 (2001): 105-127.
16
Lewis and Fremouw, ‘Dating Violence: A Critical Review of the Literature,’
105-127.; Ryan C. Shorey,Tara L. Cornelius and Kathryn M. Bell, ‘A Critical
Review of Theoretical Frameworks for Dating Violence: Comparing the Dating
and Marital Fields,’ Aggression and Violent Behavior 13.3 (2008): 185-194.
17
Amy Holtzworth-Munroe, et al., ‘Testing the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart
(1994) Batterer Typology,’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68.6
(2000): 1000-1019.; Amy Holtzworth-Munroe and Gregory L. Stuart., ‘Typologies
of Male Batterers: Three Subtypes and the Differences among Them,’
Psychological bulletin 116.3 (1994): 476-497.; Roger G. Tweed and Donald G.
Dutton, ‘A Comparison of Impulsive and Instrumental Subgroups of Batterers,’
Violence and Victims 13.3 (1998): 217-230.
18
Deborah M. Capaldi and Hyoun K. Kim, ‘Typological Approaches to Violence
in Couples: A Critique and Alternative Conceptual Approach,’ Clinical Psychology
Review 27.3 (2007): 253-265.; Ryan G. Carlson and K. Dayle Jones, ‘Continuum
of Conflict and Control: A Conceptualization of Intimate Partner Violence
Typologies,’ The Family Journal 18.3 (2010): 248-254.
19
David A. Wolfe, et al., ‘Development and Validation of the Conflict in
Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory,’ Psychological assessment 13.2
26 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________

(2001): 277-293.; Christine Wekerle, et al., ‘The Contribution of Childhood

Emotional Abuse to Teen Dating Violence among Child Protective Services-
Involved Youth,’ Child Abuse & Neglect 33.1 (2009): 45-58.
20
Mary P. Koss and Cheryl J. Oros, ‘Sexual Experiences Survey: A Research
Instrument Investigating Sexual Aggression and Victimization,’ Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology 50.3 (1982): 455-457.; Michele Poitras and
Francine Lavoie, ‘A Study of the Prevalence of Sexual Coercion in Adolescent
Heterosexual Dating Relationships in a Quebec Sample,’ Violence and Victims
10.4 (1995): 299-313.
21
Vangie A. Foshee, et al., ‘Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Predictors of
Adolescent Dating Violence,’ Preventive medicine 32.2 (2001): 128-141.
22
Ronald C. Kessler, et al., ‘Short Screening Scales to Monitor Population
Prevalences and Trends in Non-Specific Psychological Distress,’ Psychological
medicine 32.6 (2002): 959-976.; Statistics Canada. ‘Enquête Sur La Santé Dans
Les Collectivités Canadiennes (Escc, 2005) - Questionnaire Final.’ Ottawa, ON:
Gouvernement du Canada, 2006.
23
Gideon Schwarz, ‘Estimating the Dimension of a Model,’ The annals of
statistics 6.2 (1978): 461-464.
24
Gray and Foshee, ‘Adolescent Dating Violence Differences between One-Sided
and Mutually Violent Profiles,’ 126-141.; Swahn, Alemdar and Whitaker,
‘Nonreciprocal and Reciprocal Dating Violence and Injury Occurrence among
Urban Youth,’ 264-268.; Daniel J. Whitaker, et al., ‘Differences in Frequency of
Violence and Reported Injury between Relationships with Reciprocal and
Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner Violence,’ Journal Information 97.5 (2007): 941-
947.
25
Ibid, 23.
26
Whitaker, et al., ‘Differences in Frequency of Violence and Reported Injury
between Relationships with Reciprocal and Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner
Violence,’ 941-947.
27
Gray and Foshee, ‘Adolescent Dating Violence Differences between One-Sided
and Mutually Violent Profiles,’ 126-141.; Langhinrichsen-Rohling,Selwyn and
Rohling, ‘Rates of Bidirectional Versus Unidirectional Intimate Partner Violence
across Samples, Sexual Orientations, and Race/Ethnicities: A Comprehensive
Review,’ 199-230.; Swahn, Alemdar and Whitaker, ‘Nonreciprocal and Reciprocal
Dating Violence and Injury Occurrence among Urban Youth,’ 264-268.
28
Albert Bandura. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive
Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.
29
e.g., Sears, Byers and Price, ‘The Co-Occurrence of Adolescent Boys’ and Girls’
Use of Psychologically, Physically, and Sexually Abusive Behaviours in Their
Dating Relationships,’ 487-504.
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 27
__________________________________________________________________

30
e.g., Denise Kervin and Jennifer Obinna, ‘Youth Action Strategies in the
Primary Prevention of Teen Dating Violence,’ Journal of Family Social Work 13.4
(2010): 362-374.; Christine Wekerle and David A. Wolfe, ‘Dating Violence in
Mid-Adolescence: Theory, Significance, and Emerging Prevention Initiatives,’
Clinical Psychology Review 19.4 (1999): 435-456.
31
Michael P. Johnson, ‘Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence: Two
Forms of Violence against Women,’ Journal of Marriage and the Family 57.2
(1995): 283-294.; Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart., ‘Typologies of Male Batterers:
Three Subtypes and the Differences among Them,’ 476-497.
32
Maximiliane E. Szinovacz and Lance C. Egley, ‘Comparing One-Partner and
Vouple Data on Sensitive Marital Behaviors: The Case of Marital Violence,’
Journal of Marriage and Family 57.4 (1995): 995-1010.
33
David A. Kenny, ‘Models of Interdependence in Dyadic Research,’ Journal of
Social and Personal Relationships 13.2 (1996): 279-294.
34
Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Selwyn and Rohling, ‘Rates of Bidirectional Versus
Unidirectional Intimate Partner Violence across Samples, Sexual Orientations, and
Race/Ethnicities: A Comprehensive Review,’ 199-230
35
Ibid, 33.

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Term Impact of Adolescent Dating Violence on the Behavioral and Psychological
Health of Male and Female Youth.’ Journal of Pediatrics 151.5 (2007): 476-481.

Arriaga, Ximena B., and Vangie A. Foshee. ‘Adolescent Dating Violence: Do

Adolescents Follow in Their Friends’ or Their Parents’ Footsteps?’ Journal of
Interpersonal Violence 19.2 (2004): 162-184.

Bandura, Albert. Social Foundations of Thought and Action: A Social Cognitive

Theory. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1986.

Banyard, Victoria L., and Charlotte Cross. ‘Consequences of Teen Dating

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Canada, Statistics. ‘Enquête Sur La Santé Dans Les Collectivités Canadiennes

(Escc, 2005) - Questionnaire Final.’ Ottawa, ON: Gouvernement du Canada, 2006.
28 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________

Capaldi, Deborah M., and Hyoun K. Kim. ‘Typological Approaches to Violence in

Couples: A Critique and Alternative Conceptual Approach.’ Clinical Psychology
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Carlson, Ryan G., and K. Dayle Jones. ‘Continuum of Conflict and Control: A
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Chase, Kenneth A., Dominique Treboux, K. Daniel O’leary, and Zvi Strassberg.
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Chiodo, Debbie, Claire V. Crooks, David A. Wolfe, Caroline Mcisaac, Ray

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Foshee, Vangie A., Fletcher Linder, James E. Macdougall, and Shrikant

Bangdiwala. ‘Gender Differences in the Longitudinal Predictors of Adolescent
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Foshee, Vangie A., and Heathe Luz Mcnaughton Reyes. ‘Dating Abuse
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Gomez, Anu Manchikanti. ‘Testing the Cycle of Violence Hypothesis: Child

Abuse and Adolescent Dating Violence as Predictors of Intimate Partner Violence
in Young Adulthood.’ Youth and Society 43.1 (2011): 171-192.

Gray, Heather M., and Vangie A. Foshee. ‘Adolescent Dating Violence

Differences between One-Sided and Mutually Violent Profiles.’ Journal of
Interpersonal Violence 12.1 (1997): 126-141.

Hamby, Sherry. ‘The Gender Debate About Intimate Partner Violence: Solutions
and Dead Ends.’ Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy
1.1 (2009): 24.
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 29
__________________________________________________________________

Hamby, Sherry, and Heather Turner. ‘Measuring Teen Dating Violence in Males
and Females: Insights from the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to
Violence.’ Psychology of Violence 2012: Viewed 20 February 2013.
http://psycnet.apa.org/index.cfm?fa=buy.optionToBuy&id=2012-23870-001.

Holtzworth-Munroe, Amy, Jeffrey C. Meehan, Katherine Herron, Uzma Rehman,

and Gregory L. Stuart. ‘Testing the Holtzworth-Munroe and Stuart (1994) Batterer
Typology.’ Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology 68.6 (2000): 1000-
1019.

Holtzworth-Munroe, Amy, and Gregory L. Stuart. ‘Typologies of Male Batterers:

Three Subtypes and the Differences among Them.’ Psychological bulletin 116.3
(1994): 476-497.

Johnson, Michael P. ‘Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence: Two

Forms of Violence against Women.’ Journal of Marriage and the Family 57.2
(1995): 283-294.

Kenny, David A. ‘Models of Interdependence in Dyadic Research.’ Journal of

Social and Personal Relationships 13.2 (1996): 279-294.

Kervin, Denise, and Jennifer Obinna. ‘Youth Action Strategies in the Primary
Prevention of Teen Dating Violence.’ Journal of Family Social Work 13.4 (2010):
362-374.

Kessler, Ronald C., Gavin Andrews, Lisa J. Colpe, Eva Hiripi, Daniel K. Mroczek,
Sharon-Lise T. Normand, Ellen E. Walters, and Alan M. Zaslavsky. ‘Short
Screening Scales to Monitor Population Prevalences and Trends in Non-Specific
Psychological Distress.’ Psychological Medicine 32.6 (2002): 959-976.

Koss, Mary P., and Cheryl J. Oros. ‘Sexual Experiences Survey: A Research
Instrument Investigating Sexual Aggression and Victimization.’ Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology 50.3 (1982): 455-457.

Langhinrichsen-Rohling, Jennifer, Candice Selwyn, and Martin L. Rohling. ‘Rates

of Bidirectional versus Unidirectional Intimate Partner Violence across Samples,
Sexual Orientations, and Race/Ethnicities: A Comprehensive Review.’ Partner
Abuse 3.2 (2012): 199-230.

Lewis, Sarah F., and William Fremouw. ‘Dating Violence: A Critical Review of
the Literature.’ Clinical Psychology Review 21.1 (2001): 105-127.
30 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________

Mueller, Victoria, Ernest N. Jouriles, Renee Mcdonald, and David Rosenfield.

‘Adolescent Beliefs About the Acceptability of Dating Violence: Does Violent
Behavior Changet Them?’ Journal of Interpersonal Violence 28.2 (2013): 436-
450.

O’leary, K. Daniel, and Amy M. Smith Slep. ‘A Dyadic Longitudinal Model of

Adolescent Dating Aggression.’ Journal of Clinical Child & Adolescent
Psychology 32.3 (2003): 314-327.

Poitras, Michele, and Francine Lavoie. ‘A Study of the Prevalence of Sexual

Coercion in Adolescent Heterosexual Dating Relationships in a Quebec Sample.’
Violence and Victims 10.4 (1995): 299-313.

Rothman, Emily F, Luz Mcnaughton Reyes, Renee M Johnson, and Michael

Lavalley. ‘Does the Alcohol Make Them Do It? Dating Violence Perpetration and
Drinking among Youth.’ Epidemiologic Reviews 34.1 (2012): 103-119.

Schwarz, Gideon. ‘Estimating the Dimension of a Model.’ The annals of statistics

6.2 (1978): 461-464.

Sears, Heather A., E. Sandra Byers, and E. Lisa Price. ‘The Co-Occurrence of
Adolescent Boys’ and Girls’ Use of Psychologically, Physically, and Sexually
Abusive Behaviours in Their Dating Relationships.’ Journal of Adolescence 30.3
(2007): 487-504.

Shorey, Ryan C., Tara L. Cornelius, and Kathryn M. Bell. ‘A Critical Review of
Theoretical Frameworks for Dating Violence: Comparing the Dating and Marital
Fields.’ Aggression and Violent Behavior 13.3 (2008): 185-194.

Swahn, Monica H., Meltem Alemdar, and Daniel J. Whitaker. ‘Nonreciprocal and
Reciprocal Dating Violence and Injury Occurrence among Urban Youth.’ Western
Journal of Emergency Medicine 11.3 (2010): 264-268.

Szinovacz, Maximiliane E., and Lance C. Egley. ‘Comparing One-Partner and

Vouple Data on Sensitive Marital Behaviors: The Case of Marital Violence.’
Journal of Marriage and Family 57.4 (1995): 995-1010.

Tweed, Roger G., and Donald G. Dutton. ‘A Comparison of Impulsive and

Instrumental Subgroups of Batterers.’ Violence and Victims 13.3 (1998): 217-230.
 Alison Paradis, Martine Hébert, et al. 31
__________________________________________________________________

Vézina, Johanne, Martine Hébert, François Poulin, Francine Lavoie, Frank Vitaro,
and Richard E Tremblay. ‘Risky Lifestyle as a Mediator of the Relationship
between Deviant Peer Affiliation and Dating Violence Victimization among
Adolescent Girls.’ Journal of Youth and Adolescence 40.7 (2011): 814-824.

Wekerle, Christine, Eman Leung, Anne-Marie Wall, Harriet Macmillan, Michael

Boyle, Nico Trocme, and Randall Waechter. ‘The Contribution of Childhood
Emotional Abuse to Teen Dating Violence among Child Protective Services-
Involved Youth.’ Child Abuse & Neglect 33.1 (2009): 45-58.

Wekerle, Christine, and David A. Wolfe. ‘Dating Violence in Mid-Adolescence:

Theory, Significance, and Emerging Prevention Initiatives.’ Clinical Psychology
Review 19.4 (1999): 435-456.

Whitaker, Daniel J., Tadesse Haileyesus, Monica Swahn, and Linda S. Saltzman.
‘Differences in Frequency of Violence and Reported Injury between Relationships
with Reciprocal and Nonreciprocal Intimate Partner Violence.’ Journal
Information 97.5 (2007): 941-947.

Williams, Tricia S., Jennifer Connolly, Debra Pepler, Wendy Craig, and Lise
Laporte. ‘Risk Models of Dating Aggression across Different Adolescent
Relationships: A Developmental Psychopathology Approach.’ Journal of
Consulting and Clinical Psychology 76.4 (2008): 622-632.

Wolfe, David A., Katreena Scott, Deborah Reitzel-Jaffe, Christine Wekerle,

Carolyn Grasley, and Anna-Lee Straatman. ‘Development and Validation of the
Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory.’ Psychological Assessment
13.2 (2001): 277-293.

Wolitzky-Taylor, Kate B., Kenneth J. Ruggiero, Carla Kmett Danielson, Heidi S.

Resnick, Rochelle F. Hanson, Daniel W. Smith, Benjamin E. Saunders, and Dean
G. Kilpatrick. ‘Prevalence and Correlates of Dating Violence in a National Sample
of Adolescents.’ Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
47.7 (2008): 755-762.

This research was funded by a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health
Research (CIHR #103944). The authors wish to thank the teenagers who
participated in this study, school personnel and Félix Lacerte-Joyal. Address for
correspondence: Martine Hébert, Département de sexologie, Université du Québec
à Montréal, Montréal (Québec), Canada, Tél.: (514) 987-3000 x5697, Fax: (514)
987-6787, H3C 3P8, e-mail: [email protected].
32 Distinguishing Profiles of Adolescent Dating Violence
__________________________________________________________________

Paradis Alison is a postdoctoral researcher with the Équipe Violence sexuelle et

santé (ÉVISSA) at Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada. She completed her
PhD on the associations between different forms of violence in the family of
origin, interpersonal problems and intimate partner violence (IPV) in adulthood.
Her main research interests are in the field of interpersonal violence.

Hebert Martine is currently full professor at the Sexology Department of the

Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada. She has training in child
development and child clinical psychology as well as a strong background in
psychometry. In the past 20 years, her research interests have focused on the
consequences associated with interpersonal trauma.

Lavoie Francine is full professor in community psychology at Université Laval,

Québec, Canada. Her research covers such diverse subjects as the evaluation of
violence prevention programs and the risk factors associated with dating violence.
Her more recent work is on sexualized social activities and sexting in adolescence
which could represent new settings for sexual coercion.

Blais Martin is associate professor in the Sexology Department at the Université

du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada. His research interests focus on sexuality
and love scenarios and their evolution within contemporary society. He also has
interests in sexual scenarios among men who have sex with men and determinants
of HIV infection; and sexual and relationship trajectories among troubled and
street-involved youth.

Dragieva Nataliya is a doctoral student in Mathematics with concentration in

statistics at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada. She is a
consultant statistician for the CIHR Team on Interpersonal Traumas.

Moreau Catherine is a research coordinator for the CIHR Team on Interpersonal

Traumas at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQÀM), Canada.
 Intimate Partner Violence against Women: Victimization and
Leaving Processes

Joana Patrício
Abstract
For the last decades, intimate partner violence has become recognized as a major
social problem. In Portugal, domestic violence was criminalized in 2007 and a
national victim’s support network (e.g. shelters) is being implemented. Researches
highlight couple violence against women as a serious problem, putting at risk
victim’s autonomy. Pence and Paymar’s Power and Control Wheel core is formed
by tactics of power and control mostly related with psychological, emotional,
economic or social violence. Control tactics are efficient and violent without
physical or sexual violence. Victimization processes – namely intimate terrorism
situations – are a cause of victim’s isolation and dependency. Recent research
focuses violent relationship breaking up processes. This chapter presents results of
‘Women victimized by intimate partner violence: practices and representations
concerning violence’, a qualitative research project coordinated by Professor Maria
das Dores Guerreiro (CIES, IUL-ISCTE) and carried out at CIES, IUL-ISCTE. The
research focuses on women victimized by intimate partners who have left abusive
relationships. These women were supported by Associação Portuguesa de
Mulheres contra a Violência (AMCV), a Portuguese non-governmental
organisation. Research aims to acknowledge processes of victimization within
couples and the legitimacy of practices of violence across women’s lives.
Methodologically, data was collected through five semi-structured interviews and
the subsequent content analysis. Interviewees attend Hipátia, a group of women
survivors of domestic violence, promoted by AMCV. Interviewees aged between
33 to 53 years old. Women discourses emphasize the importance of specialized
professionals as key to the recognition of violence by the victim, reconstruction
and definition of a life project after leaving an abusive relationship.

Key Words: Couple violence, women, victimization, leaving process, shelter,

qualitative data, Portugal.

*****

1. Introduction
In Portugal, combat to violence against women began in the early nineties. In
2007, domestic violence was criminalized as an autonomous criminal offence.
Crime statistics show part of this problem. In 2012, domestic violence between
married or cohabiting partners was the fifth most reported crime in Portugal,
mostly perpetrated by men against women.1 The partner homicide rate may be
rising: there were thirty-seven reports in 2012, ten incidents more than in the
34 Intimate Partner Violence against Women
__________________________________________________________________
previous year.2 Organizations against domestic violence play a major role in giving
support to victims, enabling women to leave an abusive partner and perhaps
enhancing crime reporting. The national victims’ support network has thirty-six
domestic violence shelters for women and their children.
In 1995, Michael P. Johnson stated that partner violence is not a unitary
phenomenon and distinguished two types of domestic violence: patriarchal
terrorism and common couple violence, recently named intimate terrorism and
situational couple violence.3 The intimate terrorism perpetrator is violent and
controlling, whereas the situational couple violence perpetrator is violent but not
controlling; in both types, victims are neither violent nor controlling.4 Coercive
control perpetration is the key to understand the differences among types of partner
violence.5
This research focuses on intimate terrorism as described by Kelly and Johnson,
the most studied type of domestic violence, usually perpetrated by men against
women.6 Intimate terrorism comprises of the general exercise of coercive control,
i.e., a pattern of power and control which can only be recognized from information
about the use of multiple control tactics over time; it is likely to escalate
throughout time.7 Pence and Paymar’s Power and Control Wheel provides
information about how violence is embedded in a general pattern of nonviolent
tactics such as power and control; physical and sexual violences do not necessarily
occur in intimate terrorism instance.8 The Power and Control Wheel depicts what it
is often associated with domestic violence: high levels of power and control
exercise over a partner.9
Recently, victimization has been discussed as a lifespan process. On the one
hand, quantitative studies such as the Black and team show that many forms of
sexual violence, stalking, and intimate partner violence ‘are first experienced
during childhood and remain prevalent among young adults aged 18-24.’10 Krebs
and colleagues highlight the need to study multi-victimization among adult
populations: logistic regression shows that ‘stalking, sexual violence, and
emotional aggression by an intimate partner were all positively associated with the
odds of experiencing physical violence by an intimate partner.’11 Carbone-Lopez,
Rennison and Macmillan stress that ‘little is known about the patterning of
violence across relationships, yet theories of continuity suggest that early
victimization experiences may be associated with revictimization during
subsequent relationships.’12 Research should move beyond and ‘take into account
biographies of violence across the life course.’13
On the other hand, recent qualitative research focuses on leaving processes of
women in violent relationships. Lindgren and Renck point out three key categories
and phases – restraining break up; balancing between staying and leaving; and the
releasing turning point – that could be connected with the core category,
fearfulness as a driving force to leave.14 Regarding the first phase, the researchers
identified factors that keep women from breaking up: passionate love; the insidious
 Joana Patrício 35
__________________________________________________________________
onset of violence; oscillating between violence and tenderness; adjustment and
hoping for change; focusing on one’s children; feelings of shame and guilt.15 As
for balancing between leaving and staying, research data shows a gradual
escalation of violence; and that men refuse to let go of the women.16 The releasing
turning point phase is caused by a decisive event which compels women to
definitely break up with their partner.17 As turning points, researchers identified
women’s final awareness about the partner’s personality and violent behavior; to
get external support from family/ friends, support organizations; to be forced to
choose to leave or die; protecting one’s children.18 Enander and Holmberg find that
the physical break up is preceded or coincides with two distinct kinds of turning
points: when it is a matter of life or death and when someone else is at risk.19
Another study examined factors connected with turning points and change seeking
in intimate partner violence situations and identified five major themes: protecting
others from the abuse/ abuser; increased severity or humiliation with abuse;
increased awareness of options, access to support and resources; fatigue and
recognition that the abuser was not going to change; partner infidelity. 20
Families are central in the course of life.21 A turning point is a time when major
change occurs in the life course trajectory’ and ‘serves as a lasting change and not
just a temporary detour.’22 ‘To be perceived as a turning point the transition or life
event should be personally significant, and promote change in the individual’s
developmental trajectory.’23 Also, women are able to identify specific factors and
events which function as turning points or as catalysts to change in their intimate
partner violence situation.24
The aim of this chapter is to analyse intimate partner violence against women
as a life course process and to present results of ‘Women victimized by intimate
partner violence: practices and representations concerning violence,’ a research
project carried out at CIES, ISCTE-IUL. Qualitative research focuses on women
who underwent a violent intimate partner relationship and sought out the support of
the Associação de Mulheres Contra a Violência (AMCV). Women lived in a
shelter for victims of domestic violence. In a likely intimate terrorism situation, it
is possible to inquire not only about victimization processes, the escalation of
violence and controlling strategies – frequency and severity – but also the
development of a leaving process, as well as the identification of key-episodes and
turning points throughout victims’ lives. The victimization process starts when a
victim notices the first signs of coercive/ violent behaviour and it may be ceased
when she breaks up and leaves the house. As intimate terrorists often employ
coercive control strategies which cause the victim high levels of economic
dependency and social isolation, the break up and leaving process must be framed
in the intimate terrorism victimization process and also over the victim’s life
course, her family and couple relationship. At a conceptual level, violence is
defined according with interviewees’ discourses and Pence and Paymar’s
categories.25
36 Intimate Partner Violence against Women
__________________________________________________________________
2. Methodology
Qualitative research is based on in-depth interviews to women who attend the
Hipátia group, a group of women survivors of domestic violence, promoted by
AMCV. Preliminary, the interview guide was discussed in a Hipátia meeting; five
women accepted to collaborate with the research. In 2011, individual interviews
were conducted by a researcher in a closed room at AMCV premises. A Letter of
Agreement was signed, stating the research goals and data anonymity. Audio-
recorded interviews integrally transcribed and analyzed with MAXQDA –
Qualitative Data Analysis Software. Consecutive readings of the interviews
allowed the reorganizing of research categories in accordance with the
interviewees’ experiences, interview guide’s research categories and literature
review. The research sample comprises five Portuguese women aged 33-53 years
old.

3. Findings
The women interviewed – Catarina, Luísa, Mariana, Rita and Telma – left long
intimate partner relationships, lasting between four and thirty years. For the
majority, this is their first serious relationship, commenced in their teens.
Relationship beginning is often characterized by a fast moving in or by
interviewee’s pregnancy. In general, women’s discourses point out to Johnson’s
intimate terrorism: violent and controlling male partners and victims are not
violent. Some situations may configure other arrangements of control motivation
and violent behaviour, such as violent resistance or unstudied combinations of
control motivation and violent behaviour.26
Each intimate partner developed several of the eight strategies of power and
control. All women were once coerced or threatened by their intimate partners (1):
Mariana’s partner made her drop police charges against him; Luisa’s husband used
to threaten her with more violence. Abusive partners commonly use intimidation
strategies over women (2): Mariana’s partner used to shout while gesturing and
looking fiercely at her; Luisa’s husband displayed all sort of cutting knives around
the house to constantly intimidate her. As for emotional abuse, partners often put
women down, humiliating and calling names (3): Catarina was a ‘whore’, ‘a
mental retarded’; at home, Luisa was never called by her name and her husband
also played mind games so that she would think she was insane. As for isolation
promotion strategy, all partners tried to control the women’s steps (4): until he got
her a private driver, Telma’s partner frequently phoned to know her whereabouts
and got irritated when she added a password to her email account. Progressively,
Catarina and Luisa were isolated from their families, friends and outside world:
Luisa wasn’t allowed to talk to anyone or stand near a window. Often, partners
threatened interviewees’ friends or refused to visit their family. Simultaneously,
some interviewees weren’t allowed to have a job. Additionally, discourses
illustrate a geographical isolation. At some point in time, women left their known
 Joana Patrício 37
__________________________________________________________________
surroundings and moved to their partner’s ‘village’ or the ‘neighborhood’ where he
grew up. As for the strategy of minimizing or denying violence acts and
consequences (5), for instance, Catarina’s husband refused to drive her to the
hospital after having seriously injured her. Rita’s partner often accused her of
causing his violent behaviour. Partners often use children as a weapon (6), whether
by threatening to take the children away or by preventing women from breaking
up. As for male privilege strategy, partners act as the master of the castle (7):
Mariana’s was ‘the king’ and Luisa was her husband’s ‘slave’. Also, partners make
the big decisions: Catarina’s husband often stated: ‘My wife doesn’t work and
that’s it!’. All women underwent economic abuse from their partners (8). Telma’s
partner took her family money and, when interviewed, he was giving her a weekly
allowance. Women weren’t informed about family income and partners controlled
all economic resources, only giving women money to cover basic household
expenses. Women were forbidden from getting or keeping a job, increasing their
economic dependency. Lastly, discourses indicate a strategy connected with family
planning – birth control methods use; to force to end or carry on with a pregnancy
–, not referred by Pence and Paymar and usually denoted with the sexual violence
concept. The majority of interviewees weren’t allowed to use birth control
methods. Initially, one woman’s partner coerced her to abort but she refused it;
years later and to avoid another pregnancy, she underwent a tubal sterilization
against his will and without his written consent.
If all women were subjected to several strategies of power and control, physical
violence was inflicted only against three women. Women describe severe physical
violence and often they were slapped, punched, kicked or pushed to the ground.
Regarding sexual violence, all interviewees refer they had to be always ready for
sexual intercourse. Some women were often physically forced to coerced sexual
penetration. In case of struggling, women were beaten more severely.
Through the years, an intimate partner victimization process develops and
perpetrators adjust coercive strategies and violence practices to each partner. Some
of the power and control strategies were the first ones to be perpetrated. During
courtship and despite noticing first signs of violence, interviewees misjudged the
boyfriend’s coercive behaviour, whether he tried to control her steps or showed
‘extreme jealously’, once perceived as a sign of love. Women trace the first
demonstrations of coercive control and, eventually, of physical violence during the
first pregnancy or when the couple moves in together. Apparently, sexual violence
starts afterwards. Over the years, coercive control and violence events escalate in
its frequency and severity, becoming part of the women’s daily life, often living
with permanent fear and tension.
It’s important to understand victimization as a process, analyzing not only the
development of coercive tactics and violence practices, but also the occurrence of
turning points, specially, in intimate terrorism situations. Life course theory
considers the turning point as the moment for a permanent change. Intimate partner
38 Intimate Partner Violence against Women
__________________________________________________________________
violence research shows that turning points occur in a particular context.
Interviewees’ discourse point out to specific incidents in earlier years which made
women attempt to break up. These specific incidents – which can be named as key-
episodes – reason the occurrence of a turning point, whether lasting (as life course
theory enunciates) or temporary (as women’s discourses indicate). Predominantly,
older women, who have longer relationships and whose discourse suggests severer
victimization scenarios, have previously tried to break up. The key-episodes are
related with women being expelled from home or with an increase of violence,
causing a search for social support to leave the abuser. Due to not having a job or
not earning enough to support the family; not having a house to move in with the
children; due to children’s needs or to love feelings towards the partner; lack of
family support and nonexistent networks of support, women returned to the
perpetrator. In those days, partner violence against women wasn’t recognized as a
crime or as a social problem. To a certain extent, this temporary turning point and
going back home is caused not only by coercive control practices which promote
social isolation and economic dependency, but also by non-existent social support
networks, annulling an effective turning point in a coercive relationship.
The majority of interviewees asked for organization support due to partner
violence and after the criminalization of domestic violence. At a time of permanent
coercion and violence perpetration, they left the abusive partners and went to a
shelter for victims of domestic violence. Again, women’s discourses highlight the
occurrence of key-episodes and subsequently, turning points, now perceived as
permanent. Women describe the circumstances that made them decide to leave the
abusive partner, specially the occurrence of a violence episode. When a key-
episode occurs, violence had already escalated and women were highly isolated.
For Luisa and Catarina, a quarrel between their husbands and adult children makes
them ask for help and leave the partner. Rita left her partner when, for the first
time, he punched her in front of the children. Luisa, Catarina and Rita’s discourses
stress the fear for their lives and children’s safety, feelings of tiredness and
intolerance to more violence, notion that the partner wouldn’t change and that love
feelings had disappeared. The key-episode is supported by the importance of third
parties, such as children’s school psychologists or private psychologists, a toll free
helpline connected with support organizations and the police. Mariana decided to
leave the partner when her son’s school psychologist advised her to and told her
that she could take the children to a shelter. When Luisa finally decided to leave,
her psychologist called to the helpline. On the morning after being punched, Rita
called to the helpline from her children’s school. Telma searched for support due to
parental violence.
Women’s discourses show the importance of organization support to achieve a
permanent turning point. Throughout the years, women became highly isolated and
the only contact with the outside world is with children’s school or health centres.
After contacting a support organization, most women reported to the police their
 Joana Patrício 39
__________________________________________________________________
case of domestic violence. All interviewees lived in shelters for a period between
one and two years. While living in a shelter, women and young children got
psychological support, received professional training and complete education.
Conjointly with each woman, AMCV’s worked on life projects and in progressive
achievement of autonomy. After getting a job and renting a house, the women left
the shelter. Due to their low qualifications, women got unstable jobs with low
wages; most of them receive financial support from the government.

4. Discussion
This research analysed women’s victimization process by an intimate partner.
Through the years and as children grow up, male partners develop forms of
coercing and controlling their victims and, in some cases, perpetrate physical
violence. Although based on a small number of interviews, women’s discourses
helped to understand victimization as a life course process, interrupted by key
episodes and turning points – temporary or permanent. It is important to
understand the characteristics of coercion to fully perceive the victimization
process, the leaving process and the achievement of a life project after leaving a
shelter.
In an intimate terrorism scenario characterized by the perpetration of high
levels of coercion and control and by the victim’s high levels of isolation and
dependency towards a partner, it is important to highlight the role of support
organizations in women’s achievement of a turning point. For most of the women,
without the organization support and the chance of going to a shelter they would
either be living with the abusive partner or be dead. Furthermore, most women
were not aware of their coercion and victimization situations and as one woman
stated: ‘it is so subtle for the one who is in the relationship.’
Moreover, women’s discourses stress the importance of schools and health
centres to reach domestic violence victims. If violence events and coercion
practices often begin during pregnancy, it is during pregnancy and children’s first
years that women more often have medical appointments. Health care institutions
are an important link to prevent, identify and stop domestic violence situations. As
for education institutions, it is important to distinguish the effects of violence on
children to prevent and stop victimization. This must be taken into account as all
interviewees’ children saw or heard violent events and frequently were victims of
father’s violence.
If intimate terrorism promotes the economic dependency of the victim, in a
period of economic crisis and high unemployment rates it is possible that the
occurrence of a turning point may be deterred. Also, women who leave an abusive
relationship may have an increased risk of poverty, not only for being outside the
labour market and facing unemployment, but also due to the risk of not receiving
economic support for the children from their fathers. Additionally, children may
have a higher risk of having health and learning problems. Coercive behaviours
40 Intimate Partner Violence against Women
__________________________________________________________________
transform women’s lives. Often, women state that they would prefer to be beaten
than to be coerced continuously. The coercive violence characteristics and effects
should be taken into account to fully understand women’s ability to reconstruct
their lives and prevent revictimization, but also, to define criminal convictions of
domestic violence.

Acknowledgements
This research was supported by Grant No. SFRH/BI/33013/2006 by the
Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e a
Tecnologia do Ministério para a Ciência e a Tecnologia). Grant co-funded by
Programa Operacional Potencial Humano/ Fundo Social Europeu (POPH/FSE).

Notes
1
Sistema de Segurança Interna, Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2012.
(Lisbon: Sistema de Segurança Interna, 2013), 46, 87, Viewed 10 April 2013,
http://www.portugal.gov.pt/media/904058/20130327_RASI%202012_vers%C3%
A3o%20final.pdf.
2
Ibid., 87.
3
Michael P. Johnson, ‘Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence: Two
Forms of Violence against Women’, Journal of Marriage and Family 57.2 (1995):
284-285; Michael P. Johnson and Janel M. Leone, ‘The Differential Effects of
Intimate Terrorism and Situational Couple Violence: Findings From the National
Violence against Women Survey’, Journal of Family Issues 26 (2005): 322-324.
4
Michael P. Johnson, A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate Terrorism,
Violent Resistance and Situational Couple Violence (Hanover, London: University
Press of New England, 2008), 5.
5
Ibid., 13.
6
Joan B. Kelly and Michael P. Johnson, ‘Differentiation among Types of Intimate
Partner Violence: Research Update and Implications for Interventions,’ Family
Court Review 46.3 (2008): 482.
7
Johnson, Typology of Domestic Violence, 8, 29.
8
Ibid., 8-9; Ellen Pence and Michael Paymar, Education Groups for Men Who
Batter: The Duluth Model (New York: Springer Publishing, 1993), 2.
9
Johnson, Typology of Domestic Violence, 6.
10
M. C. Black, et al., The National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey
(NISVS): 2010 Summary Report (Atlanta: National Center for Injury Prevention
 Joana Patrício 41
__________________________________________________________________

and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011, 83, Viewed 16
September 2012, http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-
a.pdf.
11
Christopher Krebs, et al., ‘The Association between Different Types of Intimate
Partner Violence Experienced by Women’, Journal of Family Violence 26 (2011):
493.
12
Kristin Carbone-Lopez, Callie M. Rennison and Ross Macmillan, ‘The
Transcendence of Violence across Relationships: New Methods for Understanding
Men’s and Women’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence across the Life
Course’, Journal of Quantitative Criminology 28 (2012): 340.
13
Ibid., 342.
14
Maria S. Lindgren and Barbro Renck, ‘Intimate Partner Violence and the
Leaving Process: Interviews with Abused Women’, International Journal of
Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being 3 (2008): 113.
15
Ibid., 116-118.
16
Ibid., 118-119.
17
Ibid., 119-121.
18
Ibid., 122.
19
Viveka Enander and Carin Holmberg, ‘Why Does She Leave? The Leaving
Process(es) of Battered Women’, Health Care for Women International 29.3
(2008): 212.
20
Judy C. Chang, et al., ‘Understanding Turning Points in Intimate Partner
Violence: Factors and Circumstances Leading Women Victims toward Change’,
Journal of Women’s Health 16.2 (2010): 251-259.
21
Ross Macmillan and Ronda Copher, ‘Families in the Life Course:
Interdependency of Roles, Role Configurations, and Pathways’, Journal of
Marriage and Family 67 (2005): 858, 862.
22
Elizabeth D. Hutchison, ‘A Life Course Perspective’, in Dimensions of Human
Behavior. The Changing Life Course, ed. Elizabeth D. Hutchison (CA: Sage
Publications, 2011), 1-38, Viewed 3 April 2013, http://www.sagepub.com/upm-
data/36521_CLC_Chapter1.pdf.
23
Anna Rönkä, Sanna Oravala and Lea Pulkkinen, ‘Turning Points in Adults’
Lives: The Effects of Gender and the Amount of Choice’, Journal of Adult
Development 10.3 (2003): 204.
24
Chang, et al., ‘Understanding Turning Points’, 251.
25
Pence and Paymar, Education Groups for Men, 186.
26
Johnson, Typology of Domestic Violence, 5-12; Zeev Winstok, ‘Dominance and
Control’, in Partner Violence: A New Paradigm for Understanding Conflict
Escalation, ed. Zeev Winstok (New York, Springer, 2013), 36-38.
42 Intimate Partner Violence against Women
__________________________________________________________________

Bibliography
Black, M.C., K. C. Basile, M. J. Breiding, S. G. Smith, M. L. Walters, M. T.
Merrick, J. Chen, and M. R. Stevens. The National Intimate Partner and Sexual
Violence Survey (NISVS): 2010 Summary Report, Atlanta: National Center for
Injury Prevention and Control, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2011.
Viewed 16 September 2012.
http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pdf/nisvs_report2010-a.pdf.

Carbone-Lopez, Kristin, Callie M. Rennison, and Ross Macmillan. ‘The

Transcendence of Violence Across Relationships: New Methods for Understanding
Men’s and Women’s Experiences of Intimate Partner Violence across the Life
Course’. Journal of Quantitative Criminology 28 (2012): 319-346.

Chang, Judy C., Diane Dado, Lynn Hawker, Patricia A. Cluss, Raquel Buranosky,
Leslie Slagel, Melissa McNeill, and Sarah Hudson Scholle. ‘Understanding
Turning Points in Intimate Partner Violence: Factors and Circumstances Leading
Women Victims toward Change’. Journal of Women’s Health 16.2 (2010): 251-
259.

Enander, Viveka, and Carin Holmberg. ‘Why Does She Leave? The Leaving
Process(es) of Battered Women’. Health Care for Women International 29.3
(2008): 200-226.

Hutchison, Elizabeth D.. ‘A Life Course Perspective’. In Dimensions of Human

Behavior. The Changing Life Course, Elizabeth D. Hutchison, 1-38. CA: Sage
Publications, 2011. Viewed 3 April 2013.
http://www.sagepub.com/upm-data/36521_CLC_Chapter1.pdf.

Johnson, Michael P. ‘Patriarchal Terrorism and Common Couple Violence: Two

Forms of Violence against Women’. Journal of Marriage and Family 57.2 (1995):
283-294.

———. A Typology of Domestic Violence: Intimate Terrorism, Violent Resistance

and Situational Couple Violence. Hanover, London: University Press of New
England, 2008.

Johnson, Michael P., and Janel M. Leone. ‘The Differential Effects of Intimate
Terrorism and Situational Couple Violence: Findings from the National Violence
against Women Survey’. Journal of Family Issues 26 (2005): 322-349.
 Joana Patrício 43
__________________________________________________________________

Kelly, Joana B., and Michael P. Johnson. ‘Differentiation among Types of Intimate
Partner Violence: Research Update and Implications for Interventions’. Family
Court Review 46.3 (2008): 476-499.

Krebs, Christopher, Matthew J. Breiding, Angela Browne, and Tara Warner. ‘The
Association between Different Types of Intimate Partner Violence Experienced by
Women’. Journal of Family Violence 26 (2011): 487-500.

Lindgren, Maria Scheffer, and Barbro Renck. ‘Intimate Partner Violence and the
Leaving Process: Interviews with Abused Women’. International Journal of
Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being 3 (2008): 113-124.

Macmillan, Ross, and Ronda Copher. ‘Families in the Life Course:

Interdependency of Roles, Role Configurations, and Pathways’. Journal of
Marriage and Family 67 (2005): 858-879.

Pence, Ellen, and Michael Paymar. Education Groups for Men Who Batter: The
Duluth Model. New York: Springer Publishing, 1993.

Rönkä, Anna, Sanna Oravala, and Lea Pulkkinen. ‘Turning Points in Adults’
Lives: The Effects of Gender and the Amount of Choice’. Journal of Adult
Development 10.3 (2003): 203-215.

Sistema de Segurança Interna. Relatório Anual de Segurança Interna 2012.

Lisbon: Sistema de Segurança Interna, 2013. Viewed 10 April 2013.
http://www.portugal.gov.pt/media/904058/20130327_RASI%202012_vers%C3%
A3o%20final.pdf.

Winstok, Zeev ‘Dominance and Control’. In Partner Violence. A New Paradigm

for Understanding Conflict Escalation, Zeev Winstok, 35-46. New York, Springer,
2013.

Joana Patrício is a doctoral student in Sociology at Instituto Universitário de

Lisboa (IUL-ISCTE), Centro de Investigação e Estudos de Sociologia (CIES, IUL-
ISCTE), Lisboa, Portugal. Her PhD research focuses on ‘Violence in youth
intimate partner relationships’. [email protected]
 Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice and the Normalization of
Sexual Violence against Boys

Athena Elton
Abstract
Sexualized violence is a taboo subject, something to be avoided and ignored in the
hopes it will disappear. In many countries there are no policies or laws prohibiting
something that ‘doesn’t exist’. This social avoidance or sublimation of the issue
provides an ideal environment for the perpetuation and normalization of sexual
violence directed towards boys, girls, men and women in many countries and
societies. Sexual violence occurs on many levels: first, it affects the psychological
and physical health of both perpetrators and victims; second, it detrimentally
impacts groups of people as it becomes normalized and finally, it can be the
consequence of political manoeuvring on the part of warring combatants, as is the
case in Afghanistan. This chapter will begin with a brief overview of the history of
bacha baazi dancing boys in Afghanistan and their victimization. After, the author
will argue that sexual violence against these boys has been further normalized due
to social avoidance of the issue of sexuality, the separation of women from the
public sphere and positions of influence, and the absence of political support and
lack of law enforcement to combat sexual violence. The chapter concludes that the
practice of owning bacha baazi boys creates a cycle of on-going sexual violence
that has been exacerbated by the continuing conflict, benevolent sexism and social
instability in Afghanistan.

Key Words: Afghanistan, bacha baazi, paedophilia, rape, sexual violence, cycle
of abuse, benevolent sexism, boys, women, gender, feminism, community
development, interdisciplinary approach.

*****

1. Introduction
Male-on-male paedophilic rape in Afghanistan is a serious lingering social
issue that lacks accurate and detailed information and wide-spread awareness
within Afghanistan and in the international community. To generate a greater
cognizance of the issue, this chapter applies an interdisciplinary approach to
examine the underlying structural factors perpetuating male-on-male paedophilic
rape and more specifically the bacha baazi phenomenon.
Interdisciplinary studies allow for multiple voices to be recognized and for a
variety of potential solutions to social problems to be discovered. This is especially
true for multi-faceted societal problems that need solutions which exist beyond
answers commonly available within disciplinary boundaries. Societal problems,
such as the growing practice of male-on-male paedophilic rape of boys in
46 Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice
_________________________________________________________________
Afghanistan, require complex solutions that cover the many factors perpetuating
this violence: the political environment, societal norms and behaviours, and gender
imbalances. By examining the interplay between these different factors, this
chapter highlights the major factors that are contributing to the perpetuation of
paedophilic rape of boys in Afghanistan. Various methods were used to compile
information for this chapter including phenomenological research involving
informal consultation with Afghan nationals, indirect sources such as newspapers,
films and scholarly articles on this issue.
At the time of writing this chapter, there are multiple economic, political,
cultural and religious forces pulling Afghans back and forth from the edge of war.
After over thirty years of on-going combat, political instability, and religious
fundamentalism, Afghanistan has become a hot bed of both political and intimate
violence. While violence in war time is often considered part of the accepted
process of territorial and political disputes; sexual violence occurs only in certain
wars and in certain social environments,1 ironically where sexuality is most heavily
controlled and where women are socially ostracized from the public sphere and
positions of influence. In sum protracted armed conflict and the resulting male
dominated culture has infiltrated the political process regarding victims of sexual
abuse and caused wide-spread legislative support for perpetrators of rape.2 These
political issues combined with social taboos around disclosure of sexuality have
provided a cover for the problem of paedophilic male rape to linger on with
impunity for the perpetrator. In the extreme case, ‘normalized’ male paedophilic
rape has taken the form of owning boys for pleasure, called bacha baazi.

2. Political Context
In Afghanistan, sexual violence in the form of trafficking boys for male
paedophilic sexual exploitation, is named ‘boy play’ or bacha baazi. United
Nations (UN) Representative Radhika Coomaraswamy is quoted as saying:

Very powerful warlords and regional commanders from all the

security forces as well as anti-government forces have young
boys who are taught to dance… in some kind of party situation –
and then they are sexually exploited, sexual abuse of boys. We’re
concerned because it’s sort of considered a sense of power and
strength how many you have to parade.3

Although it is difficult to accurately account for the exact numbers of boys

being bought and sold within Afghanistan, aid workers, journalists and military
personnel, including local Afghans, claim that the numbers are quite high.
According to a popular wedding photographer, bacha baazi boys are dancing at
one out of five weddings occurring in Kabul.4
 Athena Elton 47
__________________________________________________________________
This phenomenon was first documented (in English) by the US Department of
State in a report on Pashtun Sexuality and was instigated because US soldiers had
to interface with local Afghan men, some of whom were exhibiting signs of
‘questionable sexuality’ and the US soldiers needed cultural awareness training on
how to deal with the local populations.5 It was in this report that the bacha baazi
issue was first flagged as a problem worthy of international recognition.
Subsequently, the institutionalization of sexual violence in the name of bacha
baazi was highlighted in a PBS Frontline documentary in 2010, giving the issue
additional credibility as a human rights violation.6 Since then there have been
many accounts by journalists who wrote sensationalist titles such as ‘Warlords and
Paedophilia’ and a plethora of personal blogs by US military personnel
highlighting the horror of sexual violence against boys in Afghanistan.7 The issue
also caught the attention of large international bodies including the United Nations
who established the UN-Afghan pact aimed at curbing the sale of children, and
thereby attempting to cease the bacha baazi boy trade.
In 2008, the Afghan government created a law against human trafficking aimed
at stopping the practice – but the only convictions were against the innocent
victims for ‘participating’ in an illegal act. Recent amnesty legislation in
Afghanistan is to blame for this legal imbalance. Sara Carlson describes how
current Afghan legislation, notably the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration
Program, forgives war criminals and punishes victims of crime.8 This is relevant to
Afghanistan’s political and social conflict resolution because ‘failure to recognize
victims’ rights, while awarding amnesty to past and present war criminals, will
significantly harm the reconciliation process, and ultimately delay the country’s
ability to achieve sustainable peace’9. With international pressure, the Karzai
government has made overt political and legal actions to remedy the negative
publicity resulting from the bacha baazi phenomenon and the laws were again
updated in 2011, but still no perpetrators have been arrested according to the
Afghanistan country report released by the US Department of State as of 2012.10
Due to the lack of legislative action against human slave perpetrators, the US
Department of State downgraded Afghanistan from tier one to tier two in 1012.11
Efforts to reduce the practice of bacha baazi, such as those mentioned above,
have failed because the issue is much larger and more complex than it first appears.
The roots of the issue lay in widespread social discord that policy and legislative
posturing cannot resolve. The US Department of State report claims that there are
three ‘P’s’ to ending human slavery: prevention, prosecution and protection.12
From the perspective of the US Department of State, the solution seems clear:
create laws to protect children and a police force to enforce the law, find the
perpetrators, help the victims ‘… and the issue is solved!’ However, sexual
violence against boys is much more ingrained into the cultural moirés affecting
sexuality, gender and the protracted armed conflict in Afghanistan. For Afghans,
there are two main challenges to resolving human slavery and sexual violence in
48 Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice
_________________________________________________________________
general: first, the unceasing turmoil and conflict that embroils the country leaving
masses of people impoverished and/or vulnerable to perpetrators; and second, male
paedophilic sexual violence has become a normalized (note: not accepted) activity
infused into to the social functioning of Afghan society. The second issue; the
normalization of sexual violence against boys, is related to the war but requires
additional attention because of the sociological complexity of normalized
collective rape.

3. Description of the Bacha Baazi Phenomenon

For a clear picture of how sexual violence and slavery of boys in particular
became ‘normalized’ in Afghanistan, here is an account of how boys are bought
and sold into slavery and why the community, by default, consents to this activity.
The content for following description is a conglomeration of information from
multiple news articles, informal interviews with Afghan nationals, research of
photos released by photojournalists working in Afghanistan and from the highly
publicized Frontline documentary released in 2010.13
Boys typically as young as nine and as old as eighteen are ‘found’ or bought by
wealthy and powerful men. Unfortunately, boys are readily available in an
extremely impoverished country that has been ripped apart by war, there are many
orphans, and since boys (not girls) are acceptable companions to other men in the
public sphere, there is little question when a boy leaves and stays with a man.14 In
the cases where families are aware that their son, brother or nephew is being taken
away, the families (and the boy) are commonly lied to and/or unaware that the boy
will become a sex slave.15 Once owned, the boys are kept as companions and
expected to dance and provide sexual favours. The boys dance at all-male
celebrations and are garishly dressed in women’s clothes and make-up. While
dancing they shake their shoulders and wear bells. The dancing is fully clothed and
might last up to three hours, and when the music stops and the guests leave, the
boys may be sexually violated by one or many men depending on the owner’s
whim. The boys might be killed if they try to leave or if they do not ‘perform’ and
if they do escape and report that they have been kidnapped and raped, they will be
thrown in jail or punished in other ways.16 The boys do not commonly attend
school, and once they become ‘bearded’ and too old, they are typically cast away
and many become social outcasts for the rest of their lives. Drug addiction is a
serious issue for former bacha baazi.17
Although the dancing boys may suffer, the rest of the men attending the
celebration are enjoying an organized celebration with music, dancing, eating,
socializing, and possibly engaging in sexual activities. These are not small events
cloistered away from main stream society. Men of all ages are invited, and it may
be an honour to attend since the hosts are wealthy, powerful and possibly political
players in the local community. The slave owners relish owning the boys since
they have a subordinate companion they control and can go out in public with, and
 Athena Elton 49
__________________________________________________________________
have a ‘boy’ as a status symbol. No one would insinuate that their relationship was
homosexual or against Islam since this would be a direct and potentially dangerous
moral confrontation against the owners. Dichotomously, the owners may express
caring emotion towards their boys and feel their amorous attentions are returned.18
Young male children observe the glamour of these boys and the positive
reinforcement that this is an acceptable activity and an enjoyable experience.19 As
mentioned above, there are laws against human trafficking, but the laws are useless
since some of the local authorities may be in attendance, active supporters of the
practice, and the courts are not in a position to fight the boy’s owners or are
incapable to act against the practice due to corruption.20

4. How Sexual Violence Became Normalized in the Afghan Context

Normalization of sexual violence is a psychological concept used to describe
the belief, in the minds of the perpetrators, that sexual violence (including rape) is
a socially acceptable and ‘normal’ practice.21 In the Journal of Interpersonal
Violence, psychologists Chapleau, Oswald and Russell found that the
normalization of sexual violence usually occurs in perpetrators who believe in
benevolent sexism; the belief that men are superior and the caretakers of ‘lesser’
people such as women and/or other males, and that victims deserve violent abuse
because they are lacking in some way.22 In the case of male-on-male rape,
benevolent sexism is demonstrated as follows: men are supposed to be invincible
and, if a man is raped, he must have showed some unmanly weakness to provoke
or permit the assault.23 The ‘normalization’ process, in the case of the Afghan
bacha baazi phenomena begins with the owners (warlords and wealthy patrons)
exhibiting signs of benevolent sexism towards their ‘boys’, as described
previously. The bacha baazi boy owners appear to convince themselves of a rape
myth ideology, which then feeds into the normalization and perpetuation of the
practice. The rape myth ideology occurs when perpetrators ‘normalize sexual
violence, (they) may not think of such acts as “real rape”.’24 As was documented in
the Frontline documentary, when slave owners were asked if they are homosexual,
they appeared offended and claimed homosexuality would be against Islam, and do
not acknowledge that they commit rape.
From a psychological and sociological standpoint, sexual violence in any form
is problematic for more than the individual victim since research has shown that
men who rape were likely sexually abused, setting up a cycle of abuse and, in the
case of Afghanistan, a culture of normalized sexual violence.25 The Afghan
mentality of male dominated benevolent sexism, coupled with a cultural taboo
regarding sexual disclosure feeds into a cycle of sexual abuse that contributes to a
collective experience of accepting bacha baazi as a socially acceptable practice. At
this juncture, the benefit of an interdisciplinary approach blends the realm of
psychology, ‘normalization of sexual violence’, with the sociological concept of
‘collective rape’.
50 Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice
_________________________________________________________________
5. Normalized Sexual Violence and ‘Collective Rape’
Collective rape is a sociological term used to describe

a pattern of assaults and not simply an aggregate of random

assaults occurring at the same place at the same time. A pattern
of assaults would consist of members of the same group
committing multiple rapes with similar features.26

Collective rape perfectly describes the widespread homosexual paedophilic

rape occurring in Afghanistan, and most specifically in the case of the bacha baazi.
To fulfil the definition of ‘collective rape’ there are prescribed roles that the
paedophiles take on, since the ‘offenders may be agents of a state, political group,
and/or politicized ethnic group’.27 Additionally, collective rape occurs within
countries undergoing extensive conflict or full-out war, as is the case in
Afghanistan. Other characteristics of collective rape that fit the Afghan situation
include: one, victim’s silence; two, broad spread occurrence of the rapes with an
increase in the sheer magnitude of the sexual violence; and three, the perpetrators
have high rank within society and the victims have little or no rank.
As is common in collective rape cases, victim silence in ensured.28 There is
pressure on, and collusion amongst some members of the Afghan community to
continue these bacha baazi dancing celebrations – which look and feel much like
the healthy and brotherly celebrations commonly held by men in Afghanistan.
Neither the police forces nor other governing bodies are able to withstand its on-
going and ever growing prevalence because some of the local police and high level
politicians might attend the performances and/or be involved in the buying, selling
and prostitution of these boys.29 It is, after all, an activity for the wealthy and
powerful men. It is difficult or almost impossible to confront the boy’s owners
since men who have attended the parties, and reported the crime would be charged
with collusion. Reporting this crime is a losing proposition for opponents of the
practice, and for the victims. Collusion amongst the abusers to remain silent within
the accepted social silence regarding sexuality seals the cycle of sexual abuse
closed and uninterrupted.

6. Where Are the Women?

Women are removed from the world of bacha baazi, and this fact is central to
the perpetuation and social acceptance of the practice. Benevolent/ hostile sexism
in Afghanistan contributes to the oppression of women, much as it contributes to
the normalization of sexual violence against boys.30 Psychologists Laurie Rudman
and Peter Glick’s book describes how benevolent/ hostile sexism is part of a male
machismo that shades oppression with a positive brush, but sets up a power
paradigm with the powerful males determining the lives of both women and boys31
The ideology of benevolent sexism which ensures sexual segregation in
 Athena Elton 51
__________________________________________________________________
Afghanistan is so entrenched that there is no recourse for mothers of these boys
and their opposition is silenced before they can be heard.32 As the Frontline
documentary highlights, many bacha baazi owners have wives and their wives
may or may not know about the boys, but this is not a determining factor since
women simply have no power to stop it. These issues are so interrelated, that
combatting the oppression of women, will directly affect the efforts to battle the
practice of bacha baazi.
Benevolent sexism also plays a critical role in the legislation of Afghanistan
which is determining whether or not perpetrators are convicted. Carlson’s report on
the reconciliation and amnesty legislation in Afghanistan demonstrates how the
Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP) which was designed to
reintegrate combatants and ultimately achieve sustainable peace, in practice
protects the male perpetrators of all sex/gender crimes past, present and future.33
Although the legislation appears supportive towards women’s participation and
victim’s protection, in practice it is designed to protect and enforce the privilege of
the powerful males of Afghan society.34

7. Conclusion
There are many voices crying out against human trafficking in Afghanistan: the
UN, the US Department of State, military blogs by soldiers stationed in
Afghanistan, recent academic articles confronting the judicial system that should
be protecting the victims rather than reinforcing the activities of the perpetrators,
and of course there is resistance against this practice within Afghanistan. The
segregation of women from the public sphere in general and governance structures
specifically is a contributing factor to the on-going practice of bacha baazi. The
APRP legislation which in practice protects the perpetrators also plays a large role
in allowing the practice of paedophilic male trafficking, and the bacha baazi
practice specifically. Drawing from the disciplines of psychology and sociology,
this discussion integrated the concept of ‘normalization of sexual violence’ as it
can be understood within the larger social pressures and collusion which is
contributing the growing practice of bacha baazi. This chapter shows that at the
individual level there are psychological issues that contribute to wide-spread
trauma amongst Afghan men and boys which feeds into a cycle of abuse that, when
practiced en masse, results in the larger practice of normalized collective rape. By
uncovering and highlighting the political, psychological and sociological causes of
male-on-male paedophilic rape in Afghanistan, perhaps this will aid in
understanding how the practice of bacha baazi is continuing unabated.
52 Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice
_________________________________________________________________
Notes
1
Elisabeth J. Wood, ‘Variation in Sexual Violence during War,’ Politics and
Society 34.3 (2006): 307.
2
Sara L. Carlson, ‘To Forgive and Forget: How Reconciliation and Amnesty
Legislation in Afghanistan Forgives War Criminals while Forgetting Their
Victims,’ Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs 1.2 (2012): 392.
3
UN News Centre, ‘New UN-Afghan Pact will Help Curb Recruitment, Sexual
Abuse of Children – UN,’ UN News Centre, viewed on February 3, 2011,
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr=afghan&Cr1=&NewsID=37461#.UTZ
KHjCsiSo.
4
Ernesto Londono, ‘Afghanistan Sees Rise in ‘Dancing Boys’ Exploitation,’ The
Washington Post, 4 April 2012, 2.
5
Anna Maria Cardinall, ‘Human Terrain Team (HTT) AF-6 Research Update and
Findings: Pashtun Sexuality,’ US State Department, 2010.
6
PBS, ‘The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan’, Frontline Documentary, April 20,
2010, http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/view/.
7
Craig Smith, ‘Sh, It’s an open Secret: Warlords and Pedophilia,’ New York Times,
2002, viewed on 11 August 2014,
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/21/world/kandahar-journal-shh-it-s-an-open-
secret-warlords-and-pedophilia.html.
8
Carlson, ‘To Forgive and Forget,’ 392.
9
Ibid.
10
U.S. Department of State, Country Narrative: Afghanistan Trafficking in
Persons Report, 2012, viewed on 11 August 2014,
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/192366.htm.
11
Ibid.
12
Ibid.
13
PBS, ‘The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan.’
14
Londono, ‘Afghanistan Sees Rise,’ 2.
15
Carlson, ‘To Forgive and Forget,’ 393.
16
Londono, ‘Afghanistan Sees Rise,’ 2.
17
Barat Ali Batoor, Bacha Baazi Photo Documentary, Accessed May 28, 2013,
http://www.batoor.com/#mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=12&p=0&a=0&at=0.
18
PBS, ‘The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan.’
19
Batoor, Bacha Baazi Photo Documentary.
20
Carlson, ‘To Forgive and Forget,’ 392.
21
KM Chapleau et al., ‘Male Rape Myths: The Role of Gender, Violence and
Sexism,’ Journal of Interpersonal Violence 23.5 (2008): 613.
22
Ibid.
23
Ibid.
 Athena Elton 53
__________________________________________________________________

24
Ibid., 603.
25
Jennifer L. Green, ‘Uncovering Collective Rape: A Comparative Study of
Political Sexual Violence,’ International Journal of Sociology 34.1 (2004): 97-116.
26
Ibid.
27
Ibid., 103.
28
Carlson, ‘To Forgive and Forget,’ 391.
29
Musa Khan Jalalzai, Daniel Pipes (blog), viewed on May 14, 2012,
http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/195605.
30
Hilary M. Lips, ‘Why Gender Is Different: An Intergroup Relationship Shaped
by Power and Attraction,’ Psychology of Women Quarterly 33.4 (2009): 493-494.
31
Rudman, Laurie A., and Peter Glick. The Social Psychology of Gender: How
Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations (London: Guilford Press, 2008), 38.
32
Deniz Kandiyot, ‘Gender in Afghanistan: pragmatic activism’, openDemocracy,
November 2, 2009, 5.
33
Carlson, ‘To Forgive and Forget,’ 391.
34
Kandiyot, ‘Gender in Afghanistan,’ 5.

Bibliography
Batoor, Barat Ali, Bacha Baazi Photo Documentary. Accessed May 28, 2013.
http://www.batoor.com/#a=0&at=0&mi=2&pt=1&pi=10000&s=12&p=0.

Cardinall, Anna Maria, ‘Human Terrain Team (HTT) AF-6 Research Update and
Findings: Pashtun Sexuality,’ US State Department, 2010.

Carlson, Sara L., ‘To Forgive and Forget: How Reconciliation and Amnesty
Legislation in Afghanistan Forgives War Criminals while Forgetting Their
Victims.’ Penn State Journal of Law & International Affairs 1.2 (2012): 390-418.

Chapleau, Kristine M., Debra L. Oswald and Brenda L. Russell, ‘Male Rape
Myths: The Role of Gender, Violence and Sexism.’ Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 23.5 (2008): 600-615.

Green, Jennifer L., ‘Uncovering Collective Rape: A Comparative Study of Political

Sexual Violence.’ International Journal of Sociology 34.1 (2004): 97-116.

Jalalzai, Musa Khan, Male Prostitution in Afghanistan: Daniel Pipes (blog). 14

May 2012.Viewed on March 15, 2012.
http://www.danielpipes.org/comments/195605.
54 Afghanistan’s Bacha Baazi Practice
_________________________________________________________________

Kandiyot, Deniz. ‘Gender in Afghanistan: Pragmatic Activism’. OpenDemocracy,

2 November 2009.

Lips, Hilary M. ‘Why Gender Is Different: An Intergroup Relationship Shaped by

Power and Attraction.’ Psychology of Women Quarterly 33.4 (2009): 493-494.

Londono, Ernesto. ‘Afghanistan Sees Rise in ‘Dancing Boys’ Exploitation’. The

Washington Post, 4 April 2012.

PBS, ‘The Dancing Boys of Afghanistan’, Frontline Documentary, April 20, 2010,
Viewed May 2013. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/dancingboys/view/.

Rudman, Laurie A., and Peter Glick. The Social Psychology of Gender: How
Power and Intimacy Shape Gender Relations. London: Guilford Press, 2008.

Smith, Craig, ‘Sh, It’s an open Secret: Warlords and Pedophilia’, New York Times,
(2002), Viewed on 11 August 2014.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/02/21/world/kandahar-journal-shh-it-s-an-open-
secret-warlords-and-pedophilia.html. Viewed March 2013.

Teten, Andra L., Julie A. Schumacher, Casey T. Taft, Melinda A. Stanley, Thomas
A. Kent, Sara D. Bailey, Nancy Jo Dunn and Donna L. White, ‘Intimate Partner
Aggression Perpetrated and Sustained by Male Afghanistan, Iraq, and Vietnam
Veterans with and without Posttraumatic Stress Disorder.’ Journal of Interpersonal
Violence 25.9 (2010): 1612-1630.

U.S. Department of State, Country Narrative: Afghanistan Trafficking in Persons

Report, 2012. Viewed March 15, 2012.
http://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/2012/192366.htm.

UN News Centre. ‘New UN-Afghan Pact will Help Curb Recruitment, Sexual
Abuse of Children: UN’. UN News Centre, Viewed on 3 February 2011.
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?Cr=afghan&Cr1=&NewsID=37461#.UTZ
KHjCsiSo. Viewed March 12 2012.

Wood, Elisabeth J. ‘Variation in Sexual Violence during War.’ Politics and Society
34.3 (2006): 307-341.

Athena Elton is a private consultant for various social justice and international
development projects.
 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
towards Domestic Violence: An Empirical Evaluation

Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vincent Egan

Abstract
This study aims to assess the reliability and validity of the determinants of a
spirituality questionnaire. We developed the questionnaire based on existing
measurement scales and interviews with social welfare officers in Malaysia. Six
constructs were identified which included: practice of religion, financial problems,
family history, media awareness, spirituality and intention to perpetrate domestic
violence. The total respondents of 320 who had participated in this study were
government servants ranked from professional and non-professional. The SPSS
19.0 for Windows was used to analyse the data. The data obtained was further
tested for scale reliability and exploratory factor analysis (EFA). EFA produced a
52-item measure from the government servant sample, with a six constructs result.
The reliability assessments of scale were found satisfactory; being 0.9 for family
history, media awareness, spirituality and intention to perpetrate domestic
violence; 0.8 for financial problems; and 0.7 for practice of religion. The results
showed 6 constructs and 52 items represented the theoretical model.

Key Words: Domestic violence, reliability, exploratory factor analysis,

questionnaire.

*****

1. Introduction
The literature on spirituality and domestic violence (DV) had been long-
established1 regardless of whether you are perpetrator or victim of DV.2 From a
theistic perspective spirituality is defined as a way of life, beliefs and practice
towards a meaningful life, connection with higher power, a sense of profound inner
peace, and focus on the transcendent.3 Ostensibly, spirituality is a significant
consoling influence on victims of DV, providing huge strength, a coping
mechanism, a source of comfort, empowerment, healing and inner peace for its
victims.4 If spirituality can bring comfort and inner peace to victims of DV,5 how
does spirituality affect the DV perpetrator; does it prevent further intention to
commit violence from occur?
Previous research has found that men who attend their regular or weekly
religious prayers or events6 and women who made attendance at least once a
month7 were less likely to be involved in the perpetration of DV. Nevertheless,
research has also shown that religion does not have a significant or direct influence
on the existence of intimate partner violence.8 Thus Todhunter and Deaton stated
that religious and spiritual factors among domestic violence perpetrators remain
56 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
__________________________________________________________________
unclear.9 DV is strongly predicted by beliefs and intentions to perform the act.10
The purpose of this study is to identify the determinants of spirituality towards
intention to perpetrate DV focusing on intimate partner violence among
government servants in Malaysia. This is because, based on the statistics calculated
by the Social Welfare Department in Malaysia, involvement of government
servants as DV perpetrators has increased within the last five years.11 Moreover,
research on spirituality and DV has been mostly conducted in a western context;
this study will focus in a non-western context, in particular Malaysia.
The study will focus on the actual practice of religion believed to be an
important factor in the individual lives of persons who are religiously observant.12
Marks found that religious practice by both parents can positively influence
children later in their lives.13 Religion can strengthen bonding and promote
closeness within the family. Thus, family history is explicable in the way children
build their spirituality beliefs. Financial problems are another concern as poor
economic circumstances are commonly identified as one of the factors that cause
domestic violence.14 As economic conditions improve, couple violence reduces.15
Nevertheless, South East Asian countries such as Thailand remain bound to
traditionalism; despite having their own financial resources, wives are still
confronted with various types of DV.16 The media is potentially important on this
matter focusing on inappropriate relationships (e.g., infidelity) believed to underlie
conflicts leading to DV.17 Evidence also indicates that DV has negative
consequences on a victims' employment, obstructing steady employment as well as
interfering with greater economic independence.18 This study intends to examine
the reliability and validity of measured determinants of spirituality to develop a
model for testing spiritual values and the intention to perpetrate DV, and by further
seeking answers to the following research questions: Are the practice of religion,
family history, financial problems and media awareness qualified as determinants
of spirituality towards the intention to perpetrate DV? And, how these factors
integrate as a model? The variables chosen as constructs in this study are expected
to be suitable for the hypothetical model proposed. The next section explains the
method used which is then, followed by the results and discussion, conclusion and
finally, the implications of the study.

2. Method
A. Measurement Scales
The concepts in this study were tested based on existing literature and
information obtained from a semi-structured interview. Three constructs were
adapted from the standardised scales assessing spirituality, practice of religion and
intention to perpetrate DV. The spirituality construct was adapted from the Daily
Spiritual Experience Scale by Underwood19 representing nine items. The construct
of practice of religion consists of seven items adapted from The Religious
Background and Behaviours Questionnaire20 and finally, eleven items representing
 Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vincent Egan 57
__________________________________________________________________
an intention to perpetrate DV that, were adapted from Conflict Tactics Scale.21 The
other three constructs were derived from literatures.22 The semi-structured
interview addressed financial problems over representing seven items, ten items
concerning family history, and eight items regarding awareness of the media.
Overall, there were 52 test items which includes seven sections looking at
demographic background (Section A), practice of religion (Section B), financial
problems (Section C), family history (Section D), media awareness (Section E),
spirituality (Section F) and intention to perpetrate domestic violence (Section G).
Section A required participants’ to report on information such as gender, ethnicity,
age, marital status, academic qualification, religion, total income, profession,
partner’s profession, permanent resident, physical/health status, information on
alcohol consumption, and information on any counselling session, if they have
attended. For Section B, participants were asked to rate the items according to what
extent each of the statements apply from a range 1(never), 2 (once a month), 3
(once a week), 4 (almost daily) and 5 (more than once a day). An example item is
‘Thought about God’. For Section C-G, participants responded on a 5-point Likert
Scale from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). These are the example items
for section C-G: Section C (financial problems) – ‘I am not satisfied with my
income’. Section D (family history) – ‘I saw my parents/guardian pray’. Section E
(media awareness) – ‘I have watched television programme on spirituality’.
Section F (spirituality) – ‘I feel God’s presence’. Section G (domestic
violence) – ‘I will insult or swear at my partner if I have an argument with my
partner’.

B. Generated Items
To generate new items, semi-structured interviews were conducted with three
social welfare officers on 13-14 September 2012. Two of the officers were the
Chief Assistant Director and Assistant Director of Planning and Development
Division. Both of them served at the headquarters of Department of Social Welfare
(DSW) in Malaysia. The third officer served as a Social Welfare Officer (Senior)
in DSW at the state level. These officers are well-trained and deal directly with DV
cases under DSW. The lists of open-ended questions along with the items
generated and extracted from the literature were presented to the officers. In return,
they provided statistics for cases reported, and they also confirmed with the list of
existing items that have been proposed for this study.

C. Instrument
The original version of the study survey was written in English and included
positive and negative items. Participants responded using a Likert scale with 5-
points ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). This was translated
into the Malaysian national language and tested. At the initial stage of the study,
the translation and cultural adaptation of the spirituality test were considered. In
58 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
__________________________________________________________________
order to validate the scale, firstly, we translated the scale into Malay, retranslated
and followed this by checking validity, reliability and appropriate consideration of
the scale for government servants. It was then reintegrated into one translated
version before being blind back-translated into English. This was thoroughly
reviewed by a bilingual Malaysian academic, and by a single native English
speaker fluent in spoken and written Malay who had substantial experience as a
manuscript reviewer. In addition, the content of every item of the spirituality test
was evaluated by academics, supervisors, lecturers from Malaysia, and the
aforementioned three social welfare officers who were experts in domestic
violence.

D. Ethical Considerations, Procedure and Participants

Researchers applied and obtained permission to conduct the study before
distribution of the questionnaire was carried out. The government servants were
approached and invited to complete questionnaires voluntarily. Participants were
explained about their rights, the purpose of the study and were given the
opportunity to ask any questions they had regarding the study. All the
questionnaires were handed out and obtained during office hours. The participants
comprised of professional and non-professional and were recruited based on their
availability. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed, out of which only 348
were returned. Three-hundred and twenty (92%) of these scales were fully
completed. Twenty eight participants did not complete the questionnaires, and,
therefore, were excluded from the study.

E. Items Purification
SPSS 19.0 for Windows was employed for this study. Data cleansing was
conducted. This involved conducting alpha reliability analyses, item-to-total
correlation and exploratory factor analysis (EFA) to evaluate the internal
consistency of all items and the structure of the data.23 Bearden, Hardesty and
Randall stated that for item-to-total correlation, the statistical criteria for item
retention should be above 0.35. The statistical criteria for a good coefficient alpha
should be above 0.7.24
An EFA was conducted to test the factorial structure of the items. This began
by examining the general properties of data (descriptive statistics) comprising the
absolute sample size, the correlation coefficient in the correlation matrix, and the
sampling adequacy.25 To assure that the quantity of observations per item for every
analysis was at least 5:1; items were divided into groups.26 The principal
component analysis technique was performed to decrease the amount of items, and
to extract factors. To examine the factorability of items, anti-image matrices and
two other indicators were conducted; the Kaiser-Meyer-Olin (KMO) Measure of
Sampling Adequacy was very good (0.912) and Bartlett’s Test of Sphericity
(p<0.001), indicated satisfactory factorability within the data. Subsequently,
 Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vincent Egan 59
__________________________________________________________________
evaluation of factorial solutions was carried out. All measurement scales reached
acceptable reliability (coefficient alpha>0.70) and the data also exhibited clear
factor structures.

3. Results and Discussions

A. Spirituality
The internal consistency reliability of this construct demonstrated satisfactory
result of α=0.958. Item-to-total correlation is found to be higher than 0.35.
Therefore, each item was retained for the assessment of dimensionality in the
subsequent EFA. The items clearly loaded on one factor.

B. Practice of Religion
The coefficient alpha was satisfactory (α=0.772). The item-to-total correlation
was over the critical value of 0.35. The EFA result revealed that they loaded on
two factors. All of the items were retained since they were adapted from
standardized questionnaire.

C. Financial Problems
The coefficient alpha result was found to be satisfactory (α=0.813). The item-
to-total-correlation was above 0.35 with the exception of one item, financial
problems (FPRO1) which was at 0.024. The item is maintained since the EFA
result clearly loaded on one factor and the internal consistency reliability was
considered high.

D. Family History
The item-to-total correlation of every item was over 0.35. The coefficient alpha
was a satisfactorily high at α=0.935. The EFA result for dimensionality of the
items revealed that they clearly loaded on one factor.

E. Media Awareness
The item-to-total correlation of every item was above 0.35 and coefficient
alpha was at α=0.949. As for the dimensionality of the items, the EFA result
indicated that items loaded on one factor and subsequently all items were retained.

F. Intention to Perpetrate Domestic Violence

The coefficient alpha for this construct was α=0.968. The item-to-total
correlation was above 0.35, with the EFA results clearly loading on one factor, so
all the items are maintained.

4. Conclusions and Implications

The broader objective of this study is to identify whether the practice of
religion, financial problems, family history and media awareness are determinants
60 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
__________________________________________________________________
of intention to perpetrate DV among government servants. The results presented
here indicate that the proposed model for measuring determinants of spirituality is
acceptable, and can be used to later predict intention to perpetrate DV.
This study is expected to contribute in verifying the concept and
operationalization of constructs, replicating previous studies. This study also
examines if the dimensions and concepts of spirituality, practicality and awareness
can be recovered in a culturally different population. Even though the constructs
used in this research have been well-defined in previous studies, there is limited
knowledge about their fundamental dimensions in a different cultural setting. This
study showed their reliability and validity consistent with the research by
Todhunter and Deaton. Furthermore, this study objectively stated the views of
Malaysian government servants for the most significant dimensions of constructs
tested. Theoretically, it also suggests evidence about the construct validity and
reliability of previous scales and how resilient they are to cultural difference.
Finally, this study further extends the current knowledge by re-assessing
previous studies by several researchers on spirituality and DV perpetration.27
In conclusion, this study introduces a standard measurement to measure
spirituality towards DV perpetration in Malaysian context.

Notes
1
Harold Koenig, Spirituality and Health Research-Methods, Measurement,
Statistics and Resources (Pennsylvania: Templeton Press, 2011), 14; Heidi Levitt
and Kimberly Ware, ‘Religious Leaders’ Perspectives on Marriage, Divorce, and
Intimate Partner Violence,’ Psychology of Women Quarterly 30 (2006): 212-222.
2
Christopher Ellison and Kristin Anderson, ‘Religious Involvement and Domestic
Violence among U.S. Couples,’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40.2
(2001): 269-286.
3
Dawnovise Fowler and Hope Hill, ‘Social Support and Spirituality as Culturally
Relevant Factors in Coping Among African American Women Survivors of
Partner Abuse,’ Violence Against Women 10 (2004): 1267-1282; Karolyn Elizabeth
Senter and Karen Caldwell, ‘Spirituality and the Maintenance of Change: A
Phenomenological Study of Women Who Leave Abusive Relationships,’ Journal
of Contemporary Family Therapy 24.4 (2002): 543-564; Lynn Underwood, ‘The
Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Overview and Results,’ Religions 2 (2011): 29-
50.
4
Tricia Bent-Goodley and Dawnovise Fowler, ‘Spiritual and Religious Abuse:
Expanding What is Known About Domestic Violence,’ Affilia 21 (2006): 282-295;
Tameka Gillum, Chris Sullivan and Deborah Bybee, ‘The Importance of
Spirituality in the Lives of Domestic Violence Survivors,’ Violence Against
Women 12 (2006): 240-250; Deborah Ridley Brome, et al., ‘An Examination of
 Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vincent Egan 61
__________________________________________________________________

Spirituality among African American Women in Recovery From Substance

Abuse,’ Journal of Black Psychology 26 (2000): 470-486.
5
Bent-Goodley and Fowler, ‘Spiritual and Religious Abuse,’ 282-295.
6
Carol Cunradi, Raul Caetano and John Schafer, ‘Religious Affiliation,
Denominational Homogamy, and Intimate Partner Violence among U.S. Couples,’
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41.1 (2002): 139-151.
7
Ellison and Anderson, ‘Religious Involvement and Domestic Violence,’ 269.
8
Cunradi, Caetano and Schafer, ‘Religious Affiliation,’ 139.
9
Robbin Todhunter and John Deaton, ‘The Relationship between Religious and
Spiritual Factors and the Perpetration of Intimate Personal Violence,’ Journal of
Family Violence 25 (2010): 745-753.
10
Robin Nabi, Brian Southwell and Robert Hornik, ‘Predicting Intentions versus
Predicting Behaviours: Domestic Violence Prevention from a Theory of Reasoned
Action Perspective,’ Health Communication 14:4 (2002): 429-449.
11
Department of Social Welfare (2012). Viewed on 10 September 2012.
http://www.jkm.gov.my.
12
Loren Marks, ‘Religion and Family Relational Health: An Overview and
Conceptual Model,’ Journal of Religion and Health 45.4 (2006): 603-618.
13
Ibid.
14
Sylvia Asay, ‘Awareness of Domestic Violence Within the Evangelical
Community: Romania and Moldova,’ Journal of Family Violence 26 (2011): 131-
138.
15
Jennifer Matjasko, Phyllis Holditch Niolon and Linda Anne Valle, ‘The Role of
Economic Factors and Economic Support in Preventing and Escaping From
Intimate Partner Violence,’ Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (2013):
122-128.
16
Xiaohe Xu, Kent Kerley and Bangon Sirisunyaluck, ‘Understanding Gender and
Domestic Violence from a Sample of Married Women in Urban Thailand,’ Journal
of Family Issues 32.6 (2011): 791-819.
17
Asay, ‘Awareness of Domestic Violence,’ 131-138.
18
Angela Moe and Myrtle Bell, ‘Abject Economics: The Effects of Battering and
Violence on Women’s Work and Employability,’ Journal of Violence Against
Women 10.1 (2004): 29-55; Jennifer Swanberg, Mamta Ojha and Caroline Macke,
‘State Employment Protection Statutes for Victims of Domestic Violence Public
Policy’s Response to Domestic Violence as an Employment Matter,’ Journal of
Interpersonal Violence 27.3 (2012): 587-619.
19
Underwood, ‘The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale,’ 32.
20
Gerard Connors, Scott Tonigan and William Miller, ‘A Measure of Religious
Background and Behaviour for Use in Behaviour Change Research,’ Psychology of
Addictive Behaviors 10 (1996): 90-96.
62 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
__________________________________________________________________

21
Murray Straus, et al., ‘The Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2):
Developmental and Preliminary Psychometric Data,’ Journal of Family Issues 17
(1996): 283-316.
22
Bruce Hunsberger and L.B. Brown, ‘Religious Socialization, Apostasy, and the
Impact of Family Background,’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 23.3
(1984): 239-251; Hamidreza Roohafza, et al., ‘Development and Validation of the
Stressful Life Event Questionnaire,’ International Journal of Public Health 56
(2011): 441-448; S.H. Hosseini, ‘Religion and Media, Religious Media or Media
Religion: Theoretical Studies,’ Journal of Media and Religion 7 (2008): 56-69.
23
William Bearden, David Hardesty and Rose Randall, ‘Consumer Self-
Confidence: Refinements in Conceptualization and Measurement,’ Journal of
Consumer Research 28.1 (2001): 121-134.
24
Andy Field. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS (London: Sage Publications,
2009), 675.
25
Joseph Hair, et al., Multivariate Data Analysis: A Global Perspective (London:
Prentice-Hall, 2010), 104.
26
Tamer Cavusgil and Shaoming Zou, ‘Marketing Strategy-Performance
Relationship: An Investigation in Empirical Link in Export Market Ventures,’
Journal of Marketing 58. 1 (1994): 1-21.
27
Todhunter and Deaton, ‘Relationship Between Religious and Spiritual Factors,’
751; Nancy Nason-Clark, ‘When Terror Strikes at Home: The Interface Between
Religion and Domestic Violence,’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43. 3
(2004): 303-310; Ellison and Anderson, ‘Religious Involvement and Domestic
Violence,’ 282; Christopher Ellison, John Bartkowski, and Kristin Anderson, ‘Are
There Religious Variations in Domestic Violence?,’ Journal of Family Issues 20
(1999): 87.

Bibliography
Asay, Sylvia. ‘Awareness of Domestic Violence Within the Evangelical
Community: Romania and Moldova.’ Journal of Family Violence 26 (2011): 131-
138.

Bearden, William, David Hardesty and Rose Randall. ‘Consumer Self-Confidence:

Refinements in Conceptualization and Measurement.’ Journal of Consumer
Research 28.1 (2001): 121-134.

Bent-Goodley, Tricia and Dawnovise Fowler. ‘Spiritual and Religious Abuse:

Expanding What is Known About Domestic Violence.’ Affilia 21(2006): 282-295.
 Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vincent Egan 63
__________________________________________________________________

Brome, Deborah Ridley, Michelle Deaneen Owens, Karen Allen and Tinaz
Vevaina. ‘An Examination of Spirituality among African American Women in
Recovery From Substance Abuse.’ Journal of Black Psychology 26 (2000): 470-
486.

Cavusgil, Tamer and Shaoming Zou. ‘Marketing Strategy-Performance

Relationship: An Investigation in Empirical Link in Export Market Ventures.’
Journal of Marketing 58.1 (1994): 1-21.

Connors, Gerard, Scott Tonigan and William Miller. ‘A Measure of Religious

Background and Behaviour for Use in Behaviour Change Research.’ Psychology of
Addictive Behaviors 10 (1996): 90-96.

Cunradi, Carol, Raul Caetano and John Schafer. ‘Religious Affiliation,

Denominational Homogamy, and Intimate Partner Violence among U.S. Couples.’
Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 41.1 (2002): 139-151.

Department of Social Welfare (2012). Viewed on 10 September 2012.

http://www.jkm.gov.my.

Ellison, Christopher and Kristin Anderson. ‘Religious Involvement and Domestic

Violence among U.S. Couples.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 40.2
(2001): 269-286.

Ellison, Christopher, John Bartkowski and Kristin Anderson. ‘Are There Religious
Variations in Domestic Violence?’ Journal of Family Issues 20 (1999): 87-113.

Field, Andy. Discovering Statistics Using SPSS. London: Sage Publications, 2009.

Fowler, Dawnovise and Hope Hill. ‘Social Support and Spirituality as Culturally
Relevant Factors in Coping Among African American Women Survivors of
Partner Abuse.’ Violence Against Women 10 (2004): 1267-1282.

Gillum, Tameka, Cris Sullivan and Deborah Bybee. ‘The Importance of

Spirituality in the Lives of Domestic Violence Survivors.’ Violence Against
Women 12 (2006): 240-250.

Hair, Joseph, William Black, Barry Babin and Rolph Anderson. Multivariate Data
Analysis: A Global Perspective. London: Prentice-Hall, 2010.
64 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
__________________________________________________________________

Hosseini, S. H. ‘Religion and Media, Religious Media or Media Religion:

Theoretical Studies.’ Journal of Media and Religion 7 (2008): 56-69.

Hunsberger, Bruce and L.B. Brown. ‘Religious Socialization, Apostasy, and the
Impact of Family Background.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 23.3
(1984): 239-251.

Koenig, Harold. Spirituality and Health Research-Methods, Measurement,

Statistics and Resources. Pennsylvania: Templeton Press, 2011.

Levitt, Heidi and Kimberly Ware. ‘Religious Leaders’ Perspectives on Marriage,

Divorce, and Intimate Partner Violence.’ Psychology of Women Quarterly 30
(2006): 212-222.

Marks, Loren. ‘Religion and Family Relational Health: An Overview and

Conceptual Model.’ Journal of Religion and Health 45.4 (2006): 603-618.

Matjasko, Jennifer, Phyllis Holditch Niolon and Linda Anne Valle. ‘The Role of
Economic Factors and Economic Support in Preventing and Escaping From
Intimate Partner Violence.’ Journal of Policy Analysis and Management (2013):
122-128.

Moe, Angela and Myrtle Bell. ‘Abject Economics: The Effects of Battering and
Violence on Women’s Work and Employability.’ Journal of Violence Against
Women 10.1 (2004): 29-55.

Nabi, Robin, Brian Southwell and Robert Hornik. ‘Predicting Intentions versus
Predicting Behaviours: Domestic Violence Prevention from a Theory of Reasoned
Action Perspective.’ Health Communication 14:4 (2002): 429-449.

Nason-Clark, Nancy. ‘When Terror Strikes at Home: The Interface Between

Religion and Domestic Violence.’ Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 43.3
(2004): 303-310.

Roohafza, Hamidreza, Mohammadarash Ramezani, Masoumeh Sadeghi, Maryam

Shahnam, Behzad Zolfagari and Nizal Sarafzadegan. ‘Development and Validation
of the Stressful Life Event Questionnaire.’ International Journal of Public Health
56 (2011): 441-448.
 Suzila Ismail, Robyn E. Holliday and Vincent Egan 65
__________________________________________________________________

Senter, Karolyn Elizabeth and Karen Caldwell. ‘Spirituality and the Maintenance
of Change: A Phenomenological Study of Women Who Leave Abusive
Relationships.’ Journal of Contemporary Family Therapy 24.4 (2002): 543-564.

Straus, Murray, Sherry Hamby, Sue Boney-McCoy and David Sugarman. ‘The
Revised Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2): Developmental and Preliminary
Psychometric Data.’ Journal of Family Issues 17 (1996): 283-316.

Swanberg, Jennifer, Mamta Ojha and Caroline Macke. ‘State Employment

Protection Statutes for Victims of Domestic Violence Public Policy’s Response to
Domestic Violence as an Employment Matter.’ Journal of Interpersonal Violence
27.3 (2012): 587-619.

Todhunter, Robbin and John Deaton. ‘The Relationship Between Religious and
Spiritual Factors and the Perpetration of Intimate Personal Violence.’ Journal of
Family Violence 25 (2010): 745-753.

Underwood, Lynn. ‘The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Overview and Results.’
Religions 2 (2011): 29-50.

Xu, Xiaohe, Kent Kerley and Bangon Sirisunyaluck. ‘Understanding Gender and
Domestic Violence from a Sample of Married Women in Urban Thailand.’ Journal
of Family Issues 32.6 (2011): 791-819.

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express a very great appreciation to Dr. John Maltby
from College of Medicine, Biological Sciences and Psychology, University of
Leicester for his valuable and constructive suggestions during the planning and
development of this research work.

Suzila Ismail is an academic tutor at Universiti Utara Malaysia and a registered

counsellor in Malaysia. She is currently pursuing her PhD in University of
Leicester, United Kingdom.

Robyn E. Holliday is Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Leicester,

United Kingdom. She holds an Honours degree and a PhD in experimental,
forensic and developmental psychology from the University of Newcastle,
Australia. Her current research interests on the processes underlying true and false
memories across the lifespan, particularly of children and the elderly.
66 A Proposed Model for Measuring Determinants of Spirituality
__________________________________________________________________

Vincent Egan is Associate professor in Forensic Psychology Practice, Department

of Psychiatry, University of Nottingham. He is a Chartered Clinical and Chartered
Forensic Psychologist, and has published nearly 100 academic papers and book
chapters. Most of these are accessible via: http://tinyurl.com/vincegancitations.
 Part II:

Urban Violence: Crime and Fear

in the Contemporary World
 Casualties of War: An Analysis of the Increase Violence in
Puerto Rico and Its Relation to the Drug Business

Alexis Rodríguez-Ramos
Abstract
Puerto Rico has had a violent-crime increase in recent years. Its murder rate today
is 23 per 100,0001 people, about five times that of the United States. In 2011, the
number of murders was 1,136, a record number for the relatively small Caribbean
island. The government report that 35% of this murders are related to the drug
trafficking business. But criminologist, sociologist, social psychologists and other
academics argued that this number can be as high as 75% of the cases. Since 1985,
there has been concern in the academia about the increasing number of murders
related to the drug trafficking business. But the government of Puerto Rico in the
last decades has adopted, consistently with the ‘war on drugs’ approach of the
United States, a punitive and persecutory approach to deal with the drug business
problem. Rather than reduce the murder rate, this ‘strong hand’ perspective against
crime is responsible for the proliferation and increment of murders in recent years.
Using the Police and the National Guard, the government clamps down on the drug
selling points, typically located in the public housing projects, limiting the space of
the business, forcing the drug dealers to compete violently for a limited market.
This chapter will analyse; 1) how this so called ‘strong hand’ approach have
contributed to the increment of the murders in the last decades instead of reducing
it; 2) why there was no real concern from the government or lack of public opinion
when the escalation of murders began in the 1980s; 3) who are the victims or
casualties of conflict when the government assumed a war like approach to deal
with the drug trafficking business problem; and 4) the chapter examine the
alternatives to deal with the drug business problem and the benefits related to this
alternatives.

Key Words: Violence, crime, murders, drug business.

*****

On the early hours of November 30, 2012, four persons: two men and two
women kidnapped a 32 years old publicist named Jose Enrique Gomez. They took
him to an ATM machine and forced him to take out $400. Later, the four persons,
driving Jose Enrique’s car, stopped in a gas station and bought a gallon of
gasoline. They took Jose Enrique to a remote an old, abandoned prison grounds,
beat him with metal sticks they found around, tried to burn him with the gasoline
they have bought and left him to death. Jose Enrique died slowly as a consequence
of the multiple traumas that he had received. His death caused a public outroar for
justice. People in Puerto Rico began taking pictures of themselves with signs that
70 Casualties of War
__________________________________________________________________
read ‘Todos somos Jose Enrique’ which means ‘We are all Jose Enrique’,
symbolizing that they could have been the ones to be murdered. The movement
transcends the frontiers of the Island as Puerto Ricans all over the world began to
post their photos on Facebook with the sign. Even international pop star singer
Ricky Martin posted a photo of himself in support of the movement. On December
14 on the same year, people organized a march for peace as a way to remember
Jose Enrique. Also, people started a boycott against the number one national show,
a gossip show name Super Xclusivo, when the host of the show insinuated that
Jose Enrique dead has been his own fault because he was seeking drugs and/or the
services of prostitutes. Because of the boycott, the show was cancelled after 15
years of running successfully on air.
On December 17, 2012, three days after the march for peace in honour of Jose
Enrique, four men tried to kidnapped 34 years old Erick Adams. When Adams
realizes the intention of the men, he tried to take refuge in his home. The four men
follow him and started to shoot, killing him inside the house. As part of the
shooting that kill Erik Adams, the bullets also take the life of his 11 year old
nephew, Christian Nieves Adams. Subsequently, there was no public uproar for
justice, no movement in the social networks, no boycotts to national shows. There
were no marches in the memory of the slain. Not even for the young boy. As a
matter of fact, people were hesitant to cooperate in the investigation of the case.
An almost immediately, their murders were forgotten and became just one more
number in the murder statistics of the island.
What was the difference between Jose Enrique and Erik Adams? The
difference was simple: at the moment of his dead, Erik Adams was under house
arrest since June 15 because he was accused of violating the Controlled Substance
Act. As Captain Rolando Trinidad, Director of Homicide in the Criminal
Investigation Unit of San Juan, state when interview by a newspaper: ‘ When
people choose a path unrelated to the law and turn away from it, they know they
will face at one point a possible act of violence against them.’2 And this is an
important difference between these two people, Jose Enrique represents the law
abiding innocent citizen and Erick Adams represents the polar opposite, the
criminal evil person whose fate is of no concern to us. As a person posted in her
Facebook at the time of Jose Enrique’s murder ‘I don’t care if they kill between
themselves, I am worried because they kill one of ours.’ In this sense, there are two
different considerations towards people, if they are part of us, they matter, if they
are not, what happened to them is not our concern.
To understand how this way of thinking takes place in the island, we need to
discuss first some social characteristics of Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico is a non
incorporated territory of the United States of America. It has its own Constitution,
which allows for limited powers within the country, but all issues and power of
decision concerning foreign and commercial relations, currency, customs, among
others, were given to the United States government in 1952. Since then, Puerto
 Alexis Rodríguez-Ramos 71
__________________________________________________________________
Rico is in a kind of political and economic limbo, being neither a sovereign
country nor part of the United States, and under US policies. One of the policies
imposed by the US government is the so called ‘War on Drugs’.
In Puerto Rico, the War on Drugs policy was implemented more severely than
before in the 1990s. After January of 1993, a month that registered a record
number of murders in a month with 104 murders, Pedro Rosselló González,
recently elected governor and president of the New Progressive Party, a political
party that promotes the statehood for Puerto Rico, implanted the Strong Hand
Against Crime strategy. This plan began with the occupation of 80 of the 322
public housing projects in Puerto Rico. The premise of the plan was that the public
housing projects were the focus of criminal activity, as they were the places
associated with the drug trafficking business in the island. Since 1985, a year that
registered 583 murders, there has been concern with the relation between the drug
business and the increment in murders. In 1985, it was estimated that 90% of the
murders were related to the war for the control of drug selling points.3 So in the
90’s, the plan was to intervene, with the police and the National Guard, as a way
to neutralize the war for the drug business. The intention was that this intervention
will reduce or eliminate the violence related to the drug business. But the
intervention has had the opposite effect. Instead of reducing the murder rate in the
island, it has increased it. In 1994, a year after the plan was implemented, the year
ended with 995 murders, a new record for murders in a year. Since then, the
number of murders by the year has been consistent, fluctuating between 700 and
800 murders per year.
In January 2009, Governor Luis Fortuño, also from the New Progressive Party,
assumes power of the government and implemented his strategy against crime. The
strategy, named ‘Strike to the Drug Selling Points’, was similar to the one
Governor Rosselló González implanted in the 90s. Governor Fortuño organized a
special group within the police, assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations, to
capture the known drug lords and dismantled their criminal organizations. And
once again the use of this reactive approach has had the opposite effect. With
capture of two of the most important drug lords in Puerto Rico, José David
Figueroa Agosto aka’Junior Cápsula’ and Ángel Manuel Ayala Vázquez aka
‘Angelo Millones’, the number of murders escalated as a consequence of the war
between lieutenants and other members of the organization who wanted to claim
control of the business. In 2011, a new record of murders in a year was set with the
total of 1,136 murders. During the term of Luis Fortuño, from 2009 to 2012, there
were a total of 3,962 murders reported, making it the bloodiest four year term in
the history of Puerto Rico. According to statistics from the Puerto Rico Police,
from 1993 to 2012, the years of the so called ‘Strong Hand Approach’, the
numbers of murders in the island rose to 16,456. These two approaches, invading
the public housing projects and destabilizing the drug organizations have had the
same effect: rather than eliminate or reduce the violence, they relocated the drug
72 Casualties of War
__________________________________________________________________
problem to other areas, promoting a war between the newcomers and the people
who were already there. The most significant outcome of these confrontations is
the escalation of murders and violence in general.
One interesting question that emerges when we analyse the increase in
violence, particularly the rise in the numbers of murders that occur in a year, is
why the government continues to use the same strategy over and over again when
there is evidence that this strategy doesn’t work. A possible answer can be
provided when we analyze who is been murdered. The majority of murder cases in
Puerto Rico are of young men between the ages of 17 to 25 years, poor, non-white,
most of them school dropouts with a ninth grade education, who receive
government benefits and live in public housing projects or underprivileged
neighbourhoods, and are part, in some way, of the drug business. The people that
fit in this profile are considered criminal subjects, and therefore, responsible for
their own tragic fates. So, if these are the people who are dying, for the rest of the
law abiding citizens, they are looking for trouble and they deserve to be killed.
This way of thinking is not openly expressed but makes us think if this is the
government plan all along. In other words, what if the governments, who can’t get
rid of these people in a directly form, have simply created the economic and
political conditions so that these people kill each other? To further this argument
would like to discuss the difference between Power and Violence as elaborated by
Hannah Arendt.
According to Arendt, Power belongs to a group, and it will remain with it as
long the group remains in existence, as long as the group stays together. Violence,
on the other hand, is distinguished by its instrumental character. ‘Power springs up
whenever people get together and act in concert, but it derives its legitimacy from
the initial getting together rather than from any action that then may follow.
Legitimacy, when challenged, bases itself on an appeal to the past, while
justification relates to an end that lies in the future. Violence can be justifiable, but
it never will be legitimate.’4 In other words, governments can’t exercise violence
against its own citizens without a justification because this action would threaten
their power.
In her book On Violence, when discussing the dynamics of black riots that took
place in the United States in the 1960s, and the police backlash that follows it,
Arendt explains that, if violence always needs justification, an escalation of the
violence in the streets may bring out a truly racist ideology to justify it. ‘The
climate of opinion in the country might deteriorate to the point where a majority of
its citizens would be willing to pay the price of the invisible terror of a police state
for law and order in the streets.’5 The same can be said about the violence in
Puerto Rico. When the perception of violence increases and the public opinion
believe that the source of the violence are the less privilege sections of society, any
measure of control, such as the invasion of the public housing projects, the use of
video cameras in public spaces or limiting the right to bail during a criminal trial
 Alexis Rodríguez-Ramos 73
__________________________________________________________________
are tolerated by the society at large. But as Arendt warned, ‘the practice of
violence, like all action, changes the world, but the most probable change is to a
more violent world.’6
This is why there was no real concern from the government or the public
opinion when the escalation of murders begins in the 1980s. Those who were
dying, in the collective imaginary of the society, deserve to die because they were
breaking the law. But when people outside these social groups become victims of
crimes, it promoted a campaign against violence as if the phenomena were
something that has worsened recently. Following the work of Slavoj Žižek, it can
be argued that the reason for this is the fact that there are types of violent actions
that have become part of the ‘normal’ everyday life and because of this they
became almost invisible. Žižek establishes that there are differences between
subjective violence and objective violence. The subjective violence is the most
visible and it is seemed as a perturbation of the ‘normal,’ peaceful state of things,
meanwhile, the objective violence is the violence inherent to the ‘normal’ state of
things, usually embodied in language and its forms, as symbolic violence, or as a
consequence of the economic and political system, as systemic violence. In the
case of this discussion, the murders of young, poor, uneducated men between 17
and 25 years who are from public housing project or underprivileged
neighbourhoods as part of a continued war for the control of the drug business are
part of the ‘normal’ state of things, but the murder of a young middle-high class
publicist, for example, is something that is outside of the ‘normal’ state of things.
In the words of Žižek

when we perceive something as an act of violence, we measure it

by a presupposed standard of what the ‘normal’ non-violent
situation is- and the highest form of violence is the imposition of
this standard with reference to which some events appear as
‘violent.’7

Žižek uses a concept from psychoanalyst Jaques Lacan to explain how people
can have a knowledge of something that can be considered horrible, but somehow
they continue to live their life in complete normality. Žižek explains:

‘Imagine the effect of having to watch a snuff movie portraying

what goes on thousands of times a day around the world: brutal
acts of torture, the picking out of eyes, the crushing of testicles -
the list cannot bear recounting. Would the watcher be able to
continue going on as usual? Yes, but only if he or she were able
somehow to forget - in an act which suspended symbolic
efficiency - what had been witnessed. This forgetting entails a
gesture of what is called fetishist disavowal: ‘I know, but I don’t
74 Casualties of War
__________________________________________________________________
want to know that I know, so I don’t know.’ I know it, but I
refuse to fully assume the consequences of this knowledge, so
that I can continue acting as if I don’t know it.’8

And this is exactly what happens in Puerto Rico. People know that murders
take place everyday but they don’t want to know as long the victims of these
murders are people who are not like them. When someone who has the same social
background as them gets murdered, then they want to deal with the problem. But
the solutions that they want for dealing with the problem are always related with
severe laws and long sentences to drug related crimes. If there is something to
learn from the last 20 years of experience is that a punitive and reactive approach
doesn’t work. Drug prohibition only worsens the problem and other possibilities
need to be explored.
One of these possibilities is the decriminalization of drugs. In the short term,
this initiative can help to change our vision of the drug user as a criminal and allow
us to conceive him as human beings. In Puerto Rico, the sentence for possession of
any drug is three years of incarceration. Each year of imprisonment cost the Puerto
Rican tax payer’s $40,000, for a total of $120,000 for the three years that a person
convicted for drug possession has to stay in prison. So in the long term, the savings
resulting from the decriminalization of drugs, not only the savings from
imprisonment but also the savings from the judicial process, can be used to
improve the education system and contribute to solve the social inequality issues
that are related to violence.
Decriminalization should be a first step toward legalization and regulation of
drugs. How many more lives have to be lost before we recognize that the ‘War on
Drugs’ has failed? The decriminalization debate in Puerto Rico has just begun, but
the fact that Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Ohio,
Oregon, Rhode Island and Vermont has decriminalized marijuana, and Colorado
and Washington fully legalized it, made us believe that decriminalization of
marijuana could be a good first step. Medicalization of cocaine and heroin should
be the next logical step, and finally, as mentioned before, legalization and
regulation of drugs, similar to alcohol and tobacco regulation. This can reduce, or
even eliminate the drug trafficking business, or at least, make it less profitable.
The drug related problems, including the murders for the control of the drug
business, are less rooted in moral issues and more in socio-economical
circumstances. Until we start addressing the economic and social differences
between people in Puerto Rico, as well in other parts of the globe, we would never
solve the violence problem. When we stop considering that some lives have more
value than others and we realize that every murder is a tragedy, only then we can
start the long road of reducing the murder numbers and the violence in Puerto
Rico.
 Alexis Rodríguez-Ramos 75
__________________________________________________________________
Notes
1
Sheilla Rodríguez Madera and Salvador Santiago Negrón, La violencia:
opcionespara su mitigación (USA: Terranova Editores, 2012), 19.
2
El Nuevo Día. Poca cooperación para esclarecer caso de asesinato de niño y su
tío en Cupey. December 18, 2012.
3
Rodríguez Madera and Santiago Negrón, La violencia, 118.
4
Hannah Arendt, On Violence (San Diego: Harvest Book, Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1970), 64.
5
Ibid., 77.
6
Ibid., 80.
7
Slavoj Žižek, Violence: Six Sideways Reflections (New York: Picador, 2008), 64.
8
Ibid., 53.

Bibliography
Arendt, Hannah. On Violence. San Diego: Harvest Book, Harcourt Brace &
Company, 1970.

Rodríguez Madera, Sheilla and Salvador Santiago Negrón. La violencia: opciones

para su mitigación. USA: Terranova Editores. 2012.

Žižek, Slavoj. Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. New York: Picador. 2008.

Alexis Rodríguez-Ramos is a PhD candidate in Social Psychology and a Research

Assistant at the Social Research Center at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio
Piedras Campus. Also, he is currently a lecturer at Sacred Heart University in San
Juan, Puerto Rico.
 The Account of Urban Violence: Numbers, Statements and
Omissions in a Marginalized Brazilian Community

Natália De’Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes

Abstract
This chapter is based on the statement that urban public spaces are under constant
transformation and that it is extremely difficult to pinpoint the causes which
determine the experience of fear and the perception of urban insecurity. This last
matter has given rise to various different ways of interpreting what a safe city
should really be like. When considering the relationship between violence and the
perception of insecurity, which is not always a direct one, it is possible to observe
the clear contradiction between official figures and the everyday experiences of
fear among citizens. Therefore, researchers wonder whether there are any
appropriate indicators to measure a city’s safety and whether low homicide figures
are enough to consider an urban environment as safe. Through a recent social-
spatial investigation carried out in the district of Santo Amaro in the Brazilian city
of Recife, in which we linked public space with fear, it has become apparent that
there is no direct relation between official statistics on urban criminality and the
perception of fear felt by that community’s inhabitants. Therefore it seems
necessary to rethink the true factors that cause citizens to feel fear in a city, as well
as the relationship between real violence and perceived violence.

Key Words: Urban violence, public space, fear in the city, urban criminality,
urban insecurity, statistics of crime, safe city, marginalized city, Santo Amaro,
Brazil.

*****

1. Safe City versus Unsafe City

Based on the ideal of urban public spaces as an environment for all that is
communal, accessible and visible,1 we could assert that the deterioration of these
three requirements has impoverished citizens’ lives and led to increased violence in
our cities.
While public space has been conceived as a communal space, the community
has been able to watch over and take care of it. In recent decades, however, public
spaces have been abandoned and are becoming an increasingly strange and foreign
place; one fraught with peril, where only violence and conflicts can arise. But
nowadays, to defend public areas as places that symbolize the community has, in
some cases, become a reactionary and almost fundamentalist vindication.2 In
opposition to this way of understanding space, Doreen Massey suggests a global
sense of space; the creation of a place in which different people can meet, not
necessarily in a violent way.3 The phenomenon of public spaces being rejected and
78 The Account of Urban Violence
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abandoned by the community has cast a shadow over all areas that remained open
and accessible to the public. As a result, the public spaces have gradually been
closed and have ended up turning the city into a cemetery of dead spaces with no
means of connection. The concept of a flowing city, open to all of its citizens
people has been replaced by a city of walls and barriers where free spaces are rare,
terribly tortuous and hidden. In the words of Sloterdijk, we might say that public
spaces have become ‘places with no self’, all of which has encouraged violence
and caused citizens to fear crossing them.4

These places may have their own atmosphere, but their existence
does not depend on ordinary neighbourly ties or on a collective
self that is rooted within them. It is typical for them not to retain
their visitors or passers-by. They are nobody’s places – as
opposed to everybody’s places –, sometimes bustling, sometimes
empty; deserts of traffic that proliferate in centres with no
nucleus and hybrid peripheries of contemporary society.5

But this process of closing up our cities is nothing new. According to

Sloterdijk, humanity is born of a phenomenon of isolation that is a topological
mystery and in which the role of the isolator has yet to be clarified.6
However, cities as an operationally effective immunological unit have been
surpassed in the modern immunization process.7 This modern project has designed,
slowly but surely throughout the last few centuries, a city where the image of what
is communal has been left undrawn.8 If one of the main reasons for this
immunization was precisely to achieve safer cities, we must not forget that it has
all been carried out through a vast process of domestication and normalization,
ultimately leading to privatization, standardization and control, not only of spaces,
but also of citizens’ lifestyles. In the words of Roberto Esposito ‘today, more than
ever, the demand for safety has become a truly obsessive syndrome’.9 However,

it is not that the threshold for danger awareness has got higher. It
is rather as if the normal relationship between danger and
protection had been inverted. It is no longer the presence of
danger that creates a need for protection, but the demand for
protection that generates an artificial sense of danger.10

With this dizzying rise in violence, fear and terror, our public spaces have been
transformed into unsafe spaces, not merely because they are no longer seen nor felt
to be community territory and as they have been broken up and closed; but because
their main principle has been destroyed: the principle of publicity and
transparency. If public space is a place where messages are transmitted freely, we
must also be aware that the information we receive in these spaces and from these
 Natália De’ Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes 79
__________________________________________________________________
spaces is not innocent. As Esposito argues ‘language is not, therefore, a transparent
surface, a mere vehicle of mediation by means of which certain contents or
messages can be transmitted. It is, on the contrary, something that divides reality
according to a certain logic or, in the words of Foucault, to ‘effects’ of power that
are present and operate in every corner of our social context.’11
In this sense, statistics should act as an instrument leading us closer to
comprehending social-spatial reality, as a scientific tool to understand a society’s
general features; instead statistics end up taking us further away from that
understanding.
Thus, our concern in using statistical data to analyse urban public space and its
link to criminality12 is caused by the discussion regarding whether statistical data
can truly represent ‘real’ crime, or it is used instead to construct imaginary social
patterns that depict urban public space as a place of danger and criminality. For
Foucault statistics should be understood as part of the disciplinary power and as a
key element for the technology of power in modern States.13 Criminal statistics are
no exception to this argument. Generally, studies on criminality are based on the
precept that statistics barely represent a fraction of total crime. This is so because,
often, the victims of criminal acts do not report them to the police, or perpetrators
often manage to hide their the people who commit violent acts often manage to
hide them. According to Caldeira, one of the main reasons why people do not
report a robbery or aggression to the Brazilian police is that they do not believe
them capable of solving the problem or that they fear the police’s well known and
brutal repressive attitude.14 Moreover, these individuals are so close to the figure of
homo sacer15 that their chances of filing a complaint or claim are very low due to
their situation of absolute social exclusion. This supports Canetti’s ideas in Mass
and power as he warns us of the importance of language when it comes to
constituting subjects.16 In this sense, it is ‘language – not only verbal, but also
gestures, born in the world where the instincts of defence and attack originate –
that creates subjects, insofar as that it situates them within a specific context and,
therefore, in a place inevitably marked by relationships of strength and
predominance, of inequality and asymmetry, of submission and dominance’.17
Another aspect of this problem arises from the methodology used in the gathering,
processing and interpretation of statistical data related to criminality. In this sense,
there are clear contradictions between the composition and trends of the figures in
the data provided – or produced – by the police and in victimization surveys. Thus,
we are faced with the concept of ‘language as a machine producing inequality and
submission. Not as a solution, but as an expression of violence; or at least of a
certain type of violence’.18
80 The Account of Urban Violence
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2. Santo Amaro, Recife: Whitewashing the Image of a Stigmatized
Community
Violence and crime have always existed, ever since the urban beginnings of
Santo Amaro in the Brazilian city of Recife. The settlement of Santo Amaro, which
dates back to 1950, was initially situated in a city area susceptible to flooding,
where the first mocambos were constructed (this being the name given to the
spontaneous buildings made of wood and covered with straw). It is currently home
to 31,407 inhabitants and 54% of the district’s population lives in precarious areas,
namely, the ZEIS Santo Amaro and ZEIS João de Barros (Areas of Special Social
Interest located within the district’s boundaries). Santo Amaro is the district with
the greatest number of people living in what could be considered favelas (slums),
and more specifically the ZEIS Santo Amaro covers 37,45 hectares (10,32% of the
district’s surface) where 13,943 inhabitants continue to live in the poorest living
conditions.
Given that this was an area difficult to access by the police, the presence of
bandits and delinquents would soon mark the mythography of its urban history.
The district’s violence has also been bound to drug trafficking, to the proliferation
of fire arms, and to the most diverse and varied criminal manifestations.
The situation of social exclusion19 and stigmatization characterize this shanty
town and accentuate the vulnerability and risks suffered by the population it
houses. This situation of real risk to the population is brought about by a complex
array of causes and effects in which the main victims are children and young
people. Absorbed from a very early age by drug trafficking, they are increasingly
exposed to violence – whether in internal disputes between criminal organizations
or in police attacks –, acting as true street shields.
Until recently, the shanty town of Santo Amaro returned one of the highest
criminality rates in Brazil, making it one of the most unsafe and dangerous districts
in the country. Brazil has a rate of 25.6 homicides a year per hundred thousand
inhabitants; and ranks third in Latin America.
According to the Map of Violence of Brazilian cities, since 2003, Brazil has
gradually reduced its rate of deaths due to aggression.20 Nevertheless, in some
geographical areas violence continues to be a frequent problem in Brazilians’
everyday life.21 In the specific case of Santo Amaro district, between 2005 and
2006, criminality rates reached their peak with 72 homicides that year which
dropped in subsequent years until 2011; in 2011, a slight increase was registered. It
must be highlighted that these data refer to a population of less than 31,407
inhabitants, placing the mortality rate at 108.25 homicides per hundred thousand
inhabitants. This figure dropped spectacularly in 2011 when 44.57 homicides per
hundred thousand inhabitants were registered. The extent of violence in the area
was evident. Not only violent crimes were frequent; so was the abuse and violence
employed by the institutions responsible for fighting crime and protecting the
population. This situation of violence and criminality was the result of an
 Natália De’ Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes 81
__________________________________________________________________
extremely complex process that combined factors such as urban insecurity, lack of
access to services and infrastructure, poverty and social inequality, drug
trafficking, and very poor living conditions. All this gave rise to the social-spatial,
cultural and economic phenomena that is so closely linked to the Santo Amaro’s
area. Furthermore, the discredit of the legal system as a public mediator in conflicts
and a provider of justice, and the violent conduct of the police also add to this
complex network of factors that can be used as justification for both the
encouragement and the rejection of criminal action in Santo Amaro.
The people of Santo Amaro perceive fear as an integral part of their everyday
lives. The stigma of marginalization and the triviality with which the public
administration has approached this problem for many years, evading their
responsibility and involvement, have led its population to give up all hope of any
change. Nevertheless, the State of Pernambuco suggested the implementation of a
Public Safety Programme, better known as the Pact for Life.22 The main aim of this
Programme, which came into force in May 2007, was to reduce homicide figures
in the State of Pernambuco by 12%.23 In order to put this reduction in criminality
to the test, the Programme chose the district of Santo Amaro as its main area of
action. The excellent results in reducing the number of homicides made news
headlines. Santo Amaro went from being a violent shanty town feared by outsiders
– due to its reputation associated with death, drugs, disputes, shootings, weapons
and conflict – to being widely acknowledged as a ‘safe district’, thanks to the State
Government’s campaign and consequent results in reducing homicide.

3. Recounting Violence: The Reduction in Violence Rates and the Perception

of Fear in the Public Space of Santo Amaro
The difficulty in recounting what occurs in these marginalized Latin American
areas has driven us to venture out in search of the direct testimony of their
inhabitants. In this sense, thanks to a set of interviews24 with some of the local
local inhabitants, we soon discovered that, although the State Government
continues to insist on the excellent results of the Pact for Life Programme and on
the subsequent reduction in Santo Amaro’s homicide rates, the fear and perception
of insecurity remain firmly present in the stories of its inhabitants.
The voices and discourses of the people of this shanty town transmit
experiences and records of violence that are difficult to measure in terms of
statistical numbers. These forms of violence – often silenced, hidden or barely
revealed – reveal different aspects: from the loss of community ties to its stigma as
a violent district. Santo Amaro’s interviewees speak of police abuse, of the
presence of drug trafficking and of the perception of insecurity throughout the
entire district, as well as of the impossibility of making use of public spaces.
The area’s ‘new bandit’ – the drug dealer – has evolved into an image that
differs substantially from that of the old bandits operating in Santo Amaro. This
almost nostalgic memory of the ‘valiant’ in the community takes us back to a more
82 The Account of Urban Violence
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group-focused Santo Amaro, more communal, and possibly one that has been
idealized over time, but in any case, a Santo Amaro in which neighbourly ties were
better valued and encouraged by informal power.25
The impact of the new violent environment is truly difficult to appraise. As a
consequence of the violent environment, people wish to remain anonymous and try
to live a normal life away from the drug trafficking and run-ins with the police.
Violence only enhances the discredit and fear of security forces.
Another issue criticized by the inhabitants is the relative nature of the
Government’s Safety Plan, the Pact for Life, asserting that it is nothing but an
agreement between dealers, politicians and the police forces,

What I feel is that there is an agreement between the police

and the bandits to avoid deaths. Because, if deaths are caused
by firearms, the statistics on violence that the Government
seeks to hide increase. So the drug dealing can go on; they
will simply turn a blind eye as they have always done. But if
there are deaths, then that is not good enough, because the
statistics rise. (E.S, male, aged 45)

This excerpt shows how the interviewee suspects that the Government plan
intends to hide violence by reducing the number of homicides. The procedure is
fairly logical: if what places a city on the list of the most violent is the number of
homicides, then by reducing this number, the city will be removed from that list.
However, this does not take into account that fear and violence are not merely the
product of a homicide rates. For the local man interviewed it is clear that there is a
pact between the police and the traffickers. This unwritten and informal agreement
consists of the following: if the traffickers reduce the number of the murdered
victims, the police reduce their activity against drug dealing.26 Thus, drug dealing
continues to spread, representing an informal power that is less and less communal
and increasingly violent, contrasting with the type of crime that Santo Amaro was
used to. In the words of this woman from Santo Amaro:

In the last ten years things have changed considerably. Drug

trafficking has increased, as has access to easy money, you
see? That was when the fight for power began. Some wanted
to sell more than others, to have more power, to mark their
territory. That is how it all began, gradually growing and
growing to reach the situation we are in today, where even
children are involved. (Dn, female, aged 36)

The effects of violence by both powers (formal and informal; police and
traffickers) are suffered by the citizens, often leaving countless negative memories:
 Natália De’ Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes 83
__________________________________________________________________
humiliation, violations of their rights and violent situations in which they were
forced to remain silent, hide, and move on. On the one hand there is the threat of
the informal power, on the other the police is a failed institution in which the
people can no longer trust. This situation subjects the inhabitants of Santo Amaro
‘to a double stigmatization and a double fear: outside their place of residence they
are considered traffickers or accomplices, and inside they are always a potential
informer for the police’.27
The urban experiences lived by these inhabitants have acquired a note of fear
and danger: anyone can be a potential criminal and, therefore, anyone can be a
potential victim of the unpredictable threats of the public space. But on top of this
are the lack of faith in the future, mistrust in political institutions and the volatility
of protection networks, generating an identity in which risk awareness and
subjective experiences of fear are taking over the everyday urban life.

4. Screaming to be Heard: The Battle against Violence

Garagalza tells us that ‘the natural freedom of exercising violence is only offset
by the fear that anyone else can exercise it too’.28 It is sad to think that our
relationships are still governed by violent clashes, and that it is underlying fear that
regulates, and maintains, the threat of violence from one side or the other: there is
no freedom because there threats and fear are predominant. In this sense, it seems
clear that the solution to problems such as the lack of safety in Latin American
cities cannot be found in the giving up of freedom, forcing citizens to be cooped up
in their homes, nor can it be found in denying that this absence of safety exists.
This attempt to conceal what goes on behind statistical rates has been reinforced in
recent years by a police strategy that has diminished the essence of public spaces in
our cities. As a consequence, by reducing environments for co-existence and
conflict or by controlling social events and exchanges, citizens have been forced to
flee, abandoning urban space. One question arises: when will we stop using
statistical data as absolute truths, overlooking the real fears and perceptions of the
population?
In short, we believe that in order to overcome or reduce fear perceptions in
Santo Amaro, or in Latin American countries, in general, there has to be more city,
more citizenship and more public spaces that tolerate differences and reject social
inequality. Urban violence continues to exist in Latin America, especially in
marginalized communities. The solution for this problem is not an easy one and
each of the governments is taking a different approach. In the case of Brazil, its
position as an emerging country is granting it considerable opportunities to resolve
the issue of violence linked to marginalization and poverty. Forthcoming
international events such as the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games
must not be used to mask the country’s misery, because no matter how hard the
government tries to ignore, manipulate or conceal the violence and fear that linger
on our streets, it will not cease to exist.
84 The Account of Urban Violence
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We are convinced that the more public a space is, the more free and safe is the
society that shares it. If, as we suggested in the introduction of this chapter, public
space is to be a place for all that is communal, accessible and visible to all, perhaps
we should insist on the latter condition in order to make the first two possible. We
are aware that this cannot be an isolated initiative, and that countless political
measures and programmes will have to be implemented in order to reduce the
feeling and perception of fear. Nevertheless, there is a chance that making the
voice of the inhabitants of Latin America’s marginalized areas heard over the
discourse of power could be the cure for violence and fear, portraying alternative
images to those shown by outsiders.

Notes
1
Nora Rabotnikof. En busca de un lugar común: el espacio público en la teoría
política contemporánea (Mexico: UNA, 2005), 45-60.
2
Massey raises the question of ‘how to uphold a notion of geographical difference,
of unity, even of rooting (if the people so desire), without being reactionary’
Doreen Massey, ‘Um sentido global do lugar’, O espaço da diferença, ed. Antunes
Arantes (São Paulo: Camara Brasileira do Livro, 2000), 121.
3
Ibid.
4
Peter Sloterdijk, Esferas II. Globos: Macrosferología (Madrid: Siruela, 2004),
867.
5
Ibid.
6
Peter Sloterdijk, Esferas III. Espumas. Esferología plural (Madrid: Siruela,
2006), 275.
7
Ibid.
8
In this sense, Sloterdijk himself asks: ‘can we already state that modern ‘society’
represents a group of traitors to the group?’ Ibid., 409.
9
Roberto Esposito, Comunidad y violencia (Madrid: Conferencia en el Círculo de
Bellas Artes), viewed 5 March 2009,
http://www.circulobellasartes.com/mediateca.php?id=7392.
10
Ibid.
11
Roberto Esposito, ‘Lenguaje y violencia entre Benjamin y Canetti, Daimon,’
Revista de Filosofía 38 (2006): 62.
12
The specific case of the district of Santo Amaro, Recife, Brazil.
13
Michel Foucault, Vigilar y castigar (Madrid: Siglo XXI, 2007), 35-89.
14
Teresa Caldeira, Ciudad de Muros (Barcelona: Gedisa, 2007).
15
See the essay Homo sacer in which Giorgio Agamben reflects on this figure with
a socially bare life. Following the ideas of Agamben, Zizek states that ‘It is not
enough to list current examples of Homo sacer: the sans papiers in France, the
inhabitants of the favelas (slums) in Brazil, the African American population in the
 Natália De’ Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes 85
__________________________________________________________________

United States’ ghettos, etc. It is absolutely crucial to complete this list with a
humanitarian aspect: perhaps all those considered as receivers of humanitarian help
are emblematic figures of today’s Homo sacer.’ Slavoj Žižek, Bienvenidos al
desierto de lo real (Madrid: Akal, 2008) 75-76.
16
Esposito, hand in hand with Canetti, states that ‘it is not the subjects that
construct and use language, but rather it is language that constitutes and runs
through them.’ Esposito, ‘Lenguaje y violencia entre Benjamin y Canetti, Daimon’,
62.
17
Ibid.
18
Ibid., 63.
19
Social exclusion is extremely difficult to measure. Indicators such as irregularity,
illegality, poverty, low schooling rates, gender, origin and, mainly, lack of
citizenship, which can help us to assess both its scope and intensity.
20
Julio Jacobo Waiselfisz, Map of Violence of Brazil 2013 (Rio de Janeiro: Centro
de Estudios Latinoamericanos, 2012) 12, publishing, author.
21
Venezuela ranks first - 52 homicides per hundred thousand inhabitants -,
followed by Colombia, with 33 homicides per hundred thousand inhabitants. It is
interesting to point out the rates in Argentina and Chile, with only 3.5 and 1.5
homicides per hundred thousand inhabitants, respectively (OAS – the Organization
of American States. Viewed on 11 August 2014,
http://www.oas.org/dsp/espanol/cpo-observatorio-estadisticas.asp.
22
The main purpose of Pact for Life programme was to prevent and reduce
violence and criminality. To achieve this, the State of Pernambuco divided its
territory into 217 safety management areas and once a week, the responsible for
each area would meet to present their results. As a result, there was Overall, this
action led to an absolute improvement in criminal statistics collection. José Maria
Nóbrega Júnior, Homicídios no Nordeste: dinâmica, relações causais e
desmistificação da violência homicida (Paraíba: Ed UFCG, 2012). 22.
23
Ibid., 31.
24
The interviews were conducted by De’Carli in December 2012 and January
2013. The sample of interviewees is constituted by 25 individuals from Santo
Amaro, each having resided in the district for over than 20 years. The interview
guide focused interviewees’ experiences in the district area. Although, the
interview guide didn’t refer to experiences of violence or perceptions of insecurity,
the issues of violence, fear, insecurity and criminality soon cropped up
spontaneously in their stories (the informants’ discourses and stories). Regarding
this matter, it is important to underline the difficulty that faced interview these
individuals, because they flatly refuse to be interviewed, but also because they
were afraid of future reprisals, not knowing what the interviewer would do with the
information. Furthermore, it is no easy task to enter a shanty town wrought with
86 The Account of Urban Violence
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disputes on drug trafficking and deep social problems, as the researcher could be a
potential informer for the police or for a drug trafficking organization.
25
All of this reminds us of the idea taken by Maffesoli from the famous essay
written by Louis Wirth on the ghettos of 1928. For Maffesoli, the old ghetto was
not just a space of safety, a kind of ‘family pen’, but one its inhabitants found ‘a
language, routine rituals, circles of friends... altogether, the familiarity that makes
life bearable.’ In short, the ghettos offered the stability of a structure made up of
‘small groups’ and, above all, ‘the emotional environment that comes as a result of
it all.’ Michel Maffesoli, El tiempo de las tribus. El ocaso del individualismo en las
sociedades posmodernas (Mexico: Siglo XXI, 2004).
26
Although we do not have clear proof of this, the concept frequently crops up in
the statements by the district’s inhabitants.
27
Natália De’Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes, ‘An Inhuman Eco-Limit: Fear
and Social-Spatial Segregation,’ In Fear within Melting Boundaries (Oxford: Inter-
Disciplinary Press, 2011), 176.
28
Luis Garagalza, ‘La modernidad y el problema del mal. Las relaciones entre
cultura, envidia y violencia’ Revista Antropos - 45 (2009): 87.

Bibliography
Agamben, Giorgio. Homo sacer. Valencia: Pre-Textos, 1998.

Albet, Abel and Nuria Benach. Doreen Massey: El sentido global del lugar.
Barcelona: Icaria, 2012.

Bosch, Lolita. ‘Contar la violencia’. Babelia - El País, 8 August 2009.

Caldeira, Teresa. Ciudad de Muros. Barcelona: Gedisa, 2007.

Canetti, Elías. Masa y Poder. Barcelona: Galaxia Gutenberg, Círculo de Lectores,

2002.

Esposito, Roberto. ‘Comunidad y violencia.’ Madrd: Revista Minerva, 2009.

Viewed 5 March 2009.
http://www.circulobellasartes.com/mediateca.php?id=7392.

———. ‘Lenguaje y violencia entre Benjamin y Canetti’, en Daimon’ Revista de

Filosofía 38 (2006): 61-69.

Foucault, Michel. Vigilar y castigar. Madrid: Siglo XXI, 2007.

 Natália De’ Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes 87
__________________________________________________________________

Garagalza, Luis. ‘La modernidad y el problema del mal. Las relaciones entre
cultura, envidia y violencia.’ Revista Antropos - Violencia colectiva y extrañeidad.
La otredad como ámbito de una complejidad negada, 2009.

Giddens, Anthony. La transformación de la intimidad. Madrid: Cátedra, 1995.

Maffesoli, Michel. El tiempo de las tribus. El ocaso del individualismo en las

sociedades posmodernas. Mexico: Siglo XXI, 2004.

Melo, Ericka. ‘E Santo Amaro se acalmou’ Soluçoes. Ed.1. Viewed 13 March

2013. http://vivapernambuco.com.br/site/index.php/artigos/127-e-santo-amaro-se-
acalmou?format=pdf.

Mendoza, Elmer. ‘Dueños de la calle’. Babelia - El País, 8 August 2009.

Nóbrega Júnior, José Maria. Homicídios noNordeste: dinâmica, relações causais e

desmistificação da violência homicida. Paraiba: Ed. UFCG, 2012.

Ortiz Guitart, Anna. ‘El espacio del miedo’ In Ciudad y Genero: experiencias y
percepciones en algunos barrios de Barcelona, 2004. Viewed 5 October 2009.
http://www.uib.es/ggu/pdf_VII%20COLOQUIO/25_ORTIZ_espaciosdelmiedo.pdf

Ray, Larry. Violence & Society. London: SAGE, 2011.

Rabotnikof, Nora. En busca de un lugar común: el espacio público en la teoría

política contemporánea. Mexico: UNA, 2005.

Reguillo, Rosanna. ‘Los laberintos del miedo. Un recorrido para fin e siglo’.
Revista de Estudios Sociales, 5, 63-72, 2000.

Saborit, Pere. Vidas adosada. El miedo a los semejantes en la sociedad

contemporánea. Barcelona: Anagrama, 2006.

Sloterdijk, Peter. Esferas II. Globos. Macrosferología. Madrid: Siruela, 2004.

———. Esferas III. Espumas. Esferología plural. Madrid: Siruela, 2006.

Wirth, Louis. Le ghetto. París: Champ Urbain, 1980.

Žižek, Slavoj. Bienvenidos al desierto de lo real. Madrid: Akal, 2008.

88 The Account of Urban Violence
__________________________________________________________________

Acknowledgements
Natália De’Carli and Mariano Pérez Humanes wish to thank Zita Thompson for her
translation of this chapter.

Natália De’Carli Honorary Research at the Department of History, Theory and

Architectural Composition at the University of Seville. PhD in Architecture.
Master in City and Sustainable Architecture at the same institution. Researches
public spaces, urban violence and social-spatial segregation.
[email protected]

Mariano Perez Humanes PhD in Architecture and Professor of the Department of

History, Theory and Composition Architecture at the University of Seville, Spain,
and member of Out_Arquias research group.
[email protected] - http://outarquias.wordpress.com/
 Violence and Youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories:
Gaza Strip Case Study (2000-2012)

Ibrahim Natil
Abstract
The purpose of this chapter is to study the phenomena of violence among the
Palestinian youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories- OPT. The study will take
Gaza Strip as a case to examine the violence among youth aged 15-30 years old.
Youth are considered the major segment of the society. They are crucially
influential in driving the society in peace or conflict. Youth are the backbone, and
the engine for the society change. The chapter will examine also the efforts and
activities delivered by a number of local organisations and international agency to
educate youth on dialogue, tolerance and reconciliation at the social and the
political levels. The chapter will examine the role of youth in disseminating culture
of social change in rebuilding mutual trust, reconciliation, building capacities for
conflict resistance, empowering marginalized parties and launching joint
development policies and strategies. The chapter will consider a number of social,
economic and political factors, circumstances and changes that have influenced the
use of youth for violence in the OPT (2000-2012).

Key Words: Palestinian Youth, Gaza Strip, historical background, Israeli

Occupation, social and political context, violence, peace process, non-
violent Movement.

*****

1. Historical and Political Context

From 1517 to 1917, the Ottoman Empire ruled Palestine, including the Gaza
Strip, for four centuries until the British army invaded during the First World War
and subsequently controlled the region. The British Mandate continued from 1917
to 1948. During this period, the rise of Palestinian national identity resisted the
British Mandate and its administrative system of 1917, as a result of power
changes during the First World War. The Zionist movement also used the suffering
of Jews in Europe to intensify their immigration to Palestine, until war erupted
between Jews and Arabs in 1948. On 15 May 1948, the Jews defeated the Arabs
and established their own state over 78 per cent of historical Palestine. The creation
of Israel redefined the map of the Middle East, following the forced expulsion by
Israel of more than 750,000 Palestinians from their homes and land. These
Palestinians became refugees in different places: West Bank, Jordan, Syria,
Lebanon and Gaza Strip. The indigenous population of the Gaza Strip was
estimated at 60–80,000 people before the war.1
90 Violence and Youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
__________________________________________________________________
2. Israeli Occupation
On June 7th of 1967, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem,
became territory under Israel’s occupation. Palestinian national growth had
intensified under Israeli occupation by the time the first uprising, or intifada, took
place on the eve of 8 December 1987. This popular uprising was an expression of
national and political awareness by Palestinians, which aimed at establishing a
future ‘entity’ but without any politically-driven agenda or any single national or
Islamic movement leading it. The Palestinian youth were the fuel of this Intifada
that continued for 7 years.
The Intifada (uprising) had an organisational infrastructure based on local and
popular committees led by youth, coordinated through a ‘Unified National
Leadership of the Uprising’ (UNLU), which in turn coordinated initiatives with the
PLO elite based in Tunis. The popular committees led by youth were dedicated not
only to organizing actions against Israeli forces, but also to the provision of social
welfare and health care, empowering women to participate in economic
development, social reconciliation among citizens and encouraging self-sufficiency
at grass-roots levels.2 The UNLU organized popular general strike action on the
ninth day of every month and throw stones at the Israeli soldiers. However, there
were Hamas youth groups with ideological Islamic doctrine who ran social,
political and religious resistance activities against the Israeli occupation. Hamas
youth groups are educated on ideologies and doctrine of refuting negotiations with
Israel under any circumstances.
During the first uprising, secret negotiations took place between Israeli and
Palestinian representatives convened by the Norwegians. These secret talks were
concluded with the Declaration of Principles Agreement(Oslo) between Israel and
the PLO signed in Washington on 13th September 1993 to establish a self-rule
Palestinian Authority (PA) in Gaza Strip.3 This agreement brought new hopes for
both societies. The PA recruited thousands of young people who used to resist to
the Israeli occupation in the popular intifada to its police and national security
forces to protect the peace process. However, this process failed when the PA and
Israel failed to reach a political compromise aimed to establishing a viable
Palestinian state side by side in July 2000.

3. Peace Process Failure

Both Palestinians and Israelis failed to reach an agreement over the critical
issues of the status of Jerusalem and Palestinian refugees. Al-Aqsa Mosque in
Jerusalem is the most sacred mosque and considered the second-most holy place
for Muslims after Mecca. The visit of the Israeli opposition leader Ariel Sharon to
the Harm Al Shareef mosque (the holy site for Muslims in Jerusalem) on 28th
September, 2000 caused an eruption of violence which was very quickly
widespread in Palestinian streets, led by youth.4 The outbreak of the second
uprising came only two months after the failure of the Camp David negotiations
 Ibrahim Natil 91
__________________________________________________________________
between the PA and Israel. Israel made use of excessive violence against unarmed
youth protesters in the holy site. The number of Palestinian youth casualties during
the first weeks of the uprising was significantly high. During the second uprising,
that continued from 2000 to 2005, the Palestinians youth were the major segment
and were living in extremely harsh conditions. Moreover, they had lost their human
security at all levels: political, economic, health, personal, food, community and
environmental.

4. Social and Economic Context

The Palestinians of the Gaza Strip suffered from a lack of electricity, a
shortage of clean water, a high level of unemployment. The overwhelming
majority of the population were living below the poverty line. In addition,
the possession of weapons among youths, the overcrowded schools, the
impoverished infrastructure, and no access to the world has increased since
Israel started to control the borders. As part of these human insecurities,
the Palestinian Authority (PA) was too weak among other factions to work
properly. The PA was unable to survive without the external donations and
humanitarian assistance, and could not deliver proper public services to
Palestinians. The PA also was under military Israeli military attack. The
Israeli forces attacked the PA’s security institution from time to time
during the second uprising. This allowed the non-state groups, such as the
Islamic movement Hamas, to and recruit thousands of youth using
religious and educational doctrines principles and a few financial and
social support. During this period -when there was an absence of human
security at all levels- the Israeli occupation forces implemented the
disengagement plan on 12th September 2005, by withdrawing soldiers and
settlers from the Gaza Strip without any agreement with the PA.5
In January 2006, after Hamas won the Palestinian elections, the lives of
the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has deteriorated drastically. Israel
declared the Gaza Strip to be an enemy entity, and Hamas found itself
isolated in a closed Gaza that was completely dependent on international
assistance. The economic situation of the Gaza Strip remained extremely
low whilst Israel maintained the closure of all border passages, and Egypt
closed its only border passage with Gaza. In order to find a solution to this
isolation and the impact that was having on economic conditions in Gaza,
Hamas assisted the digging of dozens of illegal tunnels between Gaza and
Egyptian borders.6
Thousands of unemployed youth turned to work digging tunnels and
smuggling the commodities to survive with their families. These hard
economic, social and political circumstances turned Gaza Strip into a
barrel of boiling fuel when youth trapped between the Islamist Hamas and
Fatah secularist movement.
92 Violence and Youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
__________________________________________________________________
5. Hamas’ Violent Takeover
On June 7th of 2007, Hamas’ youth made use of violence through a
military action against the security forces of the Palestinian Authority (PA)
in order to control the security administration throughout Gaza Strip. PA
security forces were managed and controlled entirely by Fatah. The
military actions further exacerbated society’s wounds and badly affected
Palestinian national interests that were already suffering under the Israeli
occupation. The takeover also contributed to divisions within the social
structure of some small and extended families whose members belonged to
both Hamas and Fatah. The division deepened the Palestinian wounds and
human insecurities at all levels in Palestinian occupied territories and in
Gaza Strip in particular. The Gaza Strip and the West Bank were now,
without a joint, an authority able to resolve issues relating to borders,
movement, fuel, energy, electricity and raw materials.7
Hamas s defeated the PA forces ‘expelled its forces and controlled the
public institutions in the Gaza Strip in June 2007. However, a security
threat to its governance still existed in the guise of a number of strong
clans and Fatah military groups. Hamas has decided to implement a series
of measures against different Fatah groups. These groups were Fatah youth
military groups. It killed some, arresting others and confiscating their
weapons. These changes have created a state of frustration and worries
among youth groups. Youth were unable to express themselves freely.
Civil society organisations were always under security and administrative
supervision. Many youth thought of immigration if they had the
opportunity to do so. Moreover, the political, economic, health, personal,
food, community and environmental insecurity of the people of Gaza Strip
had worsened acutely, and life had become impossible for Palestinians as a
result of Israel’s Operation Cast Lead waged on 27th December 2008
ended 18th January 2009.8

6. Israeli Military Operation on Gaza

Israeli military operations left more than 1,300 people dead, over 5,000
wounded and 2,400 buildings were destroyed. The whelming majority of dead and
injured were children and youth. The operation increased the suffering of the
Gazan population for years to come. Many wounded and sick were trapped in their
homes, unable to get medical care. Corpses were left among rubble and in
destroyed homes because Israeli forces denied access to medical crews during the
campaign. The war increased the numbers of who were displaced or trapped in
their homes. Gaza’s civilians faced dire shortages of food, water, cooking gas, fuel
and medical care due to insecurities, the enforced closure of all of Gaza’s borders,
and alleged serious violations of international humanitarian law. Electricity was
sharply down, and in some places sewage was spilling into the streets.9
 Ibrahim Natil 93
__________________________________________________________________
These long and complicated situations left the Palestinian youth in a
political controversial stage due to bloody division between Gaza Strip and
the West Bank and the absence of the peace process in the Middle East. In
addition, Palestinian youth were worried about their future after the
eruption of the “Arab Spring” in 2011.10

7. Youth Non-Violent Movement

On March 15th, of 2011, social movements and youth groups have
organised massive peaceful marches and non-violent protests to make a
stand against the division and conflict between Hamas and Fatah in the
Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Those groups were known as the March 15
Movement, which employed different tools of modern social media
networks to organise the protests. These protests were the first well-
organised marches in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank since 2007. The
Youth March 15 Movement posed a real challenge for Hamas and Fatah,
and could become a similar phenomenon to Egyptian youth revolution, as
the organisers intended.11
It was clear that the March 15 Movement was inspired by the regional
changes. However, the youth movement was also part of a series of
peaceful efforts against the Israeli occupation that emerged in different
areas of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank during the last few years. Many
members of the March 15 Movement had already learned the lessons of
Gandhi and Martin Luther King in using non-violent resistance, and they
continued their efforts against the Israeli wall in the West Bank, as well as
against the security fence in the Gaza Strip. The 15 March Movement was
a brave initiative and a step forward, but the Movement found it difficult to
continue its efforts to force Fatah and Hamas towards an unity or a
reconciliation, without external intervention or regional changes in Egypt
and Syria. The Youth March 15 Movement in Palestine did not succeed to
bring about genuine change similar to Tunisia or Egypt; there are many
differences between Palestine and other Arab countries, from society to
politics to culture. More importantly, those countries have experienced
peace and stability for more than thirty years at least, unlike Palestine. The
reasons, circumstances and factors for this are many, and I summarise
them as follows:

1. Palestinians have been living under Israeli occupation

and violence for more than forty-four years; there has
been no peace and development in Palestine.
2. Palestinians have been divided between Hamas and
Fatah since 1987. The Palestinian people have never
had a representative leadership for all Palestinians in
94 Violence and Youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
__________________________________________________________________
order to consider a strategic plan for peace or war,
even though the PLO has been the legal body and
Palestinian representative for more than four decades.
Hamas has disputed and refused the representation of
PLO, as the latter was unelected.
3. Palestinian political factions were fragmented and
loyal to two different Arab camps. Hamas was loyal
and linked to Syria, and Fatah was loyal and linked to
the former Egyptian regime.
4. The Palestinian people have been fragmented and
distributed between the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and
Jerusalem, without any geographical unity .
5. The Palestinian youth witnessed two long, popular and
violent uprisings from 1987 to 1993 and from 2000 to
2005.
6. Palestinians suffered international sanctions after
Hamas composed the Palestinian government in 2006,
which caused a number of humanitarian problems.
7. Palestinian youth witnessed the collapse of the peace
process between Israel and PLO under the Israeli
expansionist settlement policy in the Occupied
Palestinian Territories.
8. Hamas’ military takeover of Gaza and the expulsion
of the PA’s forces in 2007, when about 700 young
Palestinians were killed and injured deepened the
wounds and social fragmentations among families.
9. The Israeli Military Cast Lead Operation in the Gaza
Strip destroyed the poor infrastructure and further
deepened the wounds of Palestinians; it left more than
1,300 dead, over 5,000 wounded and 2,400 buildings
destroyed.
10. There have been about 5,935 Palestinian prisoners
behind Israeli bars for many years. Those prisoners
represent an important segments of society. Since the
beginning of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian
territories in 1967, over 650,000 Palestinians have
been detained by Israel. This forms approximately
20% of the total Palestinian population in the
Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT) in accordance
with the Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human
Rights Association as of January 1st, 2011.12
 Ibrahim Natil 95
__________________________________________________________________
These serious setbacks caused mainly by continued occupation and
partly by the absence of a Palestinian collective leadership and the absence
of a collective strategy and common policies during the last three decades,
made Palestinian society and youth in particular much more tired,
frustrated and desperate. The regimes of Hamas and Fatah easily
controlled the youth movement in different ways. However, peaceful
youth revolutions in North Africa and the Middle East that ousted the
dictators of Egypt and Tunisia brought new hope and optimism for
Palestinian society that time. The youth movement still hope and work to
bring change to the Palestinian society free from the Israeli occupation and
internal division as well. Youth will seek how to challenge these
difficulties and hard circumstances.

8. Way Forward
It is a need for civil society organizations to strengthen partnership and
collective work among community based organisations -CBOs and youth
to promote a culture of peace and non violence. Youth represents a
decisive portion of population and a powerful contributor to, whether as a
negative or positive impact, changing and community development
process. Therefore, empowering youth and CBOs in peace-building
actions will give a different transitional point in increasing this culture and
practice as well. Educating youth on the principles, tools and strategies of
peace, non-violence concepts and practices based onmutual understanding
and advance peace process towards lasting regional peace will contribute
to a great extent in social change and empowering stability in the
Palestinian society.

Notes
1
Jamil Hulal, ‘West Bank and Gaza Strip Social Formation under Jordanian and
Egyptian Rule 1948-1967,’ Review of the Middle East Studies nv 1992): 33-74.
2
Andrew Rigby, Living the Intifada (London: Zed Books Ltd, 1991) 23-24
3
Andrew Rigby, Palestinian Resistance and Non-Violence (Jerusalem: PASSIA
Publications, 2010), 59.
4
Ibid., 63.
5
Sarah Roy, Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza: Engaging the Islamist Social
Sector (Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2011), 191–207.
6
Beverrley Milton-Edwards and Stephen Farrel Hamas, Hamas (London: Polity
Press, 2010), 262-281.
96 Violence and Youth in the Occupied Palestinian Territories
__________________________________________________________________

7
Jonathan Schanzer, Hamas Vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine (New York:
Palgrave and Macmillan, 2008), 107-19.
8
Ibrahim Natil, ‘Hamas: Between Militarism and Governance,’ Peacebuilding and
Reconciliation Contemporary Themes and Challenges, ed. Marwan Darweish and
Carol Rank (London: Pluto Press, 2012) 180
9
Gideon Levy, Introduction to The Punishment of Gaza (London: Verso, 2010), 9.
10
Farhad Khosrokhavar, The New Arab Revolutions that Shook the World
(London: Paradigm Publisher, 2012), 1-13.
11
Thousands of Palestinians rally for reconciliation, Maan News Agency, Viewed
15 March 2011. http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=368811.
12
Addameer Prisoners’ Support and Human Rights Association. January 1, 2011.
Viewed 15 March 2011, http://www.ifamericansknew.org/stats/prisoners.html.

Bibliography

Khosrokhavar, Farhad, The New Arab Revolutions that Shook the World. London:
Paradigm Publisher, 2012.

Levy, Gideon. The Punishment of Gaza. London: Verso, 2010.

Natil, Ibrahim ‘Hamas: Between Militarism and Governance.’ Peacebuilding and

Reconciliation Contemporary Themes and Challenges, edited by Marwan
Darweish and Carol Rank. London: Pluto Press, 2012.

Rigby, Andrew. Palestinian Resistance and Non-Violence. Jerusalem: PASSIA

Publications, 2010.

———. Living the Intifada. London: Zed Books Ltd, 1991.

Roy, Sarah. Hamas and Civil Society in Gaza: Engaging the Islamist Social Sector.
Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2011.

Schanzer, Jonathan. Hamas vs. Fatah: The Struggle for Palestine. New York:
Palgrave and Macmillan, 2008.

Ibrahim Natil holds a PhD in Politics and MA in Diplomatic studies from UK

based universities. He is also a founder and director of Society Voice Foundation.
Natil served as a consultant and employee for a number of international and
national organisations.
 Part III:

Representing Violence: A Critical Analysis

Women’s Bodies, Men’s War: The Political Economy of Military
Rape and Gender Violence

Paromita Chakrabarti
Abstract
This chapter attempts to analyse the gendered nature of violence during civil war
through an examination of rape as a politico-military strategy and mechanism of
institutionalized control, subjugation and disempowerment of women. In order to
understand the ways in which wartime rape is framed within the paradigms of
gender, and is constitutive of economic and political imperatives, this paper will
analyze Pakistani-American writer Sorayya Khan’s novel Noor with special
reference to the large scale rapes that took place in erstwhile East Pakistan during
the 1971 civil war. The novel opens up the discourse on war-time violence to both
political and socio-economic perspectives and makes it possible to see it as much
more than simply a military inevitability and/or collateral damage. When wartime
rape is seen as a socially constructed and a politically constituted experience it is
easier to comprehend its conjectural temporality and recognize it as neither
inevitable nor unchangeable. By studying the rape and sexual assault of Bengali
women as central military strategy, Noor helps re-locate the civil war and the mass
rape of 1971 within national political discourse and shows how wartime rape in
East Pakistan was practiced to systematically eliminate a particular ethnic group;
designed to drive women from their homes; make them useless and unproductive;
or destroy the possibility of their reproducing within and for the community.
Locating military sexual violence within these paradigms facilitates a greater
chance of recovery and reintegration of raped women in the community.
Expanding the discourse on rape to include its economic and strategic dimensions
compel governments to become more accountable, force institutional initiatives to
alleviate suffering; expedite prosecution of perpetrators and facilitate peace-
building and reconciliation.

Key Words: War, rape, military strategy, violence, nation, property.

*****

1. Violent Submissions: Women, War and Rape

This chapter focuses on understanding the ways in which wartime rape is
framed within the paradigms of gender, and is a socially constructed and politically
constituted experience, with special reference to the large scale rapes that took
place in erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) during the 1971 civil war.
Sorayya Khan is one of the first Pakistani voices to break the silence around the
almost genocidal extermination of Bengali men and women during the 1971 civil
war. By writing about the rape of Bengali women by the West Pakistani army
100 Women’s Bodies Men’s War
__________________________________________________________________
(hereafter WPA), Sorayya Khan attempts to break the narrative of silence and
unearth the buried memories in order to make it possible for the nation-state and its
citizens to make peace with themselves and with others. Khan is aware that silence
and forgetting is one way of dealing with the trauma of the past but as she says in
her website she was more interested in engaging with what can be remembered,
what is allowed to be discussed and what needs to be forgotten at a social and
political level. From that perspective, Noor is an attempt to fill out the silences that
shape official history.
Ruth Seifert, assistant professor at the German Federal Army’s Institute for
Social Science, has suggested three explanations for widespread use of rape of
women in war. First she talks about the booty principle. It has been an unwritten
rule of war ‘that violence against women in the conquered territory is conceded to
the victor during the immediate post-war period. Normally the orgies of violence
toward women last from one to two months after a war and then abate as seen in
Berlin in 1945 and Nanking in 1937.1 Second, while rape serves to humiliate
enemy women, it carries an additional message: it communicates from man to man,
so to speak, that the men around the woman in question are not able to protect their
women. In their failure to protect their women and their sexuality, they become
emasculated, impotent and incompetent. Seifert’s third explanation of rape,
particularly gang rape, mass rape, or wartime rape; is to view it as a type of male
bonding exercise where the act of violation is permitted or unrestricted to promote
group solidarity or to let off steam.2
In warfare and also in case of political violence, the instrument with which the
body is abused in order to break the spirit tends to be gender differentiated and in
case of women it is sexualized. Rape of women thus needs to be looked from both
dimensions of sex and violence instead of focusing as the evolutionary theory of
rape does solely on sex or early feminist positions as primarily about patriarchal
domination. I argue that wartime rape is not just about libidinous male soldiers
releasing their pent-up sexual energy as was determined in the comfort women
case in World War II or simply about misogynistic men conditioned by patriarchy
to dominate, distrust and despise women or the brutal militarization of any society
and a pathological culture that encourage rapacious behaviour.
Any discussion on wartime rape will have to go beyond biological determinism
or ideologically driven imperatives to incorporate the logic of economics and the
force of organizational strategies. According to Meredeth Turshen’s article: ‘The
Political Economy of Rape: An Analysis of Systematic Rape and Sexual Abuse of
Women during Armed Conflict in Africa,’ military rape is motivated in diverse
ways but what is common is the way in which it is perpetrated in a context of
institutional policies and decisions. ‘Militarized rape during war is directly related
to the functions of a formal institution such as the state’s national security or
defence apparatus or an insurgency’s military arm.’3
 Paromita Chakrabarti 101
__________________________________________________________________
2. Noor: Rape as a Military Strategy
Using Turshen’s analysis of rape, this chapter will trace how wartime rape in
East Pakistan was practiced to systematically eliminate a particular ethnic group
and designed to drive women from their homes, make them useless and
unproductive or destroy the possibility of their reproducing within and for the
community.4 On 25th March 1971, Operation Searchlight, a planned military
operation was launched by the WPA to squash the Bengali Nationalist Movement
led by the Awami League and the Bengali Liberation Force. The operation was
centrally planned by the Pakistani government headquartered in West Pakistan to
take military control of all major East Pakistani cities and then eliminate all forms
of opposition. General Yahya Khan had already hinted that it was time to wipe out
the Awami League and the Bengali Liberation Force and a genocidal campaign
would be necessary for the accomplishment of it.
Noor concentrates on unearthing the West Pakistani side of the 1971 story and
never quite talks about numbers in an accurate, mathematical manner. Khan’s
attempt is to tell the story of the war through the lives of people who fought it and
lived through it after the surrender. At one point in the novel, Ali the young WPA
soldier remembers the young woman parading up and down the platform at the
train station. This was the woman with no breasts. Two huge pink infections
oozing puss, where her breasts should have been, made Ali wonder what kind of
knife was used to chop them off. The woman was brought to the barracks and in
delirium kept telling her stories recounting the horrific violence of the civil war.
Taking inventory, Khan uses memory to bring to surface the nature and extent of
military atrocities that were employed on the enemy women who were signifiers of
ethnic otherness, biological reproducers of the enemy community and
exchangeable property with transferable assets. The WPA used rape and sexual
assault to intimidate and terrorize, they were also used as a symbol of power and
authority, as a mark of East Pakistani humiliation and emasculation, and as a
weapon to destroy the economic and social productivity of the enemy community.
There is a deep sense of tragedy in the way Ali’s initiation into sexuality is
forced to happen through the violence of war and the ravaging of women’s bodies
instead of the sweet, longings of early youth and the flush of sexual desire that
comes with the awakening of romance. For Ali, this violation not only of the
woman but also of himself comes at a huge cost. When his mother Nanijaan
questions him and asks him to confess what he did apart from killing, Ali
tormented by her questionings, is forced to revisit the unspeakable violence that
they committed on the enemy women. Realizing the impossibility of forgetting
such traumatic events and relieved that someone at least has asked him that
question; Ali begins to retrace his memory and gather himself up in the space that
framed the unspeakable past and the unliveable present:
102 Women’s Bodies Men’s War
__________________________________________________________________
That night the order was no different. It was my job on night
duty to collect the girls and bring them to the officers. I went to
the farthest corner of the barracks, fetched the only girl waiting
and brought her to the officer’s rooms. I didn’t wave my rifle.
Her eyes were clouded, like I’d seen somewhere else, in the row
of Bengalis before they’d been shot by the same bullet… It
wasn’t her first time. She’d been prepared already… I couldn’t
stop looking at her bruise, deep and swollen, The rest of what I’d
seen, the limbs and the rotting flesh, birds pecking at a child’s
arm, had become a landscape…The officer brought his face close
to her belly. He untucked her sari with his mouth and the cloth
fell to the ground. Underneath, she was naked. The officer
pushed his face into her belly…When he took his face from her
skin, he left behind two rows of teeth marks. White dribbled
from her breast onto her stomach…The woman was a young
mother.5

After the officer rapes her, he orders Ali to do the same:

I was alone with the girl, my pants still down. I took a few steps
toward her. She was ripped and pried open, the implements used
to do this, the scissors, pens, a metal ruler, speckled with blood,
lying to her side. The nib of the fountain pen was missing.6

It is at this moment in the novel that Khan brings the question of sexual assault
as a separate category of violence on women that are practiced as part of the
military strategy apart from rape. The fact that women were repeatedly tortured
with other objects with the intention of inflicting severe pain, mutilation, during
wars has been well documented and Khan’s reliance on a WPA soldier’s memory
to bring this within the discourse of the civil war testifies to the structural
dimensions of the gendered violence that took place in 1971. By showing how
women were systematically captured, brought to the military barracks to be raped
continuously and kept there to serve the men, or transported from one camp to the
other, clearly hint at the organization and structure that planned and controlled the
type and extent of violence that was to be practiced on the enemy. What needs to
be specially noticed is the way the novel reveals the strategic round-up and
imprisonment of young mothers who had either just delivered babies or were in
their reproductive prime. By raping them, impregnating them and in many cases
killing them or leaving them dead, the WPA was systematically destroying East
Pakistan’s ability to produce and regenerate itself. Nationalism in this case
becomes sexualized and the brutality with which it comes to operate on the
woman’s body is symbolized through the systematic rape of the enemy woman.
 Paromita Chakrabarti 103
__________________________________________________________________
For East Pakistan as well as West Pakistan, women came to symbolize the
nation whose primary function was to sexually reproduce it. Using mothers as
symbols of the nation or enemy of the nation and by emphasizing women’s
responsibility to ensure its continuity and its purity; the nation or the nation-state
effectively made women the target of violence and violation. For the East Pakistani
men, raped women stood as a sign of their failure to protect what was rightfully
theirs and also marked their shameful impotency; while for the West Pakistani
counterpart, the Bengali women were the boundaries of the enemy community, ‘its
territorial designation and its spatial limitation.’7 The women were also mothers
and hence their ability to reproduce the nation-state had to be arrested by killing
them, or they needed to be infiltrated to defile the nation and render it impure.

3. The Political Economy of Rape

The way in which rape and sexual assault gets framed in the discourse of war in
Noor also debunks the evolutionary theory of rape that determines it as singularly
rapacious act of libidinous soldiers with uncontrolled sexual drive and pent up
sexual energy. Ali’s complete repugnance towards sex disrupts the narrative of
libidinous soldiers that gets circulated and legitimized within the official discourse
of war time atrocities and is thereby dismissed as a boy-thing that is inevitable and
hence excusable. The rape and mutilation that he witnesses and is forced to
perpetrate, leaves him exhausted, nauseated and completely incapable of entering
into any normal sexual relationship. In their attempt to emasculate the enemy, the
WPA is itself emptied of its masculine potency. Ali’s celibacy and his horror and
disgust for sex symbolizes the way in which violence robs the victims as well as
the perpetrators of their dignity, leaving both traumatized and wretched.
Susan Brownmiller in Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape writes about
the mass rape of Bengali women that took place in the period of nine months from
March to December. She quotes the Los Angeles Times syndicated service that
reported that the Bangladesh government of Sheik Mujibur Rahman, in recognition
of the particular suffering of Bengali women at the hands of Pakistani soldiers, had
proclaimed all raped women ‘heroines’ of the war of independence. In calling them
‘heroines’ the new government appropriated rape to serve the rhetoric of nation-
building and privileged the site of violence as a necessary process of liberation.
Ironically, the socio-cultural response was completely at odds with the political
rhetoric. Raped women were hidden, sent away, cloistered, imprisoned, ostracized,
abandoned or just killed by their family members to avoid the shame and guilt that
framed the experience. They were anything but ‘heroines’. In some cases the men
who actually agreed to marry the women demanded to be compensated by the
government while others simply refused as their women had become impure and
were defiled by the enemy.8
It is important to note in this context that Bengali women were raped both by
the hireling razakars, the muslim Bihari’s who lived and worked in East Pakistan
104 Women’s Bodies Men’s War
__________________________________________________________________
and collaborated with the WPA, and the Mukti Bahini who were fighting for
liberation on their behalf, a situation Brownmiller reminds us that is reminiscent of
World War II when Greek and Italian peasant women became victims of whatever
soldiers happened to pass through their village.9 However, there is no doubt that
large scale rape took place at the military barracks and cantonments that are
reminiscent of the rape camps that were later instituted in the Bosnian war during
1992-95. Rape, sexual enslavement and mutilation were instruments of torture that
were used to spread terror, destroy women’s ability to reproduce the nation and
strip them of their capacity for productive labour. As has been the case in
Mozambique during the sixteen years of civil war, very young pubescent women
and women in their prime were picked up to serve the soldiers. The army was
aware of the importance of women’s productive and reproductive capacities and
kept them in the military barracks to work as porters, camp cooks, cleaners and sex
workers for the entire stretch of occupation. Once their productive capacities were
worked to the maximum, the army decided to dispose them off by either killing
them or by cutting off their hands, legs, and other parts of their bodies. Critical
assets like limbs were selectively amputated to ensure that in a predominantly
agricultural economy where field labour is of paramount importance, these women
become unproductive and useless. Similarly, in East Pakistan, the WPA very
specifically eliminated the enemy woman’s ability to labour and reproduce by
cutting off their limbs, breasts, mutilating the reproductive organs and thus taking
away their capacity to work. In other words by practicing this kind of specific
violence, the WPA rendered them and by extension East Pakistan economically
unsustainable. Regarding women as property and hence a transferable asset, the
WPA alienated the reproductive labour from the inhabiting body. Meredeth
Turshen points out, there were two aspects of this alienation: ‘rape to impregnate,
making them bear children for the enemy community and rape to prevent women
from becoming mothers in their own community, by making them unacceptable to
their community or by injuring them physically so that they are unable to or
incapable of bearing children.’10
Apart from rape, forcible abductions and enforced prostitution was rampant
during those nine months of military occupation. The most visible and lasting signs
of the horror, post-occupation, were pregnant women. Brownmiller writes:

Accurate statistics of the number of raped women who found themselves

with child were difficult to determine but 25,000 is the generally accepted
figure. Less speculative was the attitude of the raped, pregnant women.
Few cared about their babies. Those close to birth expressed little interest
in the fate of the child. In addition to an understandable horror of raising a
child of … rape, it was freely acknowledged in Bangladesh that the bastard
children … would never be accepted into Bengali culture – and neither
their mothers.11
 Paromita Chakrabarti 105
__________________________________________________________________
She recounts how many with money were able to send their daughters away to
Calcutta for abortions, but families without resources opted for fearsome,
irrational, unscientific solutions. Countless incidents of maternal suicide and
infanticide by drowning, consuming rat poison, or using other indigenous methods
were reported.12
By tampering with the ethic of purity that governs the woman’s body, the WPA
very successfully wrested not only her assets, but also sealed her exits. For the
raped Bengali women, the ethic of purity, a dangerous ethic for women; became a
double-edged sword. The natal family and community honour was seen as
depending on women’s purity to the degree that when they were forced to
compromise on it, they were held responsible for the transgression and punished
for the violation. For such women, there was hardly any difference between enemy
violation and family rejection. They had by then become responsible for diluting
the nation and polluting the race and hence had to be either eliminated to preserve
family honour or cleansed to recover lost honour. Their identification with the code
of victimhood was homogenized and legitimized. They were expected to be the
archetypal victim and by being a victim they could be then paraded as a symbol of
enemy atrocity. Their contribution to the liberation struggle would be
acknowledged through their status as a victim which in turn made them righteous;
yet their status as a citizen would still remain suspect on the grounds of their
febrile body and their fractured subjecthood.
By studying the rape and sexual assault of Bengali women as central military
strategy, Noor helps re-locate the civil war and the mass rape of 1971 within
national political discourse. Through her novel, Khan addresses the need to
incorporate economic and political imperatives of gendered violence on women as
much as it has been claimed to be fuelled and motivated by identity politics and
cultural nationalism. When wartime rape is seen as a socially constructed and a
politically constituted experience it is easier to comprehend its conjectural
temporality. Wartime rape is neither inevitable nor unchangeable. Fixing its
location within these paradigms facilitates a greater chance of recovery and
reintegration of raped women. Expanding the discourse on rape to include the
economic and strategic dimensions would necessitate the involvement of the state
at a much greater level and force it to take institutional initiatives to alleviate
suffering and resolve conflicts and claims.

Notes
1
Ruth Seifert, ‘The Second Front: the Logic of Sexual Violence in War,’ in
Women’s Studies International Forum 19 (1996): 35.
2
Ibid., 36-43.
106 Women’s Bodies Men’s War
__________________________________________________________________

3
Meredeth Turshen, ‘The Political Economy of Rape: An Analysis of Systematic
Rape and Sexual Abuse of Women during Armed Conflict in Africa,’ in Victims,
Perpetrators or Actors? Gender, Armed Conflict and Political Violence, eds.
Caroline Moser and Fiona C. Clark (New Delhi: Zubaan, 2001), 59.
4
Rhonda Copelon, ‘Gendered War Crimes: Reconceptualizing Rape in Time of
War,’ in Woman’s Rights Human Rights, eds. J. Peters and A. Wolper (New York:
Routledge, 1995), 205.
5
Sorayya Khan, Noor (New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2004), 155.
6
Ibid., 155.
7
Rada Ivekovic and Julie Mostov, eds. From Gender to Nation (New Delhi:
Zubaan, 2004), 118.
8
Susan Brownmiller, Against Our Will (NY: Fawcett Columbine, 1975), 78.
9
Ibid., 81.
10
MeredethTurshen, ‘The Political Economy of Rape,’ 62.
11
Ibid., 84.
12
Ibid., 84.

Bibliography
Brownmiller, Susan. Against Our Will: Men, Women and Rape. New York:
Fawcett Columbine, 1975.

Bose, Sarmila. Dead Recokning: Memories of the 1971 Bangladesh War. New
York: Columbia University Press, 2011.

Bose, Tapan K. and Ritu Manchanda, eds. States, Citizens and Outsiders: the
Uprooted People of South Asia. Kathmandu-Calcutta: SAFHR (South Asia Forum
for Human Rights), 1977.

Butler, Judith and Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak. Who Sings the Nation-State?
Language, Politics, Belonging. Kolkata: Seagull Books, 2007.

Casey, Edward S. Remembering: A Phenomenological Study. Bloomington, IN:

Anchor Books, 1987.

Copelon, Rhonda. ‘Gendered War Crimes: Reconceptualizing Rape in Time of

War,’ in Woman’s Rights Human Rights, eds. J. Peters and A. Wolper. New York:
Routledge, 1995.
 Paromita Chakrabarti 107
__________________________________________________________________

Cordell, Karl and Stefan Wolff. Ethnic Conflict: Causes, Consequences, and
Responses. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2010.

Culberston, Roberta. ‘Embodied Memory, Transcendence, and Telling: Recounting

Trauma, Re-Establishing the Self.’ New Literary History 26.1 (1995): 169-195.

Dhruvarajan, Vanaja and Jill Vickers. Gender, Race, and Nation: A Global
Perspective. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002.

Ghosh, Papiya. Partition and the South Asian Diaspora: Extending the
Subcontinent. London: Routledge, 2007.

Ivekovic, Rada and Julie Mostov, eds. From Gender to Nation. New Delhi:
Zubaan, 2004.

Khan, Sorayya. Noor. New Delhi: Penguin Books India, 2004.

Moser, Caroline and Fiona C. Clark, eds. Victims, Perpetrators or Actors? Gender,
Armed Conflict and Political Violence. New Delhi: Zubaan, 2001.

Payne, Robert. Massacre. London: Macmillan, 1973.

Seifert, Ruth. ‘The Second Front: the Logic of Sexual Violence in War.’ Women’s
Studies International Forum 19 (1996): 35-43.

Yuval-Davis, Nira. Gender and Nation. London: Sage Publications Ltd., 1997.

Yuval-Davis, Nira and Floya Anthias, eds. Women-Nation-State. London:

Macmillan, 1989.

Paromita Chakrabarti is a 2010-2011 Fulbright Nehru Doctoral Fellow in the

Department of English, Indiana University, Bloomington and is an Assistant
Professor in the Department of English at H.R. College of Commerce and
Economics, University of Mumbai, India. She has published in several articles in
international journals and is currently working on a postdocotoral project on
interracial marriage and multicultural citizenship. Her research areas include
diaspora, postcolonial studies, gender and race.
‘Remaining Men Together’: A Critique of Modern Experience in
Palahniuk’s Fight Club

Mahinur Akşehir
Abstract
The binary of the body and the mind is one of the issues that lie at the heart of the
Project of Modernity. While laying the grounds for the Modern World, Descartes
also intensified the hierarchical gap between the body and the mind by stressing
that the mind is the headstone of existence. The denial of the body and its
reception as the inferior half of our human faculties went on and on for centuries
turning people into split entities who are alienated to their animal beings and who
are metaphorically crippled by the overrating of the mind over the body.
Palahniuk’s Fight Club is the modern human’s cry for help, in this respect. It is the
dark representation of the split personalities created by this binary which are
struggling in the grip of the robotic world of consumerism, capitalism and
individualism. In this context, fighting is used as a metaphor for life in the middle
of a dead world. Only through fighting and pain one can be exactly sure that s/he is
alive. In brief, the aim in this chapter is to show how Palahniuk paradoxically uses
the concept of pain as a reminder of being alive and manages to make a striking
critique of modern experience through this paradox.

Key Words: Fighting as a metaphor, the binary of the body and the mind, critique
of modernity, violence.

*****

The binary of the body and the mind is one of the concepts that lie at the heart
of the Project of Modernity. While laying the grounds for the Modern World, René
Descartes intensified the hierarchical gap between the body and the mind by
stressing that the mind is the sole part of our existence that we can be sure of.1 As
Stent suggests,

Onward from Plato, philosophers have proposed a variety of

dualist solutions of the mind-body problem. The most notorious
of these was the ‘substance dualism’ put forward by René
Descartes in the mid-seventeenth century. He proposed that the
world is composed of two distinct substances – the res extensa
of matter and the non-material res cogitans of mind.2

The denial of the body as the inferior half of our human faculties went on and
on for centuries turning the modern people into split entities who are alienated to
their animal/physical beings and who are metaphorically crippled by the overrating
110 ‘Remaining Men Together’
__________________________________________________________________
of the mind over the body. In this respect, Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club is the
modern human’s cry for help. On the surface level, the novel narrates the story of a
schizophrenic man (the narrator), the alter ego (Tyler Durden) of whom founds a
Fight Club, and turns this club to a huge project of violence with the participation
of hundreds of other men. However, symbolically, the book is the dark
representation of the split personalities who are created by the binary opposition
between the body and the mind and are struggling in the grip of the robotic world
of consumerism, capitalism and individualism. Fighting, in this context, is used as
a metaphor for life in the middle of this dead world. Only through fighting and
violence one can be exactly sure that she/he is alive. In brief, the aim in this
chapter is to show how Palahniuk paradoxically uses the concept of violence as a
reminder of being alive and how he manages to make a striking critique of modern
experience through this paradox.
It is a common knowledge that the Project of Modernity marked a
revolutionary threshold in the history of humanity. Although this project was
launched with a promise of progress and welfare, contemporary social critics
suggest that it could not live up to the expectations. For instance, in Dialectic of
Enlightenment in which Adorno and Horkheimer criticise ‘the total schematization
of men’ by modernity, they state that: ‘[i]n the most general sense of progressive
thought, the Enlightenment has always aimed at liberating men from fear and
establishing their sovereignty. Yet the fully enlightened earth radiates disaster
triumphant’.3 One reason for this according to the critics is the fact that the modern
world is no longer natural but that it is constructed. As Anthony Giddens puts it in
The Consequences of Modernity, ‘human beings live in a created environment, an
environment of action which is, of course, physical but no longer just natural’.4
René Descartes’ mechanistic philosophy as formulated in Discourse on Method
divided the world into mind and body establishing a hierarchy between these two
parties.5 What’s more, Descartes suggests that one can be sure of the existence of
the mind because one can think. On the other hand, we can never be sure whether
our bodies really exist. In Descartes’s frame of mind, we can only assume that the
God creates us is with good intentions and so why would he try to trick us by
creating an illusion of a body?
This kind of approach to the division between the mind and the body has
caused the alienation in human beings from their real selves. People have denied
their other halves, their nature in the name of culture and of a created, illusionary,
artificial and mind oriented order. Moreover, Émile Durkheim suggests that the
oppression of the body is promoted for the sake of morality which is defined as a
social phenomenon and he stresses that there is a conflict between morality and the
individual which ‘denotes the body’s egoistic passions and sensualities’.6 Zygmunt
Bauman, too, considers the modern world as one of oppression, applying
‘dehumanizing acts of violence’ on individuals.7 With respect to this fact, in Max
 Mahinur Akşehir 111
__________________________________________________________________
Weber’s words there emerged an ‘iron cage’.8 Weber proposes in The Protestant
Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism that ‘[t]his order is now bound to the technical
and economic conditions of machine production which to-day determine the lives
of all the individuals who are born into this mechanism’.9 As Allan Scott suggests,
however, the order of the machine is not only unjust and inhumane but it also digs
its own grave:

The issue here is not merely that mechanically applied rules are
unjust or inhumane – though they frequently are both – but that
they are also ultimately self-defeating. The closer an
organization comes to exemplifying Weber’s machine, the more
pathological will be its actions and, as Weber was all too aware,
the less substantively rational will be its out-comes.10

In such an environment people start to lose faith to this ‘ideal world of rational
thought’. Especially after two world wars the criticism directed towards modernity
has been intensified because the deepest beliefs concerning humanity, progress and
science have tumbled down after the bloodshed caused by these two wars. The
truths people hold on to, crumbled. As Robert Bocock suggests ‘the evolution of
modern culture has not produced the increase in overall human happiness that
many hoped for’.11 The socio-cultural environment of the modern world led people
to develop a questioning and cynical attitude towards the world and what this
world offers to them. Timothy Bewes labels this unrest as ‘cultural obsession’ and
explains the reappearance of cynicism in this era under four headings: the cultural
obsession resulting from the lack of sincerity; the cultural obsession that results
from alienation, atomization and demystification of human nature due to the
scientific developments which causes a kind of fear and unrest and reduces one to
an object; the cultural obsession caused by acceleration and the fast expansion in
the fields of knowledge, power, authority and any part of life; and the cultural
obsession caused by the concept of immortality caused by the terror of the sense of
meaninglessness.12 So the modernity has indeed been inflicting the terror of the
good while brainwashing in the name of common happiness. The machine of
modernity made by men now starts fabricating men of machines.
From this perspective, in Fight Club Palahniuk narrates the struggle of a man
to free himself from the ‘iron cage’ of modernity and discover his real self and
inner nature through violence and bodily pain. Palahniuk’s main concern in the
novel is not fighting but the highlighting of the body as the forgotten part of the
fragmented self. In a society where the body is neglected, violence becomes the
only reminder of it. Modernity failed and disappointed human beings by creating
cold, isolated, hypocritical, and one-dimensional individuals. The only way to get
away from this waste land is the recognition of the ignored half and the only way
112 ‘Remaining Men Together’
__________________________________________________________________
to achieve this is to remind people of the body through pain. Tyler Durden, who is
the alter ego, the unruly twin of the narrator of the novel, is the embodiment of the
desire to live and it is the embodiment of the resistance toward the death of the
body. Tyler in this sense represents the id, active, alive, and uncontrollable
whereas the narrator is the rational self who has become the slave of the superego.
That is why the narrator does not even have a name. The clash of these two
personas represents the resistance of the organic towards the mechanic and by
subjugating the rational half to pain, the body reminds of itself. The violence
represented in the novel is not mere barbarianism. It is a nostalgic struggle to be a
whole again. In this sense, the unruly twin is a product of modernity but it is also
the harbinger of the resistance to modernity.
Fight Club is a modern times Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde story or to put it in
Nietzschean terms it presents us the resistance of the Dionysian towards the
Apollonian. Tyler Durden is the representation of a Dionysian, transcendent,
passionate, wild desire to live in a mechanistic, oppressive society. In Palahniuk’s
novel the modern world is a place in which people are reduced to their
functionalities. They are like simple machines designed to make the society
function. In this robotic world an individual is the ‘job [s/he is] trained to do. Pull
a lever. Push a button.’13 The narrator lives in his condo like a robot without a real
friend or any kind of intimate relationship. He is stuck in his domestic space that is
packed with fetish objects. In his own words, he is ‘trapped in [his] lovely nest,
and the things [he] used to own, now they own [him].’14 Furthermore, the narrator
is not the only one who is a slave to this isolated robotic life:

I wasn’t the only slave to my nesting instinct. The people I know

who used to sit in the bathroom with pornography, now they sit
in the bathroom with their IKEA furniture catalogue.15

People identify themselves with the fetish objects they decorate their houses
with, they get attached to these objects and replace what they lack with these
objects:

I loved that condo. I loved every stick of furniture. That was my

whole life. Everything, the lamps, the chairs, the rugs were me.
The dishes in the cabinets were me. The plants were me. The
television was me. It was me that blew up.16

But deep down, the narrator knows that this fetishism has to stop somewhere
and the beginning of the end occurs with the explosion of the condo which stands
for the uproar of his Dionysian self.
 Mahinur Akşehir 113
__________________________________________________________________
Actually, the hints of this uproar occur earlier in the form of insomnia. ‘Three
weeks without sleep, and everything becomes and out-of body experience’.17 As
the narrator’s doctor suggests ‘insomnia is just the symptom of something larger’
and the only cure could be to ‘Listen to [his] body’.18 What his body needs is a
humane relationship which he finds in the support groups which becomes ‘the one
real thing in [his] life’.19 He can only find the intimacy he needs in these support
groups because

if people thought you were dying, they gave you their full
attention. If this might be the last time they saw you, they really
saw you. Everything else about their check book balance and
radio songs and messy hair went out of the window. You had
their full attention. People listened instead of waiting for their
turn to speak. And when they spoke, they weren’t telling you a
story. When the two of you talked, you were building something,
and afterwards you were both different than before.20

The support groups are where the narrator can know people as they really are
without etiquettes but this is not enough to save him. As Tyler highlights to be able
to go back to life he has to die. He should kill his passive self, his unconditional
commitment to superego, his devotion to consume and only after that he can be
free and truly alive. He has to embrace his body, his decaying dying body and
accept the fact that he can ‘never be complete… never be perfect’.21 With this
epiphany the narrator starts having a clearer sight of things:

It used to be enough that when I came home angry and knowing

that my life wasn’t toeing my five-year plan, I could clean my
condominium or detail my car. Someday I’d be dead without a
scar and there would be a really nice condo and car. Really,
really nice, until the dust settled or the next owner. Nothing is
static. Even the Mona Lisa is falling apart… Maybe self-
improvement isn’t the answer… Maybe self-destruction is the
answer.22

The narrator starts to question his life and realizes that indeed he hates his life,
his job, his furniture. He feels trapped and wants ‘a way out of [his] tiny life.’23 So
he turns to his alter ego, Tyler and begs him to: ‘Deliver [him] […] from being
perfect and complete’24. And Tyler answers: ‘hit me as hard as you can’.25
This is how the Fight Club is first founded, with a fight between the narrator
and his alter ego. However, with the participation of other men, it turns into a
space where people can clear themselves of the artificial identities that are attached
114 ‘Remaining Men Together’
__________________________________________________________________
on them and can reduce themselves to the essentials, to the simplest sense possible
of themselves, ‘[t]he bare minimum’.26 As also stated by the narrator ‘[w]ho guys
are in fight club is not who they are in the real world’.27 Here they are devoid of
the artificial labels attached on them.

As long as you’re at fight club, you’re not how much money

you’ve got in the bank. You’re not your job. You’re not your
family, and you’re not who you tell yourself… You’re not your
name… You’re not your problems… You’re not your age…
You are not your hopes.28

The members of the Fight Club can feel totally alive because it is the only
place where they can feel even the slightest point of their bodies. They have a full
awareness of the neglected half – the body – which naturally gives them a feeling
of refreshment, vividness and of being alive:

You aren’t alive anywhere like you’re alive at fight club…

[F]ight club isn’t about winning or losing fights. Fight club isn’t
about words… [F]ight club isn’t about looking good. There’s
hysterical shouting in tongues like at church, and when you wake
up Sunday afternoon you feel saved.29

The body is the main medium of existence at the Fight Club. ‘You see tendons
and muscle and veins under the skin of these guys jump. Their skin shines,
sweating, corded, and wet under the one light’.30 Tyler, now transformed into a
Dionysiac monster, leads the narrator to hit the bottom and get rid of everything
that is not natural to existence. Tyler forces the narrator not to ‘just abandon
money and property and knowledge… [The narrator] should run from self-
improvement, and [he] should be running toward disaster… ‘It’s only after [one’s]
lost everything,’ Tyler says, ‘that [one’s] free to do anything’.’31 The narrator
should lose all his property and all of his attachments and that is how he can be
free of the fear of losing them. He should embrace his body and the fact that it will
decay and get lost one day. That is why the moment he gets the scar on his hand is
described as ‘the greatest moment of [his] life’ and that is why at that moment he
should ‘[c]ome back to the pain’32 and feel it with extreme awareness. That is the
only way he can acknowledge the fragility of his body. He has to come to terms
with the fact that he is ‘not a beautiful and unique snowflake. [He is] the same
decaying organic matter as everyone else, and we are all part of the same compost
pile’.33
With the launching of the Project Mayhem which is a project created by the
members of the Fight Club to terrorize the city, the violence expands to a social
 Mahinur Akşehir 115
__________________________________________________________________
level. Their reason to expand their activities to a social level is to ‘remind these
guys what kind of power they still have’.34 Healthy individuals of the society were
ruining their lives by

chasing cars and clothes they don’t need. Generations have been
working in jobs they hate, just so they can buy what they don’t
really need. We don’t have a great war in our generation, or a
great depression, but we do, we have a great war of the spirit.
We have a great revolution against the culture. The great
depression is our lives. We have a spiritual depression. We have
to show these men and women freedom by enslaving them, and
show them courage by frightening them.35

The main objective of Project Mayhem is to save the whole world by crushing
it to ground. The project aims to create a

cultural ice age. A prematurely induced dark age. Project

Mayhem will force humanity to go dormant or into remission
long enough for the Earth to recover… like fight club does with
the clerks and box boys, Project Mayhem will break up
civilization so we can make something better out of the world.36

A destructive attitude is embraced by the members of the club to make the

creation of a better world possible from its ashes.
In the end by realizing that the Project has gone too far, the narrator is forced to
encounter his alter ego and stands up against Tyler – the Dionysian side of his
psyche. However Tyler reminds the narrator that he ‘wouldn’t be [t]here in the
first place if [the narrator] didn’t want [him]’.37 This is the moment in the novel
when narrator has to come face to face with the fact that Tyler is indeed his alter
ego and that it is himself who is responsible for Tyler’s existence. At this point the
narrator remembers his first fight with Tyler and realizes that what he fights is not
Tyler but ‘everything [he] hate[s] in [his] life’.38 The narrator is now aware of the
fact that Tyler, as his alter ego or the Dionysian part of his psyche, represents the
neglected half of his humanity. Palahniuk offers his readers two opposing sides in
a human being. The narrator stands for the artificial, passive, submissive,
restrained side of the humankind while Tyler represents the natural, active,
passionate side. Keeping the balance between the two is the only way of
‘remaining men together’. Just like Nietzsche suggests in his ‘Birth of Tragedy’
the two forces, the Apollonian and the Dionysian should be united.39 This
wholeness of two opposing forces is what makes individuals human. So as
Palahniuk suggests ‘We are not special. We are not crap or trash, either. We just
116 ‘Remaining Men Together’
__________________________________________________________________
are. We just are, and what happens just happens’.40 In the novel, the concept of
violence is not used to glorify vandalism. Instead, Palahniuk uses violence as a
striking tool to cause awareness in the reader as to how the oppressive mechanisms
of the modern world reduce the individual into a split entity. In his novel,
Palahniuk depicts the iron cage created by the modern society and how the
violence of the good is inflicted on the individuals, without whitewashing. He
leads his readers to question not only the socio-political aspects of modernity but
also the individual dimensions of the problem, triggering his readers to start the
questioning from within.

Notes
1
René Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations, trans. Elizabeth S.
Haldane and G.R.T. Ross (Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2003), 23.
2
Gunther S. Stent, ‘Epistemic Dualism of Mind and Body’, Proceedings of the
American Philosophical Society 142.4 (1998): 578-588, 579.
3
Theodor W. Adorno and Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment (London:
Allen Lane, 1973), 3.
4
Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity (Cambridge: Polity Press,
1992), 60.
5
Descartes, Discourse on Method and Meditations, 23.
6
Chris Shilling and Philip A. Mellor, ‘Durkheim, Morality and Modernity:
Collective Effervescence, Homo Duplex and the Sources of Moral Action,’ The
British Journal of Sociology 49.2 (1998): 193-209, 196.
7
Ibid., 198.
8
Max Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, trans. Talcott
Parsons (New York: Routledge, 2007), 123.
9
Ibid.
10
Allan Scott, ‘Modernity’s Machine Metaphor,’ The British Journal of Sociology
48.4 (1997): 561-575, 561.
11
Robert Bocock, ‘The Cultural Formations of Modern Society’, Formations of
Modernity, ed. Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2005), 229-
274, 261.
12
Timothy Bewes, Cynicism and Postmodernity (London: Verso, 1997), 50, 52,
55, 62.
13
Chuck Palahniuk, Fight Club (London: Vintage, 2006), 12.
14
Ibid., 44.
15
Ibid., 43.
16
Ibid., 111.
17
Ibid., 19.
18
Ibid.
 Mahinur Akşehir 117
__________________________________________________________________

19
Ibid., 24.
20
Ibid., 107.
21
Ibid., 46.
22
Ibid., 49.
23
Ibid., 173.
24
Ibid., 46.
25
Ibid.
26
Ibid., 64.
27
Ibid., 49.
28
Ibid., 143.
29
Ibid., 51.
30
Ibid., 140.
31
Ibid., 70.
32
Ibid., 74-75.
33
Ibid., 134.
34
Ibid., 120.
35
Ibid., 149.
36
Ibid., 125.
37
Ibid., 168.
38
Ibid., 167.
39
Friedrich Nietzsche, ‘The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music’, The Birth
of Tragedy and Other Writings, trans. Ronald Speirs, ed. Raymond Geuss and
Ronald Speirs (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999), 13-116, 20.
40
Palahniuk, Fight Club, 207.

Bibliography
Adorno, Theodor W. and Max Horkheimer. Dialectic of Enlightenment. London:
Allen Lane, 1973.

Bewes, Timothy. Cynicism and Postmodernity. London: Verso, 1997.

Bocock, Robert. ‘The Cultural Formations of Modern Society’. Formations of

Modernity, edited by Stuart Hall and Bram Gieben, 229-274. Cambridge: Polity
Press, 2005.

Descartes, René. Discourse on Method and Meditations. Translated by Elizabeth

S. Haldane and G.R.T. Ross. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 2003.
118 ‘Remaining Men Together’
__________________________________________________________________

Giddens, Anthony. The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press,

1992.

Nietzsche, Friedrich. ‘The Birth of Tragedy out of the Spirit of Music’. The Birth
of Tragedy and Other Writings. Translated by Ronald Speirs, ed. Raymond Geuss
and Ronald Speirs Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999. 13-116.

Palahniuk, Chuck. Fight Club. London: Vintage, 2006.

Scott, Alan. ‘Modernity’s Machine Metaphor.’ The British Journal of Sociology

48.4 (1997): 561-575.

Shilling, Chris and Philip A. Mellor. ‘Durkheim, Morality and Modernity:

Collective Effervescence, Homo Duplex and the Sources of Moral Action.’ The
British Journal of Sociology 49.2 (1998): 193-209.

Stent, Gunther S. ‘Epistemic Dualism of Mind and Body’. Proceedings of the

American Philosophical Society 142.4 (1998): 578-588.

Weber, Max. The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1905). Translated
by Talcott Parsons. New York: Routledge, 2007.

Mahinur Akşehir is currently an Assistant Professor at Celal Bayar University,

Manisa, Turkey. Her areas of interest are contemporary fiction, women’s
literature, and satire.
 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas: Not Violent Enough?

Noora Shamsi Bahar

Abstract
Children’s perspective on the Holocaust is important because they give us a
glimpse into its traumatic effects from an innocent standpoint. However, Bruno,
the protagonist of The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, misrepresents reality to a very
gross degree. According to Bruno, Auschwitz is ‘Out-With,’ Führer is ‘Fury,’ the
Jewish children on the other side of the fence were having a ‘rehearsal,’ their
Jewish slave is a ‘waiter,’ Hitler had a tiny mustache – ‘so tiny in fact that Bruno
wondered why he bothered with it at all or whether he had simply forgotten a piece
when he was shaving,’ etc. The horror of the Holocaust is therefore under cover,
thanks to John Boyne’s cutesy characterization of Bruno as an implausibly naïve
German boy. The incorruptible Bruno remains unaware till the end, when fate
brings him and a group of ‘the pajama people’ into a gas chamber, where he and
his Jewish friend Shmuel die while holding hands. Boyne’s distortion of history is
apparent all throughout: Jewish children as young as Shmuel were killed instantly
after their arrival at death camps, fences were electrified and guarded, and a
German boy (having German education and a Nazi Commandant as a father) is
unlikely to be ignorant of the unwanted existence of the ‘impure’ race – owing to
the phenomenon that children are brainwashed by parents/ peers through the
vicious tool of hegemony. Moreover, a German boy mispronouncing German
words such as ‘Auschwitz’ and ‘Führer’ as English words (‘Out-With’ and ‘Fury’
respectively) is a blunder on Boyne’s part. A series of historically-fake situations
are presented to oblige Bruno to crawl his way onto the other side of the fence.
Boyne’s novel is a well-intentioned ‘fable’ that lacks essential violence and thus, it
lacks legitimacy. One cannot simply (mis)represent the Holocaust in such travesty.

Key Words: Distortion, Holocaust, hegemony, ignorance, naïveté, perspective,

trauma, validity, violence.

*****

Before getting to the core of this chapter, I would like to quote an excerpt from
the preface of Barbara Rogasky’s book, Smoke and Ashes. I find the following
lines the perfect definition of the Holocaust because it emphasizes on facts and at
the same time, evokes strong emotions within the reader:

In twelve years, almost six million people were deliberately

murdered. Six million, enough to fill the city of San Francisco
once or Miami twice.
120 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
__________________________________________________________________
They were not killed because they were soldiers, nor because
they were spies. They did not have a trial in which a judge and
jury found them guilty of some awful crime. It made no
difference if they were men or women, old or young – one and a
half million children under fifteen were among them.

They were killed because they were Jews. That was the only
reason.

No machine, no atom bomb did this. Men and women, like the
men and women they killed, made this happen.

It was the period of the Holocaust, the time when the Nazis ruled
Germany and Germany ruled most of Europe. They wanted that
Europe was Judenfrei – free of Jews. They almost succeeded.1

John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2006) is a novel about the
Holocaust, aimed at young readers (ages 12 and up). Since Boyne’s target
audience is the child reader, the text is highly censored, and rightly so, because
without careful selection of the Holocaust’s atrocious details, it would be
considered inappropriate. But who decides what is ‘appropriate’ to present to the
young reader? This is the problematic question I wish to delve in to in the first half
of my chapter.
Before an author starts writing a children’s narrative about the Holocaust, it is
very important for him/her to ask critical questions regarding how the young
readers should be informed about the Holocaust without having to frighten them.
The author should in this case, be determined to ‘spare’2 the reader of the burden
of knowing reality in its truest sense. Thus, reader-protective strategies are
employed in order to shield or protect the child. However, this sanitizing approach,
although well-intentioned, can be problematic. By distorting the truth, and creating
a ‘feel-good’ narrative in the process, the author can only miseducate the target
audience. In other words, through misrepresentation, the young readers’
knowledge is being limited. One may thus ask at this point: Isn’t the failure of
children’s literature to inform its readers of the disastrous history of Nazism and
the Holocaust using delimiting rhetoric that ensures the impossibility of
representing that history and that grief?3 Isn’t such use of screening ill-serving the
memories and sufferings of the six million victims of the Holocaust and the
remnant that survived? Should the horrors of the Holocaust be watered down in the
first place? How then, can one inform children about something as frightening as
the holocaust?
Bruno, the one-dimensional protagonist of Boyne’s novel, misrepresents and
distorts reality to a very gross degree. According to Bruno, Auschwitz (a Jewish
 Noora Shamsi Bahar 121
__________________________________________________________________
extermination camp) is ‘Out-With,’4 Führer (title for Adolf Hitler) is ‘Fury,’5 the
Jewish children on the other side of the fence who are huddled together and
shouted at by a group of Nazi soldiers were having a ‘rehearsal’6, the Jewish slave
who works in their house is a ‘waiter’7, Hitler is a funny looking man ‘with a tiny
moustache – so tiny in fact that Bruno wondered why he bothered with it at all or
whether he had simply forgotten a piece when he was shaving’8, etc. The horror of
the Holocaust is therefore under cover, thanks to Boyne’s cutesy characterization
of Bruno as an implausibly naïve German boy. Since Bruno is never told what is
exactly going on around him, his innocence equates with blissful ignorance. The
incorruptible Bruno remains unaware till the very end, when fate brings him, along
with a group of ‘the pajama people’9 into a gas chamber, where he and his Jewish
friend Shmuel die while holding hands.
Boyne’s distortion of history is apparent all throughout. Firstly, it is impossible
for Shmuel, a nine-year old Jewish boy who was small for his age to be alive at an
extermination camp. According to George Eisen:

Many children died en route to the concentration camps, and

those who survived were eliminated almost immediately by
whatever means possible, for they obstructed, in the German
view, the working routine of the camps... An inmate in her
writing categorized the children into four groups: those gassed
immediately upon arrival; those murdered in their mother’s
womb or immediately after birth; those born in the camp who
were left alive (a rare occurrence); and those who were tall
enough to pass as adults…. It is little wonder that in the
Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination complex, at least until the
end of 1943, only one Jewish child was to be found (in the
Women’s Camp).10

Helena Kubica confirms Eisen’s account in the following lines:

Jewish children made up the largest group of those deported to

the camp. They were usually sent there along with adults,
beginning in early 1942, as part of the ‘final solution of the
Jewish question’—the total destruction of the Jewish population
of Europe. As incapable of labor, these children were sent from
the unloading ramp to the gas chambers and put to death there.
At times, small numbers of boys and girls were selected for
labor. In 1944, because of the grave labor shortage, even
children of 13 or 14 were registered in the camp and employed at
places like the refinery in Trzebinia or the coal mine in
Jawiszowice.11
122 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
__________________________________________________________________
According to Boaz Cohen’s article ‘The Children’s Voice: Postwar Collection
of Testimonies from Child Survivors of the Holocaust’, some of the Holocaust
child survivors include fifteen year old Dunia B., fifteen year old Hadassah Rosen,
thirteen year old Shmuel Krol and Berko, a teenager. These children belong to the
fourth category – those who were tall enough to pass as adults. The youngest of the
list was twelve year old Janina Hescheles.12
Since Shmuel was only a nine year old boy, it is impossible for him to have
been alive at Auschwitz and that too, for an entire year. Upon arrival, Jews were
subjected to a ‘selektion,’ where they were put into two rows: ‘Death to the left,
life to the right.’13 Babies, children, young girls, mothers, fathers, and grandparents
and those who were considered to be too weak for forced labor, were casually
waived to the left-hand side. Given Shmuel’s age and stature, it would have made
more sense if he was among the ones put in the left row – meeting his untimely
death immediately upon arrival. Moreover, in their first meeting, Shmuel tells
Bruno: ‘…there are a lot of us – boys our age, I mean – on this side of the fence.’14
This information cannot be historically correct. According to Dr. Franciszek Piper,
‘As a rule, all children below 16 years of age (from 1944, below 14) and the
elderly were sent to die.’15
Secondly, the details of the setting in Boyne’s novel are different from what
they were in reality. For instance, the extermination camp at Auschwitz had a
double electrified barbed-wire fence running along its perimeter, guarded by the
SS soldiers and surrounded by watchtowers:

Double layered electric fence stood in between the prisoners of

war and their freedom in Auschwitz I. This high electric barbed
wire fence runs around the perimeter of what used to be the
Polish army barracks and guarded by the SS soldiers armed with
machine guns and rifles. Watchtowers were built in strategic
corners all around the camp in order to prevent prisoners from
escaping. These barbed wire fences were supplied with lethal
voltage continuously rather than in pulses up to 6000 Volts. The
fences were so lethal that they could be seen vibrating and were
somehow ‘howling’ (buzzing sound which comes from the high
voltage). Indeed it was a scary sight for the captives those days.
Some prisoners commit suicide by running towards the electric
fence to ‘relieve’ themselves from the misery.16

However, at Boyne’s ‘Out-With’, the fence is not electrocuted and is not of

barbed-wire. Bruno passes bread and cheese to Shmuel through the wire,17 Shmuel
shakes Bruno’s hand by lifting the bottom of the fence,18 Shmuel leans against the
fence,19 and finally, Bruno crawls under the fence to go to the other side.20 From
 Noora Shamsi Bahar 123
__________________________________________________________________
the excerpt below, one can understand that the fence made by Boyne’s imagination
is one that can be easily breached:

‘I could crawl under,’ said Bruno, reaching down and lifting the
wire off the ground. In the centre, between the wooden telegraph
poles, it lifted quite easily and a boy as small as Bruno could
easily fit through.21

Morevoer, in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, little Shmuel had:

…escaped the eyes of the soldiers and managed to get to that

part of Out-With that didn’t seem to me guarded all the time, a
place where he had been lucky enough to meet a friend like
Bruno.22

How could Shmuel do so, if the camp was so vigilantly guarded? According to
The Holocaust Education Program Resource Guide, ‘The entire perimeter of the
camp was surrounded by a barbed wire fence and 28 watch towers with armed
guards’23 and ‘Seventy-five percent of the Auschwitz garrison performed guard
duty.’24
Moreover, a German boy (having German education and a Nazi Commandant
as a father) is unlikely to be completely ignorant of the unwanted existence of the
‘impure’ race – owing to the universal phenomenon that all children are
brainwashed by parents and peers through the vicious tool of hegemony.
I believe that John Boyne has deliberately made these historical errors. If
Bruno could not have made friends with a Jewish boy of his own age, there would
be no story. Boyne builds up a series of historically-fake situations in order to
oblige Bruno to crawl his way onto the other side of the fence. And if Bruno would
not go on to the other side of the fence, there would be no fable! After all, Boyne
seems to convey to the young readers the message that you get what you give –
whether bad or good. In this case, the commandant, i.e. Bruno’s father, orders the
death of thousands of Jews, and in return, karma gets him by killing his own son in
the same way the Jews are killed. Boyne assures his target audience by saying ‘Of
course all this happened a long time ago and nothing like that could ever happen
again. Not in this day and age.’25 Being a fable:

…the historical or imaginary patterns on which the narrative is

based, must never again be repeated, or should never be allowed
to occur. This affirmation of the future is, almost by definition, a
primary intention of the writer whose audience in young
people.26
124 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
__________________________________________________________________
However, just as war is futile, the Holocaust too ‘was and is an essentially
meaningless disaster. A search for meaning in the Holocaust, a central theme in
writing for children, is illusory…’27
Boyne inculcates tragic heroism in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and in so
doing, he ‘console[s] and deceive[s]’28 the young reader. The real question
however is: Could Boyne have written a story about the holocaust without all the
omissions, misrepresentations and deceptions; without watering down the violence
to such a level that can be tolerated by the child reader? One can only conclude
that Holocaust children’s literature must be ‘a literature of evasion, a literature
employing strategies that inevitably diminish, distance, and distort.’29 The Boy in
the Striped Pajamas is one that exploits the Holocaust in many ways and in so
doing, it ‘engages readers with an exciting story rather than stimulating ethical
reflection about history and human conduct.’30
I, on the other hand, disagree with Boyne and his decision to write a children’s
narrative about the Holocaust. First and foremost, when parting knowledge to a
child, one cannot manipulate the truth. Tainting the truth can only taint the
character of the child. And secondly, I do not find the necessity to give a child
who has not reached the age of maturity, the historical education of genocides,
war, violence, etc. To me, that is like teaching Sigmund Freud, without the
psychological jargon, to children.
According to Bosmajian:

Holocaust education should not sensationalize not sentimentalize

its subject, nor place it into the realm of ‘once upon a time over
in Europe,’ nor leave the young reader overwhelmed with the
horror, but should present the facts clearly and distinctly,
humanize the data with experiential examples, draw comparisons
with other crimes against humanity but always maintain the
Holocaust as an historical event distinct in and of itself.31

But can this be done? I have yet to read a book that follows Bosmajian’s
guidelines!
I firmly believe that the Holocaust cannot be used/misused as a tool to provide
children with yet another ‘what goes around comes around’ instance. What went
around during the Holocaust certainly did not come around. The Holocaust can
only be discussed in exactly the way it happened and in the light of why it
happened, stressing on its true reality - its utter heinousness, ugliness, futility and
inhumanness. Its ability to educate the young should come from its power to
indicate how merciless and subhuman human beings can become and to what
depths of abasement and degradation they can stoop. That itself must be sufficient
to inculcate in the minds of the young, the contrary qualities of mercy,
compassion, justice and equity which is why the target audience has to be selected
 Noora Shamsi Bahar 125
__________________________________________________________________
carefully. Only a child who has been already trained in the noble qualities can
benefit from Holocaust literature. Therefore age group is a vital factor and my
suggestion would be, not less than eighteen, which happens to be the legal age of
maturity in most nations and independent territories.
In the second half of my chapter, I will be discussing about how violence and
atrocity have been intentionally erased from The Boy in the Striped Pajamas and
how it affects the readers.
At one point in the story, Pavel, the ‘waiter’, in other words, the Jewish slave at
the Commandant’s residence, loses his grip of a wine bottle, while pouring some
wine for Lieutenant Kotler. This happens because his hands were shaking from
weakness, and the wine therefore pours directly onto the lieutenant’s lap. What
happens next is not mentioned, except that it was ‘extremely unpleasant.’32 One
can only assume that the 19 year old lieutenant had unleashed his rage upon the
man who could very well be his own father.
On another occasion, Shmuel was brought in to the Commandant’s residence in
order to polish sixty four small glasses. He was the perfect person for the job
because ‘they needed someone with small fingers.’33 At this point, Bruno notices
that Shmuel’s hands were like the hands of ‘the pretend skeleton that Herr Liszt
(the home tutor) had brought with him one day when they were studying human
anatomy.’34 It is interesting to note that Bruno compares Shmuel’s hands with
those of a ‘pretend’ skeleton’s and not of an actual skeleton. An actual skeleton
would of course sound more horrific to a child than a pretend one. What happens
next is Lieutenant Kotler catches Shmuel eating the chicken that Bruno had given
him and when Bruno denies it all, we can only infer that Shmuel will have the
same fate as Pavel. Once again, the reader is left to wonder at what sort of torture
the victim is subjected to. We only get to know the aftermath: ‘there was a lot of
bruising on his face.’35
While vivid descriptions of physical abuse and torture are completely
obliterated from a story that revolves around violence, so are the uses of slang and
verbal abuse. Derogatory terms such as ‘Untermensch’ (subhuman),
‘Judenschwein’ (Jewpig) and ‘Judenscheisse’ (Jewshit) were used to refer to the
Jews yet none of these have been used in the book. Even when Liuetenant Kotler
uses a slang to refer to Pavel and Shmuel, it is not mentioned exactly what that
word is. The following is an excerpt from the text, where the young lieutenant
verbally abuses Pavel, the house slave:

‘Hey you!’ he shouted, then adding a word that Bruno did not
understand. ‘Come over here, you ---’ He said the word again,
and something about the harsh sound of it made Bruno look
away…36
126 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
__________________________________________________________________
And the following is an excerpt from the text, where the same lieutenant
verbally abuses the nine-year old Shmuel:

‘Come on, little man,’ said Lieutenant Kotler, coming towards

Bruno now and putting and unfriendly arm around his shoulder.
‘You go to the living room and read your book and leave this
little ---- to finish his work’37

John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pajamas is a well-intentioned ‘fable’ that
lacks what I would call ‘essential violence’ and in doing so, it lacks validity/
legitimacy. One cannot simply misrepresent the Holocaust in such travesty nor
misrepresent it in order to arrive at a meaningful conclusion for children, where the
good are rewarded and the bad are punished. The Holocaust is what it is, the most
violent of all human atrocities and the least meaningful. Children need to know
about it in full and complete details and in order to avoid traumatic experiences;
the age factor has to be considered.

Notes

1
Barbara Rogasky, Smoke and Ashes (New York: Holiday House, 2002), 3.
2
Lillian S. Kremer, ‘Children’s Literature and the Holocaust’, Children’s
Literature 32 (2004): 257.
3
Ibid.
4
John Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (New York: Random House, 2008),
24.
5
Ibid., 40.
6
Ibid., 37.
7
Ibid., 78.
8
Ibid., 121.
9
Ibid., 200.
10
Hamida Bosmajian, ‘Writing for Children about the Unthinkable’, Children’s
Literature 17 (1989): 164.
11
Helena Kubica, ‘Children in Auschwitz’, Memorial and Museum: Auschwitz-
Birkenau, Viewed 1 February 2013,
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3&Itemi
d=1&limit=1&limitstart=1.
12
Boaz Cohen, ‘The Children’s Voice: Postwar Collection of Testimonies from
Child Survivors of the Holocaust’, Holocaust and Genocide Studies 21.1 (Spring
2007): 73-95.
13
Louis Bilöw, ‘Gate to Hell: Auschwitz’, Viewed 1 February 2013,
http://auschwitz.dk/Auschwitz.htm.
 Noora Shamsi Bahar 127
__________________________________________________________________

14
Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 110.
15
Franciszek Piper, ‘The Unloading Ramps and Selections’, Memorial and
Museum: Auschwitz-Birkenau, Viewed 1 February 2013,
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Ite
mid=32&limit=1&limitstart=3.
16
Nabil Z. A. ‘Auschwitz I Electrified Fence’, Last Modified 13 May 2010,
Viewed 20 February 2013,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nabilishes/4729423001/.
17
Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 138.
18
Ibid., 175.
19
Ibid., 202.
20
Ibid., 206.
21
Ibid., 132.
22
Ibid., 206.
23
‘Auschwitz: The Camp of Death’, The Holocaust Education Program Resource
Guide, Viewed 1 February 2013,
http://www.holocaust-trc.org/the-holocaust-education-program-resource-
guide/auschwitz-the-camp-of-death/.
24
Bohdan Piętka, ‘The SS garrison in Auschwitz’, Memorial and Museum:
Auschwitz-Birkenau, Viewed 1 February 2013,
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Ite
mid=17.
25
Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 216.
26
Bosmajian, ‘Writing for Children about the Unthinkable’, 207.
27
S. Lillian Kremer, ‘Children’s Literature and the Holocaust,’ Children’s
Literature 32 (2004): 252-263, 256.
28
Ibid., 257.
29
Ibid.
30
Ibid., 256.
31
Bosmajian, ‘Writing for Children about the Unthinkable’, 169-170.
32
Boyne, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, 148.
33
Ibid., 167.
34
Ibid.
35
Ibid., 174.
36
Ibid., 175.
37
Ibid., 173.
128 The Boy in the Striped Pajamas
__________________________________________________________________

Bibliography
‘Auschwitz: The Camp of Death’, The Holocaust Education Program Resource
Guide. Viewed 1 February 2013.
http://www.holocaust-trc.org/the-holocaust-education-program-resource-
guide/auschwitz-the-camp-of-death/.

Bilöw, Louis. ‘Gate to Hell: Auschwitz’. Viewed 1 February 2013.

http://auschwitz.dk/Auschwitz.htm.

Bosmajian, Hamida. ‘Writing for Children about the Unthinkable’. Children’s

Literaure 17 (1989): 206-211.

———. ‘The Holocaust and Children: Lived Experience and the Study of
History’. The Lion and the Unicorn 13.2 (1989): 164-173.

Boyne, John. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. New York: Random House, 2008.

Cohen, Boaz. ‘The Children’s Voice: Postwar Collection of Testimonies from

Child Survivors of the Holocaust’. Holocaust and Genocide Studies 21.1 (2007):
73-95.

Kremer, S. Lillian. ‘Children’s Literature and the Holocaust.’ Children’s

Literature 32 (2004): 252-263.

Kubica, Helena. ‘Children in Auschwitz’. Memorial and Museum: Auschwitz-

Birkenau. Viewed 1 February 2013.
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=3&Itemi
d=21&limit=1&limitstart=1.

Piętka, Bohdan. ‘The SS Garrison in Auschwitz’. Memorial and Museum:

Auschwitz-Birkenau. Viewed 1 February 2013.
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=20&Ite
mid=17.

Piper, Franciszek. ‘The Unloading Ramps and Selections’. Memorial and

Museum: Auschwitz-Birkenau. Viewed 1 February 2013.
http://en.auschwitz.org/h/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=29&Ite
mid=32&limit=1&limitstart=3.
 Noora Shamsi Bahar 129
__________________________________________________________________

Rogasky, Barbara. Smoke and Ashes: The Story of the Holocaust. New York:
Holiday House, 2002.

Subrtova, Milena. ‘When Children Die in War: Death in War Literature for
Children and Youth’. Bookbird: A Journal of International Children’s Literature
47.4 (2009): 1-8.

Z.A., Nabil. ‘Auschwitz I Electrified Fence’. Viewed 20 February 2013.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nabilishes/4729423001/.

Noora Shamsi Bahar is a lecturer at the Department of English, Independent

University, Bangladesh (IUB). Her research areas include Postcolonial Studies,
Diaspora, Children’s Literature, and Feminist Theory. She is also the co-editor of
Chaos, a peer-reviewed international journal published by IUB.
 Two Concepts of Violence in Hardt and Negri’s Empire Trilogy

Boris DeWiel
Abstract
The ‘Empire’ trilogy by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri – Empire (2000),
Multitude (2004) and Commonwealth (2009) – includes an analysis and
condemnation of the oppressive violence, both actual and figurative, inflicted by
monistic global capitalism/colonialism against the pluralistic creative powers of the
emerging post-material working class. However, the trilogy also includes a second
concept of violence, again both figurative and actual, as a self-creative process of
social self-differentiation by the working class as it separates itself ontologically
from its oppressors. Hence there are two concepts of violence in Hardt and Negri,
one oppressive and the other creative. The chapter briefly surveys the former but
concentrates on the concept of violence as creative. That idea can be traced to
Negri’s understanding of ontology, demonstrated in his interpretation of Spinoza,
as an antagonistic process of Becoming. In works like The Savage Anomaly (1981),
Negri described Spinoza as a proto-modern theorist of social self-creativity. The
working class, already in that work called the ‘multitude,’ creates itself through an
antagonistic, sometimes violent, process of social self-differentiation from the
ruling class. For Negri’s Spinoza, democracy is founded on the multitude’s
ontological power, which emerges in an existentially creative process of social
conflict. In another early work, Marx Beyond Marx (1979), Negri interpreted the
Grundrisse as Marx’s imperfect attempt to go beyond the idea of dialectical
materialism, with its notions of teleological completion and social unification,
toward a more open-ended understanding of social self-creativity as non-
teleological and pluralistic. In Marx Beyond Marx and other earlier works, social
self-creativity is described as an antagonistic process by which the working class
separates itself existentially from its oppressors in a process that includes violence.
Hence the notion of ontological antagonism, sometimes including violence, is a
consistent theme in Negri’s work up to and including the ‘Empire’ trilogy.

Key Words: Creativity, self-creativity, social self-differentiation, existential

antagonism, ontology, revolution, creative violence.

*****

The trilogy by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire (2000), Multitude
(2004) and Commonwealth (2009), represents an important contribution to the
critique of colonialism and post-industrial global capitalism.1 Colonialism in their
view is not merely the process whereby one group imposes itself on another.
Rather, it is the creation of an otherness, constructed as racial or cultural, by one
132 Two Concepts of Violence in the Hardt and Negri Empire Trilogy
__________________________________________________________________
group for the purposes of having an enemy against which it can violently
reproduce itself:

The European Self needs violence and needs to confront its

Other to feel and maintain its power, to remake itself continually.
The generalized state of war that continuously subtends colonial
representations is not accidental or even unwanted— violence is
the necessary foundation of colonialism itself.2

Capitalism belongs to the processes of colonial oppression but according to

Hardt and Negri, we are moving toward the end of the colonial and capitalist era.
While capitalism has become globalized, it has also become post-material. Its
workers increasingly produce immaterial goods like ideas, services and
interpersonal affects. Hence the era of ‘Empire’ is one with a globalized
immaterialist workforce. The result is a new social form or working class which
Hardt and Negri call ‘Multitude.’ This new class, unlike that envisioned in classical
Marxism, is self-creatively pluralistic rather than unitary. However, it is
consistently and insistently referred to in the singular to emphasize its potential for
democratic self-governance.3 When capitalism is deposed (the details of which are
left undescribed by the authors), it will govern itself in an economically and
politically cooperative ‘Commonwealth.’ The three books together tell the story of
these developments as, according to the authors, they are occurring in our time.
The age of global Empire is one in which the sovereignty of nations has largely
given way to global networks of military, economic and political power.
Imperialism and capitalism now operate insidiously through these networks and
because they are global, there is no way and nowhere to escape them. However,
they also give rise to global networks of protest and resistance. Hence the violence
by which capitalism reproduces itself is met by acts of opposition that include
creative violence:

Those who are against, while escaping from the local and
particular constraints of their human condition, must also
continually attempt to construct a new body and a new life. This
is a necessarily violent, barbaric passage…. The new barbarians
destroy with an affirmative violence and trace new paths of life
through their own material existence.4

Passages like this, in which violence belongs not just to the oppressiveness of
colonialism and capitalism but also to the self-creative process by which new
social entities are formed, are scattered throughout the trilogy. Hence there are two
concepts of violence in the series. There is that which we may call the
heteronomous violence used by capitalists to rule undemocratically over the
 Boris DeWiel 133
__________________________________________________________________
people. But there is also a notion of self-creative or autopoetic violence in which
the new social entity of Multitude brings itself into being. The later concept of
violence can be traced back through a line of earlier works by Negri, who is the
better known and previously more influential of the two authors.
Negri became famous outside of academic circles when he was notoriously
arrested in 1979 for suspicion of involvement in the kidnapping of Aldo Moro.
While those charges collapsed, he was convicted and jailed for other alleged acts of
insurgence. Among the evidence used against him was a 1977 essay, ‘Domination
and Sabotage.’ Negri there described ‘the tension of class separation’ that creates a
shared identity. He wrote, ‘I do not want the other, I want to destroy it. The fact of
my existence implies the destructuring of the other. Above all else I want to
acquire a method to increase the separation…. Every time I leap forward I increase
my existence as part of the collectivity.’5 The quotation appears two paragraphs
after the more notorious passage in which Negri explained the ‘positivity’ he found
in:

sabotage, this continual activity of the sniper, the saboteur, the

absentee, the deviant, the criminal that I find myself living. I
immediately feel the warmth of the workers’ and proletarian
community every time I don the ski mask. This solitude of mine
is creative, and this separateness of mine is the only real
collectivity that I know.6

During the early years of his incarceration, Negri wrote a revisionist book on
Spinoza called The Savage Anomaly.7 His language there is careful and he signals
his esotericism.8 Nonetheless the notion of violence as existentially creative is clear
in that work. Negri’s reading of Spinoza, who is traditionally seen as a rationalistic
pantheist, is unusual. Negri’s interpretation denies to Spinoza the belief,
conventionally seen as central to his thought, of the eternalism of God, nature and
reason.9 For example, Spinoza wrote that God is free but only to follow the
‘necessity of his nature’ which is his eternal order.10 Yet Negri’s reading
transforms his eternalist pantheism into a creative humanism.
Negri gives to Spinoza the view that it is not God but the human multitudo that
is the creator of reality. He is not dissuaded by Spinoza’s explicit warnings against
the equation of divine and human power. For example, Negri quotes: ‘No one will
be able to perceive rightly the things I maintain unless he takes great care not to
confuse God’s power with the human power or right of Kings.’ Negri sees this
only as the claim that kings do not have divine power over the people (SA 135).
What Spinoza actually means is that to imagine God in human form is to negate his
power.11 In another example, quoting from a letter in which Spinoza writes that
‘men … are in the Power of God Himself as clay in the hand of the potter,’ Negri
inverts this plain denial of human power. In his interpretation, ‘The world is clay in
134 Two Concepts of Violence in the Hardt and Negri Empire Trilogy
__________________________________________________________________
the hands of the potter.... Politics is the fabric on which constitutive human activity
principally unfolds…. How … can we effectively constitute reality?’12
Spinoza’s eternal order of nature for Negri becomes an inherently violent
ontological tension in which humans participate to create reality anew. ‘The natural
state is an antagonistic scene, and the autonomy of subjects is presented there as
the antagonism, the violence, and the conflict of autonomies.’ The solution is not to
pacify nature but to embrace and embody the ontological antagonism of potentia.
‘Therefore, the problem we are left with does not deal with impossible processes of
pacification but instead opens up to a dangerous process of the construction of
being. Of politics.’ Violence is essential because ‘the antagonistic conditions of
politics are formed within the explicit tension of the phenomenological process.
This antagonism, then, is itself constitutive.’ The violence of ‘progressive
antagonism’ is the existentially creative power of the people that leads to ‘the
ontological dislocation and … the collective constitution’ of reality.13
Negri has been a consistent critic of the violence of capitalism but in a 1971
essay, re-issued in 1988 in a collection intended to explain his political
involvements, he wrote that the problem is not violence in itself but only its
misuse:

Let us be clear: violence is the normal state of relations between

men; it is also the key to progress of the forces of production. My
denunciation is not therefore directed against that normality of
violence, but against the fact that in the enterprise form of
capitalist domination, violence has lost all intrinsic, ‘natural’
rationale (‘naturalness’ being always a product of historic
forces), and relation with any project that could be deemed
progressive.14

In 1978, Negri gave a series of lectures published as Marx Beyond Marx in

which he described communism as a creative social process that begins with the
existential separation of one class from another. ‘Separation, not contradiction,
moves the process.’15 His central move in that book is to revise Marxism by
replacing the determinism of the dialectical process with a creative ‘logic of
separation’ in which labor as a shared consciousness comes to be.16 What is
needed is to intensify the creative power of existential separation: ‘The highest
intensity of difference is the highest approach to communism.’17 The ‘antagonism,
of an antithetical power … is rich with the power of creation of the real, of the
class struggle.’18 Because it is an ontologically antagonistic process, violence is
one of its manifestations. ‘Proletarian violence, insofar as it is a positive allusion to
communism, is an essential element of the dynamic of communism.’19
In the more recent trilogy by Hardt and Negri, the tone is less combative than
that of many of Negri’s solo writings but the issue of violence continues to make
 Boris DeWiel 135
__________________________________________________________________
appearances. There are frequent criticisms of the violence of capitalism and
colonialism but there are also reappearing suggestions that the violence of
resistance is not just a means to defeat capitalism. As in Negri’s earlier writings,
antagonism including violence is a creative process. It is a social birth process in
which the new subjectivity of Multitude comes into existence by separating itself
from the capitalist class.
For critics, a question may arise as to whether political violence will continue
after the revolution. If violence is not just an expedient necessity but also a creative
and sometimes joyful life process, why stop? If social growth is pluralistic and
non-teleological, must not the social self-creativity of violence continue forever?
Perhaps for some it can be pacified by sublimation into other activities. But may
there not be others who seek the old joy of a real fight?
According to Hardt and Negri, the nature of creativity in the post-material
economy is inherently cooperative. ‘Constructing concepts means making exist in
reality a project that is a community. There is no other way to construct concepts
but to work in a common way.’20 But is this so? To take the proximate example, do
political intellectuals more often compete or concur in the production of ideas?
More specifically, do socialists tend to share a common program or are they
notoriously factional? Marx himself was a famously antagonistic participant in
what one prominent editor playfully called the ‘highly competitive enterprise’ of
early socialism.21 Thinkers like Marx and Negri are producers of competing self-
understandings; Negri sought not just to interpret Marxism but to change it. For
such thinkers, it not a communal subjectivity but their intellectual contest that they
have in common.
Elsewhere Hardt and Negri write that the commonality of the people is based
on love. But it cannot be a love of anything particularistic, like the solidarity of an
identity group, because that sort of love is the source of ‘corruption’ and ‘evil.’22
Instead, it must be a love that is non-exclusive or that excludes only corrupt,
particularistic forms of love. But this leads to a dilemma. Love must be universal
but self-creativity is inherently particularistic. If we create ourselves uniquely, then
our social self-creations must be ontologically differentiated from each other. But
then why should our love be universal? Why not love the particularity of our
created selves?
When they discuss the relationship of the multitude to the empire of global
capitalism, the idea of self-creativity as antagonistic self-differentiation becomes
clear, though in occasional vacillation with the language of universal love and
peace. There are many denunciations of capitalist violence in the trilogy but there
are also repeated calls for creative violence; neither sort seems wholly
metaphorical. Their search is for a new ‘ontological basis of antagonism’ in which
the multitude is ‘antagonistic and creative.’23 They endorse the ‘production of
subjectivity as power’ through ‘refusal, resistance, violence, and the positive
affirmation of being.’24 Sometimes they are pacifistic, calling for a ‘‘war against
136 Two Concepts of Violence in the Hardt and Negri Empire Trilogy
__________________________________________________________________
war’’ that is democratic rather than violent, but soon after they approve the
‘foundational, constituent war’ that creates new subjectivities.25 The multitude
requires ‘the legitimation of its own power and violence,’ which will lead to a
‘hand-to-hand combat’ against Empire.26 The ‘street clashes with police make your
blood boil with rage, raising intensity to the point of explosion. The intensification
of the common, finally, brings about an anthropological transformation such that
out of the struggles come [sic] a new humanity.’27
We are assured that ‘[d]emocratic violence can only defend society, not create
it,’ but this is only because the doers of democratic violence must first be self-
constituted.28 What is needed is ‘a democratic will to power.’29 We are told that
reactive violence, though often ‘a crucial, necessary response … creates nothing’
unless it is transformed into ‘the use of force … to construct an alternative.’30 At
one point they beckon to the lovers of actual violence: ‘Our readers with a taste for
combat may be reluctant to accept a notion of class struggle as exodus because it
does not have enough fight in it. Not to worry. Moses learned long ago that those
in power do not just let you go without a fight…. [R]eappropriating the common
… is a field of battle.’31
When we are then told that ‘the primary object of class struggle … is not to kill
capitalists but to demolish the social structures,’ the assurance is muted by the
worry that it was needed.32 At the end of the trilogy, the possibility of bloodshed is
downplayed but not rejected. ‘Revolution does not necessarily require bloodshed,
but it does call for the use of force. The better question, then, is not if violence is
necessary but what kind of violence.’33 The trilogy ends with ‘a laugh of
destruction’ that is a ‘laugh with joy.’34 But from where will the joy come once the
capitalists are defeated?
We are already at war with Empire, according to the trilogy, but it is a war that
presents us with creative opportunities. Empire is a monistic power and our victory
will liberate our creative manyness. The unanswered question is whether the
liberated creators will give up the affects of creative antagonism. If social
creativity includes the joy of self-differentiation, the feeling may not be easily
replaceable by the love of the common. The danger is that our post-revolutionary
love will be more for our unique self-creations rather than for our common creative
power. The love of common potential may then give way to the hatred of
conflicting actualities. The Multitude after Empire may continue to include those
who desire an otherness to be violently against.

Notes
1
Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Empire (Cambridge, Massachusetts and
London: Harvard University Press), 2000; Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri,
Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire (New York: Penguin Press,
 Boris DeWiel 137
__________________________________________________________________

2004); Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri, Commonwealth (Cambridge,

Massachusetts: Harvard University Press), 2009.
2
Hardt and Negri, Empire, 129.
3
Hardt and Negri, Multitude, 222-23.
4
Hardt and Negri, Empire, 214-15.
5
Antonio Negri, ‘Domination and Sabotage: On the Marxist Method of Social
Transformation,’ in Books for Burning: Between Civil War and Democracy in
1970s Italy, trans. Arianna Bove (London: Verso, 2005), 260.
6
Negri, ‘Domination and Sabotage,’ 259.
7
Antonio Negri, The Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza’s Metaphysics and
Politics, trans. Michael Hardt (Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press, 1991).
8
Negri, The Savage Anomaly, 269 n23.
9
For an example of the conventional view: ‘We may, indeed, justly assert that the
conception of eternity is the very essence of the theory of Spinoza…. His views
suffered no reversal or essential change right down to his untimely death.’ H.F.
Hallett, ‘Spinoza’s Conception of Eternity,’ Mind, 37, no. 147 (1928): 283.
‘Eternity’ in Hallett’s usage refers to the eternal as that which never changes; see
299 et passim.
10
Baruch Spinoza, Political Treatise, in The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza,
Vol. 2, trans. R.H.M. Elwes (London: G. Bell & Son, 1891), Ch. II, Para. VII,
repeated three times, and Ch. II, Para. VIII.
11
Baruch Spinoza, Ethics, in The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza, Vol. 1,
trans. R.H.M. Elwes (London: G. Bell & Son, 1901), Pt. II, Prop. III.
12
Negri, The Savage Anomaly, 185-86.
13
Negri, The Savage Anomaly, 194.
14
Antonio Negri, ‘Crisis of the Planner-State: Communism and Revolutionary
Organisation,’ in Revolution Retrieved: Writings on Marx, Keynes, Capitalist
Crisis and New Social Subjects (1967-83) (London: Red Notes, 1988), 131.
15
Antonio Negri, Marx Beyond Marx: Lessons on the Grundrisse, trans. Harry
Cleaver, Michael Ryan and Maurizio Viano (New York: Autonomedia, 1991), 116.
Emphasis in original.
16
Negri, Marx Beyond Marx, 130. Emphasis in original.
17
Negri, Marx Beyond Marx, 149-50.
18
Negri, Marx Beyond Marx, 161.
19
Negri, Marx Beyond Marx, 173-74.
20
Hardt and Negri, Empire, 302.
21
Robert C. Tucker, Introduction to The Marx and Engels Reader, 2nd ed., ed.
Robert C. Tucker (New York and London: W.W. Norton and Sons, 1978), xxxiii.
22
Hardt and Negri, Commonwealth, 189-99.
23
Hardt and Negri, Empire, 21 and 61.
138 Two Concepts of Violence in the Hardt and Negri Empire Trilogy
__________________________________________________________________

24
Hardt and Negri, Empire, 378.
25
Hardt and Negri, Multitude, 67 and 74.
26
Hardt and Negri, Multitude, 89 (cf. 342) and 90.
27
Hardt and Negri, Multitude, 213.
28
Hardt and Negri, Multitude, 344.
29
Hardt and Negri, Multitude, 353.
30
Hardt and Negri, Commonwealth, 16.
31
Hardt and Negri, Commonwealth, 164.
32
Hardt and Negri, Commonwealth, 332.
33
Hardt and Negri, Commonwealth, 367.
34
Hardt and Negri, Commonwealth, 383.

Bibliography

Hallett, H.F. ‘Spinoza’s Conception of Eternity.’ Mind 37 (1928): 283-303.

Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri. Empire Cambridge, MA and London: Harvard
University Press, 2000.

———. Multitude: War and Democracy in the Age of Empire. New York: Penguin
Press, 2004.

———. Commonwealth. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2009.

Antonio Negri. Marx beyond Marx: Lessons on the Grundrisse. Translated by

Harry Cleaver, Michael Ryan and Maurizio Viano. New York: Autonomedia,
1991.

———. The Savage Anomaly: The Power of Spinoza’s Metaphysics and Politics.
Translated by Michael Hardt. Minneapolis: Minnesota University Press, 1991.

———. ‘Domination and Sabotage: On the Marxist Method of Social

Transformation.’ In Books for Burning: Between Civil War and Democracy in
1970s Italy. Translated by Arianna Bove. London: Verso, 2005.

Spinoza, Baruch. Political Treatise. In The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza,

Vol. I. Translated by R.H.M. Elwes. London: G. Bell & Son, 1883.
 Boris DeWiel 139
__________________________________________________________________

———. Ethics. In The Chief Works of Benedict de Spinoza, Vol. II. Translated by
R.H.M. Elwes. London: G. Bell & Son, 1901.

Tucker, Robert C. Introduction to The Marx and Engels Reader, 2nd ed., edited by
Robert C. Tucker. New York and London: W.W. Norton and Sons, 1978.

Boris DeWiel is Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of

Northern British Columbia. He specializes in the history of ideas and is working on
a critical history of the idea of creativity.
 Songs of Pain: Female Active Survivors in Claudia Llosa’s
The Milk of Sorrow

Rebeca Maseda
Abstract
In our ambient of ubiquitous theoretical and cultural discourses on trauma, the lack
of film representations and subsequent discussions of female trauma begs to be
questioned. While different authors have addressed the larger issues of historical or
national collective trauma, we still fail to question the lack of visibility of traumatic
experiences suffered by women transnationally. It is also necessary to observe the
way female filmmakers have dealt differently with representations of trauma in
order to avoid voyeuristic portrayals and the depiction of women as helpless
victims. In this article, issues of political positioning of representing female
trauma, discussion of the role of ‘victim,’ and non-traditional portrayals of female
trauma strategies will be discussed in light of Peruvian Claudia Llosa’s The Milk of
Sorrow (2009).

Key Words: Trauma, female trauma, film representation, Quechua women,

Internal Peruvian Conflict, Claudia Llosa, The Milk of Sorrow.

*****

1. Representing Female Trauma

In our ambient of ubiquitous theoretical and cultural discourses on trauma, the
lack of film representations and subsequent discussions of female trauma begs to
be questioned. As Ann Kaplan1 states, men's traumas have been a main focus for
trauma studies. She claims that women, by not participating centrally in
catastrophes such as war, may have avoided the direct trauma of such situations,
but she fails to observe that women and children throughout history have been
among the main victims of war. Exposure to rape in armed conflicts is far from
rare. During wartime, rape, historically, has been one of the tools used to
undermine the enemy, demoralizing them by showing that they are incapable of
protecting their families. The social and moral restraints against gender violence
disappear in wartime. Rape is found to be an abhorrent but, nonetheless, expected
part of war. Allen Meek explains how war crimes in general ‘have been publicly
denied leading to a failure to memorialize entire communities or an inability of
survivors to communicate the horror of their experience.’2 Women are one of these
‘communities’ whose testimonies and cries for justice have largely gone unheard.
Traumatized women have been unceasingly obliterated by history at large.
History focused on grand narratives of war and victories, mostly it portrayed the
heroic male survivors of violent events, but it failed to acknowledge the effects of
those events on women and children’s lives. Patrice Petro writes how ‘when
142 Songs of Pain
__________________________________________________________________
history ‘hurts’ (to use Frederick Jameson’s definition of history— ‘history is what
hurts’), pain is expressed in the tradition of male melancholia,’3 blatantly excluding
women’s memories. This tradition not only excludes women’s experience of
history ‘but it also elevates male suffering as a sensitive or privileged illness.’4
Kaplan explains how for political and social reasons it is too dangerous for a
culture to acknowledge or recall certain events, certain traumas.5 This fact actually
fits with the victims’ mindsets; their memories are too painful –and too shameful in
the case of sexual violence— to remember. Individuals and cultures perform
forgetting as a way for protecting themselves from the horrors of what one culture
has done or what has been done to oneself or others in one’s society.
Kaplan and Ban Wang take into account the risks of representing trauma
(vicarious traumatization, voyeurism, aestheticization, trivialization, and
desensitization of the public or collective numbing), but they argue that a choice
must be made ‘between inadequate telling and the relegating of trauma to a
mystified silence.’6 They consider that trauma should not be reduced to a private
work of mourning, but through acts of testimony, witnessing and mourning,
traumatic events of the past can be worked-through and give rise to new forms of
political agency. Joshua Hirsch also believes that representations of traumatic
events and its effects on people are necessary in order to remember, to not let it be
forgotten. Trauma victims’ intimidation into a state of isolation and silence
enhances the perpetrator’s power.7 In this regard, it is important to represent female
trauma in order to denounce, to gain political agency, and to enable audiences to
declare their empathy for, and identification with the victims. Dominick LaCapra
adds that working on posttrauma can help to address the causes of the experience
that triggered the traumatic reactions and thus, ‘prevent its recurrence and enable
forms of renewal.’8
Depicting women’s traumas, however, posits further risks than the
aforementioned, such as the objectification of women’s bodies, and the rendition of
women as helpless victims. Drawing from one of Laura Mulvey’s Visual Pleasure
and Narrative Cinema (1975)9 thesis –women in cinema are placed in the role of
objects to-be-looked-at—, the display of women’s bodies being desecrated could
contribute to the objectification of women that might satisfy voyeuristic impulses.
According to Sarah Projansky, there is a ‘paradox between a desire to end rape and
a need to represent rape in order to challenge it.’10 Projansky argues that the
graphic rape scene functions, paradoxically, both to challenge rape myths from a
feminist perspective, and to contribute to the existence of violence against women
in media culture. The simple fact that it includes a representation of rape
contributes to the existence of rape on a representational level. Additionally,
representing women as victims could entail their reduction to ‘suffering bodies in
need of protection by the law and the state, rather than bodies and minds in need
not only of protection, but participation and equality.’11 In the 1990s several
feminist writers criticized what they called ‘Victim Feminism,’ which highlighted
 Rebeca Maseda 143
__________________________________________________________________
women’s status as vulnerable and victimized. Sharon Marcus, for instance, argued
that feminist efforts to denounce male violence against women have focused on the
aftermath of rape, which is a highly scripted social event where women play the
role of a vulnerable victim.12 A turn in feminist thought occurred towards the
emphasis of women as agents. It is crucial that media representations recognize
and inspire agency in women, but they should also denounce the reality of
women’s victimization. Rebecca Stringer offers a possible solution about how to
talk about female victimization without rendering women as helpless victims. For
her, it all depends on the meaning we give to the word ‘victim.’ In a branch of
Criminology called ‘victimology,’ the term ‘contains an understanding of an active
subjectivity that does not imply the helplessness and lack of resistance implied by
the term in other discourses.’13 This flexible, and more complex understanding of
‘victim’ proves fundamental because it allows talking of women’s victimization
without constructing them as helpless.
If depicting women’s traumas is a necessary political, historical and therapeutic
move, the question remains how to best represent their experiences avoiding
clichés, objectification and victimization. Annette Kuhn explains how ‘from the
point of view of its politics, the women’s movement has always been interested in
images, meaning and representations,’14 and in challenging them. French feminists
(such as Cixous, Irigaray, and Kristeva) considered language, by definition, ‘male’
(because language is linked to the power structures, the discourses of the dominant
groups are privileged), hence women were forced to find a place within an
essentially alien linguistic system. If they resisted language they would be outside
society (and therefore, history), and if they did not, they would be subdued and
alienated. These power structures, nevertheless, could also be challenged or
subverted by minority groups. This stance was well suited to the feminist struggle
with language and with the search for a viable mode of cultural and artistic
creation. For instance, Luce Irigaray presented the necessity of liberating women
from patriarchal language, and of creating a new specifically feminine language –a
‘parler- femme’— that could allow women to speak outside the patriarchal
discourse. In the same vein, female filmmakers advanced these ideas with their
own praxis, even without considering themselves feminist in the strict sense of the
word. In her book Women and Film, Ann Kaplan discusses how and why many
women found themselves, almost by accident, creating new film strategies that
responded to Feminist Theory’s longing for an alternative, exclusive feminine
‘language.’ Peruvian filmmaker Claudia Llosa employs some narrative strategies in
order to include female trauma in the general discourses on history, steering clear
of rendering women a spectacle of victimhood.

2. The Milk of Sorrow: A Female Perspective on Trauma

The Milk of Sorrow is a Peruvian-Spanish coproduction internationally
acclaimed, nominated and awarded prizes in several festivals. The film based on
144 Songs of Pain
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the anthropological study Entre prójimos. El conflicto armado interno y la política
de la reconciliación en Perú (2004) by Kimberly Theidon, sustains that among
Quechua-speakers there is the belief that sorrows and fear can be transmitted from
mothers to children through the maternal milk. The film explores the effects of the
events occurred at the time of the Peruvian Armed Internal Conflict on women’s
lives and their descendants. From 1980 to 2000 Peru suffered an internal war
between the Armed Forces and a Maoist faction of the Peruvian Communist Party
known as Shining Path (Sendero Luminoso) –and in a lesser degree the
Revolutionary Movement Túpac Amaru. Although armed conflicts affect the entire
population, the impact in Peru was particularly differentiated by gender, ethnic
group and social class, whose exclusion and discrimination was ongoing before the
violent conflict erupted. The Internal Conflict had an amplified impact on
indigenous women in rural areas. Researchers concur that while Shining Path and
the Armed Forces committed crimes against humanity, systematic sexual violence
by police and soldiers was particularly widespread. The Truth and Reconciliation
Commission (CVR) calculated that eight out of ten rapes were attributed to the
members of the armed forces.
The Milk of Sorrow begins with a close-up of a dying woman, Perpetua
(Bárbara Lazón), who is singing in Quechua an account of her rape and her
husband’s murder by the military forces during the war. Perpetua was pregnant at
the time of the rapes, and her daughter, Fausta, witnessed the traumatic events from
the womb. This is the story of Fausta (Magaly Solier), who is afflicted with ‘la teta
asustada’ (literally ‘The frightened tit’), a disease that transfers fear and suffering
from mothers to children through the maternal milk. Fausta’s uncanny malady
resonates with what the Western Psychological profession denominates ‘second
generation trauma’ or ‘vicarious trauma.’ An area of Psychology studies how
survivors’ narrations are capable of evoking strong emotional responses in
therapists, and that these listeners can be ‘vicariously traumatized.’ People in
intimate contact with those suffering from trauma over a prolonged period of time,
such as descendents of survivors, can also develop milder symptoms of post-
traumatic stress disorder. Hirsch explains:

the effects may not normally be as severe or long lasting as in

direct trauma. But the effects may include a number of the
symptoms of PTSD, such as shock, intrusive imagery, grief,
depression, numbing, guilt feelings, and loss of faith in
humanity.15

After Perpetua’s death, Fausta wants to give her mother a dignified burial in her
original Andean village, from which she had to flee. In order to attain this goal, she
has to raise enough money. With this purpose in mind she starts working for a
close relative of a military man, an upper-class white woman in the capital city of
 Rebeca Maseda 145
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Lima. The main obstacle is to overcome her own trauma –caused by her mother’s
recounts— that manifests itself in her fear, flat affect, and social withdrawal. She
fears for her sexual integrity and thus inserts a tuber into her vagina as a ‘coat of
arms,’ to prevent rape. Although the film protagonists are victims, the movie offers
a less victimizing narrative than may appear at first. Mother and daughter display
both traits of resistance and agency. The mother denounces and inscribes in history
the silenced, and thus subversive discourse of the survivors with her songs. The
daughter continues with this chronicler tradition of the traditional Quecha songs
(qarawi), and exercises control over her own body in order to actively avoid sexual
abuse. By inserting a tuber in her vagina, in order to disgust potential rapists,
Fausta is sabotaging men’s power to rape. The Milk of Sorrow presents alternative
forms of representing trauma, through traditional Quechua songs (or qarawi) in
order to give voice to the traditionally obliterated traumatic experiences of
Quechua women, without rendering women as objects and passive victims to be
pitied. In sum, the film offers a reading of victimized women full of courage and
subversive potential by condemning the abuses women undergo during wartime
(speaking out), by the mother’s rejection to be ashamed, and by Fausta’s control
over her own body.
It is no accident that the film begins with a widow retelling her traumatic
experiences. According to Theidon, the victim that narrates a trauma has an
archetype in Peru: the widow (there are so many of them that has been raped and
widowed). They are the only ones left standing to tell the stories. The Quechua
name warmisapa reflects her ambivalence: warmi means woman and sapa, very or
alone. Therefore, warmisapa could mean either ‘woman alone’ or ‘very woman,’
which contains connotations of strength. Thus, widows are not seen as victims
(lloronas/ fretful, in contrast with the Fatherland heroes), but as important agents in
postwar society.16 In Unthinking Eurocentrism Ella Shohat and Robert Stam
explain how history ‘can also take the oral forms of stories, myths, and songs
passed on from generation to generation.’17 In this case, the woman who narrates
her experiences becomes an important social agent with an active role of
knowledge construction built from her own experiences. Perpetua is singing,
possibly, what Quechua cultures call qarawi, a narrative form sung to remember
the past. According to Theidon only widows sung qarawi, thus, widows are the
historians. It is not a coincidence that her name is Perpetua; Perpetua was a
Christian martyr who was tortured and killed in Carthage's amphitheatre. Historian
Brent D. Shaw describes her as confrontational and proud. In addition, according
to Christians, through martyrdom a woman received the title of ‘Domina,’ which
implies command, ownership, control, and power. Also, both share an
extraordinary quality: Christian Perpetua wrote about her captivity and torture,
Indigenous Perpetua uses a Quechua traditional song or qarawi with the same
objective. The staging of the first scene contributes to dignify Perpetua; she is
presented as a matriarch who is transmitting her knowledge before dying. While
146 Songs of Pain
__________________________________________________________________
dying she is comforted by her daughter Fausta, and when dead she is carefully
embalmed by different members of the family. Her role carries the weight of the
entire film; she is the driving force behind all the events.
Fausta also unveils her tortured subconscious through the songs she invents. As
Tina Escaja indicates, the songs she sings to her dead mother signal the reciprocity:
it is now the daughter who tells her story, who reveals that she felt the abuses and
rapes from inside her mother’s body.18 She does so, also, in order to not let it be
forgotten, now that her mother is no longer here to sing it herself. As I argue
elsewhere, the act of inserting a potato inside of her might make her seem
‘mentally damaged’ and outdated, but it ultimately demonstrates her determination
and control over her own body. With this gesture she is taking on an active role to
impede the sexual conquest. Sharon Marcus considers that women have to resist
typical self-defeating notions of feminine speech, and develop physical tactics of
self-defence, in order to prevent rape. Strategies that enable women to sabotage
men’s power to rape will empower women by taking the ability to rape completely
out of men’s hands. By maintaining her autonomy and mastery over her own body
and behaviour, Fausta, strikes us as someone headstrong and self-determined.
Viewers get other glimpses of her will when she refuses to sing when she is
pressed, and she confronts the white woman she works for when she is rebuked by
her. After the white woman betrays Fausta by stealing her melody, infuriated,
Fausta claims what is hers, in a most explicit instance of resistance. She then
challenges the situation of victimhood she has been placed in, by her fears and a
racist society, and decides to act. She is the one that takes charge of the changes in
her life; she decides to have the potato removed from her body, which indicates a
path to recovery. The movie ends with a potato flower, memento of what she
decides to leave behind: her fear.

3. Conclusion
In a climate of abundant interest on trauma, the limited public attention given to
the traumas of women begs to be scrutinized. There still exist disagreement when
deciding if and which traumas are worth depicting or how to depict them.
Representing abuses and rape poses added risks to those inherent in representing
trauma in general (vicarious traumatization, voyeurism, aestheticisation, and
trivialization): those of objectification and victimization. It is more advisable,
nonetheless, to tell the stories inadequately than to relegate trauma to a mystified
silence, especially when the dominant groups silence the traumas of minorities in
order to escape accountability. The use of creative alternative strategies to literal
visual representations of female trauma presents an attractive tool to produce a
testimony and, at the same time, a committed political stance that avoids the
morbid exploitation of women’s abuses. The Milk of Sorrow uses mainly the
traditional songs to denounce the traumatic events experienced by women,
inscribing them in the official history. In addition, Llosa offers an image of
 Rebeca Maseda 147
__________________________________________________________________
victimized women that goes beyond victimization. Perpetua and Fausta are active
survivors that take an active role; they are chroniclers. In Fausta’s case the toxic
memories ‘crippled’ her, but they also gave her indignation and courage to take an
active role in preventing male supremacy over her body, and by refusing to be
subjugated.

Notes
1
Ann Kaplan, Trauma Culture: The Politics of Terror and Loss in Media and
Literature (New Brunswick, New Jersey and London: Rutgers University Press,
2005), 19.
2
Allen Meek, Trauma and Media (London & New York: Routledge, 2010), 29.
3
Patrice Petro, ‘Historical Ennui, Feminist Boredom’, The Persistence of History.
Cinema, TV, and the Modern Event, ed. Vivian Sobchack (New York & London:
Routledge, 1996), 197.
4
Ibid.
5
Ann Kaplan, Trauma Culture, 74.
6
Ann Kaplan and Ban Wang, eds., Trauma and Cinema. Cross-Cultural
Explorations (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004), 12.
7
Joshua Hirsch, Afterimage: Film, Trauma, and the Holocaust (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 2004).
8
Dominick LaCapra, History in Transit: Experience, Identity, Critical Theory
(Ithaca & London: Cornell university Press, 2004), 119.
9
Laura Mulvey, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema,’ Screen 16/3 (1975): 6-
18.
10
Sarah Projansky, Watching Rape. Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture
(York: York University Press, 2001), 19.
11
Ibid., 96.
12
Sharon Marcus, ‘Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of
Rape Prevention’, Feminist Theorize the Political, ed. Judith Butler and Joan W.
Scott (New York: Routledge, 1992), 385-403.
13
Rebecca Stringer, ‘Rethinking the Critique of Victim Feminism’, Victim no
More: Women’s Resistance to Law, Culture and Power, ed. Ellen Faulkner and
Gayle MacDonald (Halifax: Fernwood Publishing Co., 2009), 19-27.
14
Annette Kuhn, The Power of the Image: Essays on Representation and Sexuality
(London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley: Routledge & Kegal Paul, 1985), 3.
15
Joshua Hisrch, Afterimage: Film, Trauma, and the Holocaust (Philadelphia:
Temple University Press, 2004), 17.
16
Kimberly Theidon, Entre prójimos. El conflicto armado interno y la política de
la reconciliación en Perú (Perú: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2004).
148 Songs of Pain
__________________________________________________________________

17
Ella Shohat and Robert Stam, Unthinking Eurocentrism: Multiculturalism and
the Media (London & New York: Routledge, 1994), 298.
18
Tina Escaja, ‘La Teta Asustada’, Chasqui 40/1 (2011): 1-6.

Bibliography
Escaja, Tina. ‘La Teta Asustada,’ Chasqui 40/1 (2011): 1-6.

Escribens, Paula. Proyecto de vida de mujeres víctimas de violencia sexual en

conflicto armado interno, Lima: DEMUS Estudio para la Defensa de los Derechos
de la Mujer, 2011.

Hisrch, Joshua. Afterimage: Film, Trauma, and the Holocaust. Philadelphia:

Temple University Press, 2004.

Irigaray, Luce. Ce sexe qui ne ́n est pas un (1977). Translated by Catherine Porter
and Carolyn Burke. Ithaca & London: Cornell University Press, 1985.

Kaplan, Ann. Trauma Culture: The Politics of Terror and Loss in Media and
Literature. New Brunswick, New Jersey, and London: Rutgers University Press,
2005.

Kaplan, Ann and Wang, Ban, eds. Trauma and Cinema. Cross-Cultural
Explorations. Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 2004.

Kuhn, Annette. The Power of the Image: Essays on Representation and Sexuality.
London, Boston, Melbourne and Henley: Routledge & Kegal Paul, 1985.

LaCapra, Dominik. History in Transit: Experience, Identity, Critical Theory. Ithaca

& London: Cornell university Press, 2004.

Llosa, Claudia. The Milk of Sorrow. Peru & Spain: Vela Producciones Oberón
Cinematográfica & Wanda Visión, 2009. DVD.

Luckhurst, Roger. The Trauma Question. London & New York: Routledge, 2008.

Marcus, Sharon. ‘Fighting Bodies, Fighting Words: A Theory and Politics of Rape
Prevention.’ Feminist Theorize the Political, edited by Judith Butler and Joan W.
Scott, 385-403. New York: Routledge, 1992.
 Rebeca Maseda 149
__________________________________________________________________

Meek, Allen. Trauma and Media. London & New York: Routledge, 2010.

Miller, Alice. ‘Sexuality, Violence against Women, and Human Rights: Women
Make Demands and Ladies Get Protection.’ Sexuality, Human Rights and Health
7/2 (2004): 16-47.

Mulvey, Laura. ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema.’ Screen 16/3 (1975): 6-18.

Illana Pagan-Teitelbaum. ‘Glamour in the Andes: Indigenous Women in Peruvian

Cinema.’In Latin American and Caribbean Ethnic Studies 7/1 (2012): 71-93.

Petro, Patrice. ‘Historical Ennui, Feminist Boredom.’ The Persistence of History:

Cinema, TV, and the Modern Event, edited by Vivian C. Sobchack, 187-199. New
York & London: Routledge, 1996.

Projansky, Sarah. Watching Rape: Film and Television in Postfeminist Culture.

York: York University Press, 2001.

Shaw, Brent D. ‘The Passion of Perpetua.’ Past & Present 139 (1993): 3-45

Shohat, Ella and Robert Stam. Unthinking Eurocentrism. Multiculturalism and the
Media. London & New York: Routledge, 1994.

Stern, Steve, ed. Shining and Other Paths: War and Society in Perú, 1980-1995.
Durham & London: Duke University Press, 1998.

Stringer, Rebecca. ‘Rethinking the Critique of Victim Feminism.’ Victim no More:

Women’s Resistance to Law, Culture and Power, edited by Ellen Faulkner and
Gayle MacDonald, 19-27. Halifax: Fernwood Publishing Co., 2009.

Theidon, Kimberly. Entre prójimos. El conflicto armado interno y la política de la

reconciliación en Perú. Perú: Instituto de Estudios Peruanos, 2004.

Rebeca Maseda is Assistant Professor of Spanish in the Department of Languages

at the University of Alaska Anchorage. She is the author of multiple articles on
gender and cinema, female pornography, film and schizophrenia in Julio Medem’s
Sex and Lucía, and the book Essay on Contradiction: Virginia Woolf on Screen
(Ed. Universitat D´Alacant, Spain). She has published a series of articles that
explore representations of trauma. Her articles The Secret Life of Women in the
Aftermath of Combat: Female Post-Traumatic stress Disorder in European
150 Songs of Pain
__________________________________________________________________

Cinema and From Weaklings to Wounded Warriors: The Changing Portrayal of

War-related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder in American Cinema have been
recently published.
 Film Form as Violent Expression: Visual Art and
Formal Manipulation

Thomas Joseph Watson

Abstract
In his article, ‘Monstrous Cinema’1 William Brown appropriates the ideas of
French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy2 with regard to the inherent monstrosity of the
image. In Brown’s terms, ‘all cinema touches us in a pre-linguistic and violent
manner—because images are ‘other’ or monstrances’.3 In this respect, images are
inherently violent, regardless of narrative imposition or their association with other
images. Taking Brown’s conception of non-representational violence as a starting
point, this chapter aims to expound and re-evaluate this argument using examples
of contemporary audio-visual art. The crux of my argument is that film form—
whether concerned with the formal experiments of celluloid or the manipulation of
digital binaries—is itself violent. Ranging from a contextual examination of the
Viennese Actionist ‘documentaries’ of Kurt Kren and then moving into critical
discussions concerning the contemporary digital installations of Tasman
Richardson and Nicolas Provost, this chapter will demonstrate that formal
manipulation acts as a powerful mode of violent expression that extends into a
reconsideration of digital artwork. Richardson’s fragmented editing signatures and
the datamoshing experiments of Provost will be examined in detail. In works such
as Delete Yourself 4 and Long Live The New Flesh,5 these artists illustrate how
digital technologies are utilised to re-envisage the possibilities of film form.
Looking beyond taxonomies of representation, I argue that the structural formation
of audio-visual media has evolved in that its very materiality becomes encoded
with violence.

Key Words: Violence, datamoshing, glitch, Kurt Kren, Nicolas Provost, Tasman
Richardson.

*****

In his article, ‘Monstrous Cinema’6 William Brown appropriates the ideas of

French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy7 with regard to the inherent monstrosity of the
image. In Brown’s terms, ‘all cinema touches us in a pre-linguistic and violent
manner—because images are ‘other’ or monstrances’.8 In this respect, images are
inherently violent, regardless of narrative imposition or their association with other
images.
Taking Brown’s conception of non-representational violence as a starting point,
this chapter aims to expound and re-evaluate this argument using examples of
contemporary audio-visual art. The crux of my argument is that film form—
whether concerned with the formal experiments of celluloid or the manipulation of
152 Film Form as Violent Expression
__________________________________________________________________
digital binaries—is itself violent. Ranging from a contextual examination of the
Viennese Actionist ‘documentaries’ of Kurt Kren and then moving into critical
discussions concerning the contemporary digital installations of Tasman
Richardson and Nicolas Provost, this chapter will demonstrate that formal
manipulation acts as a powerful mode of violent expression that extends into a
reconsideration of digital artwork. Richardson’s fragmented editing signatures and
the ‘data moshing’ experiments of Provost will be examined in detail. In works
such as Delete Yourself and Long Live the New Flesh, these artists illustrate how
digital technologies are utilised to re-envisage the possibilities of film form.
Looking beyond taxonomies of representation, I contend that the structural
formation of audio-visual media has evolved in such a way that its very materiality
becomes encoded with violence.
Drawing specifically upon the performance art and cinematic works of the
Viennese Actionists (notably Otto Mϋhl), film scholar Amos Vogel points to the
subversive qualities embedded within the visual art produced by this collective. For
Vogel these artworks ‘invade the spectator’s defence mechanism and value
systems’,9 pointing towards a certain rupturing of the image’s indexical fixings and
its intensity. The notion of a spectatorial defence mechanism is attached to an
established meaning and negotiated understanding. In other words, what is marked
as normative or conventional is effectively ruptured by these images and their
subsequent representation.
Described in this sense as an ‘invasion’, the semantic connotations of this
particular term suggest a form of violent intrusion. A jarring effect is therefore
created not just between the content of the image and any affect it may go on to
have, but also between ‘the form of content’ (an idea attributed to the work of
Brian Massumi).10 The idea of subversion within these contexts is predominantly
attached to what is represented within these visual artworks. Otto Mϋhl, for
example, included images of childbirth, defecation, extreme masturbation and
animal slaughter within his performances (sometimes conflating these actions
within the same event).11 Kurt Kren’s 1964 collaboration with Mϋhl resulted in the
film 6/64 Mama und Papa (Materialaktion Otto Mϋhl).12 Despite depictions of
nudity and defecation, it is the regimented, rhythmic editing structure of the film
that is most prominent. For example, Kren produced an illustrated facsimile of the
cutting score for Mama und Papa that effectively demonstrates his formulation of
‘a “controlled” montage’ where the filmmaker ‘responds to Muehl’s luxuriantly
sensual action with a precisely defined mathematics and subjects his footage to a
rigid editing plan.’13
Kren’s filmic style presents an ordered fragmentation of the performance work,
having a different effect on the viewer aside from those imparted by the images
represented within the film. Through the imposition of such a controlled edifice on
the actions filmed, Kren creates new meaning by asserting his own sense of
structured authorship. In this way, the form of the film exceeds any
 Thomas Joseph Watson 153
__________________________________________________________________
representational content; the form is what is foregrounded. These ideas extend into
Kren’s work with Gunter Brus, whose actionist performances were also marked in
terms of violence. The harrowing work entitled 10/65 Selbstverstϋmmelung (1965)
(Self-Mutilation), depicts Brus harming himself with razor blades, hooks, cork
screws, scissors and an array of knifes.14 It is unclear as to whether this work is
simulated or whether or not genuine mutilation did occur. Yet, for all intents and
purposes, the image of Brus writhing on the floor covered in viscous white paint
while contorting his face into anguished screams is, for all intents and purposes,
representationally violent.
Although described in terms of their harrowing content, the filmic
collaborations of Kren and Brus present a mode of exacerbated violence when
considering the formal manipulations applied by Kren. As such, ‘these films
atomize and break down the continuity of the event itself’ whereby ‘Kren’s refusal
to provide a faithful documentary account results in a loss of any context or even
content; all that remains is the form, the pace of the editing’.15 The works of Kren
were not intended by the filmmaker to be documentary evidence as to the
happenings of the Viennese action group. Rather, ‘he took the raw materials of
Mϋhl and Brus’ actions and acted upon them himself; creating new works through
the formal exploration of the images he gathered at these events.16 Kren’s own
filmmaking practices and the development of his ‘controlled montage’ act as a
means of resistance to the artistic measures/ restrictions put in place by the
Actionists. It is in these terms that the films are more about formal concerns and
aesthetics rather than the content or depiction of the image.
The structures imposed upon the visual image are also prominent within key
examples of contemporary audio-visual artwork, incorporating these rhythmic
editing patterns into their own modes of expression. A useful text to discuss in this
respect is Canadian video artist Tasman Richardson’s work Delete Yourself, an
appropriation of the snuff themed video game, Manhunt.17 The principal aim in the
original game is to survive as your character silently stalks his pursuers, the player
guided through the successive levels by the omniscient Director. The player avoids
his own death by carrying out an array of vicious executions (performed with
varying degrees of extremity and with assorted implements). This process is
significantly arduous within the game itself, a vast amount of the player’s time
spent skulking in shadows, redirecting enemies and evading capture.
Although the violent executions within the game do get more frequent (the
addition of firearms in the games later stages facilitating such content), Manhunt is
still very much removed from the kinetic game play associated with other genres of
violent video gaming. It is the games focus on brutal murder that constitutes its key
element of physical violence. Nevertheless, other modes of violence are at play
here, deconstructed and exemplified within Richardson’s Delete Yourself. What
Richardson does within his appropriation of the text is extract certain scenes
encompassing both the stalking and execution elements of game play.
154 Film Form as Violent Expression
__________________________________________________________________
As opposed to the carefully considered movements promoted in Manhunt, Cash
is extensively remediated within this new context to repeatedly shoot, club, stab
and slash his victims to death. The impact of the various implements of execution,
the resonating sounds of gun shots and the death cries of the computerized
attackers’ form the soundtrack to what is essentially a composite video of
computerized/ pixilated death scenes. The same images are shown to blur over one
another in rhythmic succession, scenes of death sped up and slowed down to
present a significant sense of rupture, not just in relation to the original game, but
also within the new contexts of Richardson’s installation.
I argue is that Delete Yourself is far more violent than the original video game,
and this violence is created through the formal structuring imposed upon the
remediated game footage. The quantitative violence within the clip does account
for this to some degree, computerized murder and execution condensed into a very
short duration and depicted at a rate far in excess of Manhunt. The duration of the
clip and its formal construction presents a greater frequency of violence, one frame
containing multiple executions and then juxtaposed with a succession of other
similar imagery. It is the formal structuring of the video that is accountable for this
violent intensification, exacerbating the represented content of the imagery and
becoming a noted form of violence in its own right.
The rapid kinesis of represented violence bombards the viewer, producing a
sense of disorientation that also codifies the viewing experience as ‘violent’ (in that
the clip is ‘violent’ to watch in a sensorial way). The frequency of represented
violence is coerced into an abrasive musical structure which is at once jarring yet
also methodical. In this respect, the meticulous structuring of these images forms a
flurry of violence not dissimilar to the work of Kren and his in camera editing style
(more appropriately considered as controlled montage).
In considering the original game text, the violence depicted in Manhunt is
illustrative of the inherent logic that underscores many video games, namely the
logic of eradication.18 It follows that digital media, and the imagery it exploits, are
founded on a language of binary dichotomism. As such, ‘digital computation is
limited by a dialect of existence and erasure’.19 A useful way to think about this
inherent coding is through the interjection of binary into the notion of violence
itself, outlined by Steve Jones as ‘VI/0lence’.20
These ideas are granted further credence when they are exploited through the
tools of digital media. Richardson intensifies this binary logic, reducing the game
to these core principals through the construction of his digital artwork. Because
these images of violence are represented at a greater frequency and removed from
their context within the original game, Delete Yourself may be considered an
illustration the formally violent logic of digital media. Richardson has stated that
his work aims to create a numbing form of information entropy in the viewer
followed by waves of emotionally charged shock.21 Entropy, in this sense, can be
thought of in terms of chaotic image bombardment, illustrated in the rapid
 Thomas Joseph Watson 155
__________________________________________________________________
succession of images that are intercut with others across these mediated examples.
However, this point becomes a paradox when this mode of chaos is structured and
organised. In this sense, what emerges is an example of formalized entropy, a
concept that relates to the later work of Nicolas Provost and his experimentations
with the digital glitch.
As such, ‘glitch’ relates to the point at which:

The static, linear notion of transmitting information is

interrupted. In the digital, these interruptions can be sub-divided
into glitch, encoding/decoding (of which in digital compression
is the most ordinary form) and feedback artifacts. Artists exploit
these artifacts to make (reflexive) media specific art works.22

The concept of the glitch will be the remaining focus of this chapter, illustrated
using the work of Nicolas Provost. Rosa Menkman defines the concept of the
glitch as an ‘(actual and/or simulated) break from an expected or conventional flow
of information or meaning within (digital) communication systems that result in a
perceived accident or error’.23 A glitch ‘occurs on the occasion where there is an
absence of (expected) functionality.’24 This absence of expected functionality
represents a break in the diegetic flow of information, something that breaks this
otherwise advancing progression. This absence may then be codified in terms of a
removal, a process of deletion that is equated with the binary logic that underpins
the digital image and how it is then managed. Because this mode of violence is
embedded within the image a priori to any manipulation, the potential for violence
to erupt on the surface is always there and is manifest within these instances of
glitch as technological disruptions.
The content of the visual image is therefore described in terms of materiality,
any identifiable form driven by the creation of computer algorithms. The content of
the image is reliant on its composition through binary coding and it is only through
instances of technical error, or glitch, that we are made aware of this. However, it
should also be noted that the glitch is ‘not always strictly a result of a technical
malfunction.’25 This relates to the processes whereby the glitch can be harnessed in
the creative practices of prolific digital artists. The glitch becomes another tool that
acts as a mode of expression as opposed to just being an error or mistake occurring
within the technological interface. This presents the idea of violence as a two-fold
process. The glitch is embedded within the technology itself and is therefore
violent in its eruption onto the surfaces of images (the glitch as a visible or notable
error). If this process is then contained within certain art-works, this containment is
also violent in that it imposes a structure over an event that was initially deemed
unstable and increasingly volatile. By reining this process in and displaying it
within a creative work, the digital form itself exists as a mode of violent
expression.
156 Film Form as Violent Expression
__________________________________________________________________
The digital glitch harnessed by Provost is formed through the processes of data
compression. Compression is what occurs when files are transferred between
various interfaces (such as the transference of a 20 gb-plus 90-minute film onto a
single layer DVD holding only 4.4 gb of information).26 Compression therefore
entails the rejection of a considerable amount of data from the original digital file.
If a film placed onto a DVD is to remain comprehensible, it does so by retaining
the least amount of information possible that it may still be read coherently. As
Brown and Kutty argue, ‘this involves keeping all of the data from prominent, or
key, frames…e.g. the first frame after a cut or when there has been a large amount
of change through movement between frames.’27 The changes between key frames
(also known as i-frames) are stored as digital data, and this typically involves
transitions from one camera to another (within narrative film) or changes to
particular scenes. The frames existing between Keyframes are known as p-frames,
and are essentially the number of frames it takes for a distinct change to be
registered. As such, within the process of compression, ‘only the aspects of the
image that have changed (e.g. pixels whose colour value has shifted) are kept.’28
There is always this process of reduction and compression within the digital file
format. This binary logic results in a process of decay and aspects of data damage
or effective loss are marked as inevitable occurrences.
Long Live The New Flesh illustrates how the elements of data compression and
glitch have been harnessed within a creative work (the technique adopted by
Provost dubbed ‘datamoshing’ or ‘pixel bleeding’). In terms of a definition:

artists use the changing elements of the p-frames that arise when
video files are compressed and they add these to i-frames from
different digital moving images, with the result that the i-frame
of one image, typically paused momentarily on screen, suddenly
seems to dematerialise as the moving aspects of the p-frames
from another moving image begin to manifest themselves on,
within or from behind it. As a result, blotches or “bleeding
pixels” appear, which might initially be considered glitch-like
errors by the viewer, but which the artists use expressively so as
to create new meanings via the “bleeding” of one image into the
other.29

Long Live the New Flesh30 is a 14 minute film comprised of different i-frames
and p-frames extracted from digital copies of several horror films (particularly
Videodrome,31 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,32 American Psycho33 and The
Shining.34 Rather than having one continuous flow of images bleed into one
another, this example depicts the transmogrification of many different images from
these different texts. The film clips utilised by Provost stand as familiar, perhaps
even canonical examples of horror cinema. Iconic imagery and well-known scenes
 Thomas Joseph Watson 157
__________________________________________________________________
are subjected to the digital manipulation of Provost’s glitch, data mosh or pixel
bleed. This in itself presents a sense of rupture in relation to normative practices of
viewing and spectatorship (relating to how these images are decoded). The
assumption here is that a great majority of viewers will be acquainted with the film
clips remediated within Long Live the New Flesh, and as such, seeing them
subjected to these processes of digital manipulation is significantly destabilizing
and uncanny.
To illustrate these points, the infamous scene from The Shining where an axe-
wielding Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) violently hacks through a wooden
doorway with the intent to murder his family now merges with other frames in the
progression of this scene. Rather than cutting away from one scene to the next, this
movement is now contained within the same frame and the transition is made
instantaneous as the scene progresses. As Jack begins to cut down the doorway, the
image of the extended axe fuses with his face pressed up against the shattered
wood. Because the scene changes in one fluid motion, it’s as if he has cut through
the screen itself. As Wendy (Shelley Duvall) pleads with him to stop, her face is
then transmogrified into that of Jack’s. In this particular instance, one character
merges into the other in one continuous flow of digital information. The use of data
moshing as a creative technique means that the image never remains still within the
frame; it is never static and produces a haunting, pulsating effect.
The glitch within digital representation is initially looked upon as an error or a
violent rupture, a break with normative modes of decoding imagery. However,
‘some artists do not focus on the procedural entity of the glitch at all. They skip the
process of creation-by-destruction and focus directly on the creation of a new
formal design.’35 As such, ‘to design a glitch means to domesticate it’36 and the
power of the glitch is arguably lost when it is appropriated for artistic expression. I
contend that it is these modes of appropriation, re-authorship and imposed
structuring that become other forms of violent containment. Noise, illustrated
through the ‘glitch’ in the contexts of the digital exists as a visible eruption on the
surface, emerging from ideas of internal disruption and external control. Digital
noise in these terms becomes both the objective, invisible, underlying structure of
violence and the visible, subjective violence that ruptures the surface.37 This
duality expresses the cyclic feedback of violence that collapses into itself, and the
idea of formalized entropy or entropic violence can be used to describe these
processes. Entropy suggests a form of chaos or disorder relating to the eruption of
the glitch or digital error as an inevitable yet unexpected occurrence. Yet how this
is appropriated, structured and controlled is exemplified in these examples of
digital artwork.
These sentiments are supported by the recent work of William Brown and
Meetali Kutty,38 who characterise the digital compression artefact (specifically the
data mosh) as an ‘artistic’ form of entropy’ and ‘digital chaos’.39 This leads to the
creation of new forms and ‘a form of digital “emergence” of “order out of
158 Film Form as Violent Expression
__________________________________________________________________
chaos”.’40 In other words, artistic appropriation harnesses the preceding levels of
disorder.
Through various modes of containment, whether this is through the artistic use
of the glitch, narrative imposition and authorial control, I argue that these examples
become illustrative of a formalized violence that doubles the representationally
violent content of these respective works. In the interrogation of the structures of
film form imposed over violent performance art, the digital appropriation of violent
imagery and remediated body horror, there is sense whereby the violent content of
the projected image is exacerbated by its form, and specifically, its formal
manipulation. It is in this sense that film form, both in terms of celluloid and its
digital descendants, moves beyond the inherent monstrosity of the image and
demonstrates a potential for violent expression.

Notes
1
William Brown, ‘Monstrous Cinema,’ New Review of Film and Television
Studies 10.4 (2012): 409-424.
2
Jean-Luc Nancy, Au fond des images (Paris: Galilée, 2003).
3
Brown, ‘Monstrous Cinema,’ 413.
4
Tasman Richardson, Delete Yourself, Visual Installation, 2004; Toronto.
5
Nicolas Provost, Long Live the New Flesh, Visual Installation, 2009; Belgium.
6
Brown, ‘Monstrous Cinema,’ 413.
7
Nancy, Au fond des images.
8
Brown, ‘Monstrous Cinema,’ 413.
9
Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974),
250.
10
Brian Massumi, Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation (Durham
and London: Duke University Press, 2002), 25.
11
Some of these performances were also filmed, the artist serving as director on a
great majority of his filmed works, Sodoma (1970) and Manopsychotisches Ballett
Part 1 (1970) perhaps viewed as some of his most ‘extreme’ material.
12
Kurt Kren, 6/64 Mama und Papa, Film, 1964; Austria.
13
Gabrielle Jutz, ‘Vienna Actionism and Film’, Vienna Actionism: Art and
Upheaval in 1960s’ Vienna, ed. Kunst Stifung, Ludwig Wein, Eva Badura-Triska
and Hubert Klocker (Museum Moderner/ Walther König: Köln, 2012), 151.
14
Kurt Kren, 10/65 Selbstverstϋmmelung, 1965; Austria.
15
Ed Howard, ‘Kurt Kren: Action Films’, Only the Cinema (blog). June 19, 2009,
Viewed on 11 August 2014,
http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/kurt-kren-action-films.html.
16
Ibid.
 Thomas Joseph Watson 159
__________________________________________________________________

17
Manhunt was published and developed by Rockstar North/ Rockstar Games in
2003.
18
Steve Jones, ‘I/0: Binarism and Infra-Dichotomism’, Horror Film…Selfhood
(blog). July 31, 2012, Viewed on 11 August 2014,
http://drstevejones.co.uk/infra-dichotomism.html.
19
Ibid.
20
Ibid.
21
These statements refer specifically to Richardson’s 2007 work Catalyst, an
installation in which explicit pornography is rapidly straight cut together with
recordings of violent death.
22
Rosa Menkman, ‘Glitch Studies Manifesto’, Video Vortex Reader II: Moving
Images Beyond YouTube, ed. Geert Lovink and Rachel Somers Miles (Amsterdam:
Institute of Network Cultures, 2011), 339-340. Viewed August 2012,
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publications/inc-readers/video-vortex-ii/.
23
Rosa Menkman, The Glitch Moment(um): Network Notebooks 04. (Amsterdam:
Institute of Network Cultures, 2011), 9. Viewed October 2012,
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publications/network-notebooks/no-04-
the-glitch-momentum/.
24
Ibid.
25
Ibid.
26
William Brown and Meetali Kutty, ‘Datamoshing and the emergence of digital
complexity from digital chaos,’ Convergence: The International Journal of
Research into New Media Technologies 18.2 (2012): 167.
27
Ibid., 168.
28
Ibid.
29
Ibid.
30
The title of Provost’s installation, Long Live The New Flesh, refers explicitly to
David Cronenberg’s 1983 film Videodrome. The title follows dialogue from the
film whereby the character Max Renn (James Woods) exclaims ‘Death to
Videodrome! Long live the new flesh!’
31
Videodrome, directed by David Cronenberg. 1983; Canada.
32
Tobe Hooper, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Film, 1974; United States.
33
Mary Harron, American Psycho, Film, 2000; United States.
34
Stanley Kubrick, The Shining, Film, 1980; United Kingdom/ United States.
35
Menkman, ‘Glitch Studies Manifesto’, 342.
36
Ibid.
37
Slavoj Žižek, Violence: Six Sideways Reflections (London: Profile Books Ltd,
2008).
38
Brown and Kutty, ‘Datamoshing and the Emergence of Digital Complexity from
Digital Chaos’, 165-176.
160 Film Form as Violent Expression
__________________________________________________________________

39
Ibid., 165.
40
Ibid.

Bibliography

Brown, William. ‘Monstrous Cinema.’ New Review of Film and Television Studies
10.4 (2012): 409-424.

Brown, William and Kutty, Meetali. ‘Datamoshing and the Emergence of Digital
Complexity from Digital Chaos.’ Convergence: The International Journal of
Research into New Media Technologies 18.2 (2012): 165-176.

Cantamessa, Christian. Manhunt. 2003. Edinburgh: Rockstar North/ Rockstar

Games.

Cronenberg, David. Videodrome. 1983. Canada: Canadian Film Development

Corporation.

Harron, Mary. American Psycho. 2000. United States: Lions Gate Films.

Hooper, Tobe. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 1974. United States: Vortex.

Howard, Ed. ‘Kurt Kren: Action Films.’ Only the Cinema (blog). 19 June 2009.
Viewed on 20 May 2012. http://seul-le-cinema.blogspot.co.uk/2009/06/kurt-kren-
action-films.html.

Jones, Steve. ‘I/0: Binarism and Infra-Dichotomism.’ Horror Film…Selfhood

(blog). 31 July 2012. Viewed on 31 July 2012.
http://drstevejones.co.uk/infra-dichotomism.html.

Jutz, Gabrielle. ‘Vienna Actionism and Film’. Vienna Actionism: Art and
Upheaval in 1960s’ Vienna, edited by Kunst Stifung, Ludwig Wein, Eva Badura-
Triska and Hubert Klocker, 136-157. Köln: Museum Moderner/ Walther König,
2012.

Kren, Kurt. 6/64: Mama und Papa (Materialaktion Otto Mühl). 1964. Austria.

Kren. Kurt. 10/65: Selbstverstümmelung. 1965. Austria.

 Thomas Joseph Watson 161
__________________________________________________________________

Kubrick, Stanley. The Shining. 1980. United Kingdom/ United States: Warner
Bros.

Massumi, Brian. Parables for the Virtual: Movement, Affect, Sensation. Durham
and London: Duke University Press, 2002.

Menkman, Rosa. ‘Glitch Studies Manifesto’. Video Vortex Reader II: Moving
Images Beyond YouTube, edited by Geert Lovink and Rachel Somers Miles, 336-
347. Amsterdam: Institute of Network Cultures, 2011. Viewed on 28 August 2012.
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publications/inc-readers/video-vortex-ii/.

Menkman, Rosa. The Glitch Moment(um): Network Notebooks 04. Amsterdam:

Institute of Network Cultures, 2011. Viewed on 30 October 2012.
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/portal/publications/network-notebooks/no-04-
the-glitch-momentum.

Mϋhl, Otto. Sodoma. 1970. Austria

Mϋhl, Otto. Manopsychotisches Ballett Part 1. 1970. Austria

Nancy, Jean-Luc. Au fond des images. Paris: Galilée, 2003.

Provost, N. Long Live The New Flesh. 2010. Belgium.

Richardson, Tasman. Delete Yourself. 2004. Canada

Vogel, Amos. Film as a Subversive Art. London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1974.

Žižek, Slavoj. Violence: Six Sideways Reflections. London: Profile Books Ltd,
2008.

Thomas Joseph Watson is a Phd Candidate in Media at Northumbria University,

Newcastle upon Tyne. His thesis considers the role played by film form in the
construction of violence within contemporary audio-visual media.
 Part IV:

Violence and Political Destabilization: War, Elections

and Corporations
 War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility

Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert

Abstract
Recently, a number of philosophers have argued that soldiers typically aren’t
responsible for war crimes because situational factors such as battlefield stress and
military training undermine their capacity to recognize morally relevant features of
their environment, and thus soldiers should be excused for their wrongdoing. In
this chapter we challenge this conclusion and demonstrate that this account is
inadequate as an explanation of war crimes and a theory of responsibility. Drawing
on social cognitivist accounts of personality, we show how military training instils
attitudes, beliefs, and emotions in soldiers that inform their uses of violence in
ways that can contribute to war crimes. Even though soldiers can’t fully control the
dispositions they develop through military training, we argue that soldiers who
commit war crimes are responsible for their behaviour if their actions express
morally objectionable attitudes that justify their victims in blaming them. However,
a soldier would not be responsible for war crimes if her behaviour was elicited by
situational pressures that bypassed her dispositions, beliefs, and emotions. Thus,
we provide a nuanced analysis of responsibility for war crimes that recognizes that
aspects of military conflict can undermine moral responsibility.

Key Words: War crimes, situationism, character theory, moral responsibility.

*****

Introduction
In this chapter we address the following questions: Do war crimes result
primarily from failures of character or from situational influences, and are those
who commit war crimes morally responsible for their actions? In response to the
first question, we argue that a certain type of situationist account of war crimes is
mistaken, and we offer an alternative dispositional account of war crimes. In
response to the second question, we argue in favour of a theory of responsibility
under which soldiers may be held morally responsible for war crimes in most cases
regardless of whether situational forces or dispositions influenced their behaviour.

1. Situationism, War Crimes and Responsibility

A large body of experimental research in social psychology is thought to
support situationism: the view that human behaviour is explained to a surprising
extent by the situational factors to which an agent is exposed, rather than by the
agent’s pre-existing and stable character or personality traits. One of the striking
features of these experimental results is that relatively minor situational factors
appear to disproportionately influence behaviour in situations where we would
166 War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility
__________________________________________________________________
expect even weak character traits to have a much stronger influence. For example,
in his famous experiments on destructive obedience, Stanley Milgram was able to
persuade normal adults to deliver what they thought were increasingly painful and
dangerous shocks to another person even when that person demanded to be
released from the experiment.1 Milgram obtained the results simply by instructing
his experimenters to tell subjects that the experiment required that the shocks had
to be administered, suggesting that a simple assertion of authority could override
compassion for another’s suffering. In another famous experiment, Philip
Zimbardo placed willing ‘normal, healthy American college students’ 2 in a
simulated prison environment housed on the campus of Stanford University. Very
shortly after the experiment began, the students role-playing prison guards began to
mistreat the students posing as prisoners. Zimbardo concluded that the behaviour
he observed was ‘the result of an intrinsically pathological situation which could
distort and rechannel the behaviour of essentially normal individuals’.3
Experiments like Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s are often thought to tell us
something about the commission of war crimes. Zimbardo’s experiment seems to
be particularly relevant for explaining the crimes (including torture and sexual
assaults) committed by American troops against the prisoners they supervised at
the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. Recently, John Doris and Dominic Murphy have
drawn on these and related experiments to argue for ‘a strong general presumption
that perpetrators of wartime atrocities are not morally responsible’.4
Doris and Murphy interpret the situationist experimental record as indicating,
among other things, that confusing, stressful, and ambiguous stimuli – of the sort
present in Milgram’s and Zimbardo’s experiments – can ‘adversely affect moral
functioning’.5 In other words, Milgram and Zimbardo’s subjects behaved as they
did because they were exposed to pressures that made it very difficult for them to
respond appropriately to moral considerations. Doris and Murphy argue that if this
result occurs in the lab, then there is ‘good reason to think that the radical
confusion of the battlefield will have related effects’.6 And if, as Doris and Murphy
claim, soldiers who commit war crimes ‘manifest cognitive impairments that
profoundly degrade their capacity for moral judgment’, 7 then perhaps they are
excused for their behaviour. This conclusion follows from the belief – accepted by
many philosophers – that an agent is morally responsible for her behaviour only if
she possesses ‘normative competence’: the capacity to assess and respond to moral
reasons.8
It is undoubtedly true that soldiers may be exposed to extreme strain when in
combat, and so we share Doris and Murphy’s view that ‘the presence of excusing
conditions in combat is highly probable’.9 However, Doris and Murphy also claim
that soldiers who are involved in non-battlefield war crimes (such as
institutionalized torture) should also typically be excused for their crimes. The
presumption of non-responsibility is meant to apply to soldiers in general, not just
to soldiers in combat.
 Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert 167
__________________________________________________________________
According to Doris and Murphy, there are many ‘distal’ situational pressures
that are associated with military culture and that are implicated in the commission
of war crimes. 10 These distal pressures impair soldiers’ normative competence
through their long-term and cumulative effects, such as the effects of exposure to
propaganda that dehumanizes the enemy, and thus can influence soldiers’ actions
long after the point at which the pressure was first applied. Unlike combat
pressures such as extreme fatigue that undermine soldiers’ normative competence
by literally making it impossible for them to think straight or to understand what is
going on around them, distal pressures impair soldiers’ normative competence by
leading them to believe that objectionable behaviour is morally permissible or even
required. In other words, and as Doris and Murphy put it, ‘military training
reconfigures the range of available behavioural options’11 for soldiers. What may
have seemed impermissible, or even unthinkable, becomes possible and even
routine. For example, all soldiers are taught to kill and to become desensitized to
violence, and some military personnel may be taught to dehumanize the enemy, to
trivialize the lives of enemy civilians, to torture, and to ‘kill prisoners and how to
sexually mutilate women’.12
Certainly, as Doris and Murphy argue, this kind of military education is
unlikely to produce soldiers able to engage in moral reflection. 13 They conclude
that it is unfair to hold such soldiers morally responsible for their behaviour given
that they may have regarded their behaviour as acceptable in light of their training.
Consider the US Army reservists at Abu Ghraib who ‘posed, smiling, for the
camera while they tortured the people in their charge’. 14 As Doris and Murphy
point out, this behaviour ‘suggests that they genuinely did not think that they were
doing wrong’.15 Indeed, given that US political, intelligence, and military leaders
were publicly defending harsh interrogation, from the reservists’ point of view it
may even have been reasonable for them to believe that what they were doing was
permissible.16 If this is so, then perhaps we cannot blame them for their actions.

2. A Dispositional Approach to War Crimes

There are several problems with Doris and Murphy’s situationist account of
war crimes. Firstly, it fails to account for the fact that perpetrators of war crimes
vary greatly in their motivation for engaging in war crimes, and in their enthusiasm
for, execution of, and attitudes toward their actions.17 Since the soldiers involved in
war crimes such as the events at Abu Ghraib have typically been exposed to the
same situational forces, it is very difficult for the situationist to explain such
differences in behaviour and attitude. Secondly, the situationist account fails to
recognise the manner in which military culture and training cultivates dispositions
– sets of beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and behaviours that shape how soldiers
perceive their actions and duties, and respond to situations. Ironically, Doris and
Murphy refer to some of these elements in their discussion of distal pressures
referred to above but they fail to recognise that this poses a problem for their view.
168 War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility
__________________________________________________________________
For these reasons we propose an account of war crimes that is sensitive to the
insights afforded by the situationist experiments but that emphasizes the way in
which war crimes can be conceived of as expressions of soldiers’ character and
moral agency. War crimes are crimes of character in the sense that the character
traits of perpetrators may at least partly explain why such crimes occur.
By ‘character traits’, we mean behaviour-informing dispositions that are
relatively stable over time, and that are sustained by an agent’s beliefs, desires, and
attitudes. This conception of character traits is consistent with a social cognitivist
view of personality according to which personality is construed as a complex
interaction between external situational factors and the agent’s internal cognitive
and affective processes. This theory of personality was developed by Walter
Mischel and Yuichi Shoda 18 and has gained support from both social
psychologists19 and philosophers.20 According to this theory, personality is not a
set of broad-based situation-independent dispositions, but should be understood as
a Cognitive Affective Processing System (CAPS): ‘a dynamic system or organized
network of interconnected and inter-acting cognitions and affects’ 21 that are
activated in social settings. In CAPS theory a situation cannot be characterized or
defined without understanding how agents in that situation construe the meaning of
the situation, and how that construal interacts with their beliefs, goals, and self-
conception.
CAPS character traits are best conceived of as interconnected ‘social-cognitive’
units involving beliefs, emotions, behaviours, and judgments that are ‘activated in
response to situational variables… or internal stimuli’.22 Repeated ‘activation’ of
these cognitive-affective units leads to relatively stable behavioural patterns and
traits. Nancy Snow illustrates this process through a discussion of how a person
may develop the trait of irritability. 23 Like other CAPS traits, the trait of irritability
consists of ‘thoughts, affects, and representations of plans, strategies, and values,
[and it] stands online and ‘on call’ ready to be activated through external stimuli or
even through internal stimuli, such as thoughts or imaginings’.24 When the irritable
person is exposed to certain stimuli (for example, when someone bumps into her
on the street) this activates beliefs (‘People are so thoughtless!’), emotions
(annoyance) and goals (‘I’m going to avoid busy streets’) that reinforce the trait as
a single unit and can lead the trait to become generalized across objectively
different situations, such as busy streets, crowded movie theatres, public transport,
and so forth. Thus, to understand an agent’s behaviour in a given situation we must
understand the subjective meaning that the situation has for the agent.
On our view, CAPS theory provides the most promising framework through
which to examine war crimes. We suggest that military training and culture are not
simply external forces acting on passive individuals. Instead, military training and
culture leads to the development of CAPS traits in military personnel related to the
goals, actions, beliefs, and attitudes relevant to military endeavours. For example,
at the most general level, military training and culture aims to cultivate beliefs (for
 Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert 169
__________________________________________________________________
example, that a particular war is justified), emotions (for example, loyalty) and
actions (for example, obeying orders) that lead to stable and predictable
behavioural patterns in response to particular situations.25 It therefore makes sense
to understand military training as a form of CAPS trait development rather than as
a set of situational forces ‘pushing’ military personnel around. Interestingly, Doris
and Murphy correctly note: ‘situational forces affect how circumstances are
observed, interpreted and evaluated, thereby powerfully affecting moral
behavior’. 26 However, they fail to recognize that this process actively engages
soldiers’ beliefs, attitudes, and judgments, rather than undermining such capacities.
In relation to war crimes, this approach provides important insights into how
crimes such as torture can come to be viewed by military personnel not only as
permissible but as consistent with military objectives and with the central values
characteristic of being a good soldier. Research on the causes of war crimes27 has
found that war crimes are likely to occur when the following conditions apply: a
specific act or policy, such as a policy of torture, has been authorized and
rationalized by military authorities; those carrying out the policy see their role as
requiring obedience to authority (i.e. they construe their role in that way); the
intended subjects of the policy have been dehumanized; the practice has been
‘sanitized’ (for example, referred to by euphemistic terms); the act or policy is
treated as legitimate routine behaviour consistent or even required by important
military objectives; and the responsibility of those carrying out the practice in
question is displaced onto others. This combination of factors can lead to what
psychologist Albert Bandura calls ‘moral disengagement’ where an agent’s ‘moral
self-sanctions can be dis-engaged from inhumane conduct’.28
The commission of war crimes cannot be explained without reference to the
beliefs, goals, self-conception and attitudes of perpetrators. The factors listed above
have in common the aim of cultivating specific beliefs, attitudes, goals, and self-
conceptions in those who will carry out these actions. It would be a mistake to
interpret the list as representing a set of situational forces that compel soldiers to
have particular beliefs, thereby impairing their normative competence. Instead,
these factors represent the ways in which military training and culture interact with
the moral agency of military personnel. In general, military personnel develop
CAPS traits related to their military goals and their specific duties. In the case of
war crimes, these traits are sets of beliefs, attitudes, emotions, and goals that shape
how military personnel construe situations that would otherwise be viewed as
illegal and/or immoral. For example, contra Doris and Murphy’s interpretation,
one could see the photographs at Abu Ghraib as demonstrating that the soldiers
depicted did not construe the situation as one in which they were required to treat
prisoners with respect. It is likely that they believed that their treatment of the
prisoners was permissible and consistent with their duties as guards. Thus their
behaviour is not evidence that they were overwhelmed by the situation, or that they
lacked compassion or did not believe in the laws of armed conflict. To make sense
170 War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility
__________________________________________________________________
of their behaviour we must look beyond the objective features of the situation, and
understand how they themselves interpreted their own behaviour.
This approach is consistent with the fact that perpetrators of war crimes, when
interviewed, often aim at reconciling their actions with their particular individual
self-conception, goals, and values. For example, a Brazilian torturer interviewed by
Martha Huggins explained his actions as follows: ‘I don’t use ... violence outside
the standard of my conscience as a human being. I’m a conscientious professional.
I know what to do and when to do it.’29 This quote suggests that this perpetrator
construed his actions as a legitimate exercise of his professional duties and as
consistent with his self-conception as a decent man and a good soldier – he only
uses violence ‘on the job’, i.e. for legitimate military purposes. This torturer’s self-
conception no doubt uniquely shaped how he performed his duties, in contrast to,
say, a torturer who viewed torture as the infliction of punishment on worthless
scum. Thus perpetrators of war crimes are (like all agents) what Alexander Hinton
called ‘meaning makers’ who ‘comprehend and construct meaning out of their
social lives’.30 Ignoring this fact leads to a failure to understand the differences in
motivations and attitudes that can explain (at least partially) how and why
individuals become perpetrators of war crimes.

3. Assessing Moral Responsibility

There are at least two possible arguments for excusing war criminals. Firstly,
there is the impaired moral capacity argument that Doris and Murphy make.
According to this view, agents whose normative competence is impaired should
not be held morally accountable for their actions because it is unreasonable to
expect them to act otherwise or to have formed alternative moral beliefs. Secondly,
even if a war criminal’s character traits explain her actions, if she had little or no
control over the development of those traits we might think it unreasonable to hold
her responsible for actions resulting from those traits. We reject both these
arguments.
Our approach to assessing moral responsibility focuses on when and under
what conditions it is reasonable to blame or praise agents for their actions.31 An
agent is morally responsible for her good or bad behaviour and/or the consequences
of that behaviour, just in case she is open to moral praise or moral blame. And an
agent is praiseworthy or blameworthy if she is an appropriate target for a variety of
moral responses, most notably a range of positive and negative reactive emotions,
such as gratitude or resentment.32
In relation to war crimes, our focus is on whether perpetrators are morally
responsible in the sense of being open to the negative responses that constitute
moral blame. We suggest that the sort of soldiers imagined by Doris and Murphy –
soldiers who commit atrocities but who regard their behaviour as permissible – are
morally responsible in this sense. In other words, a wrongdoer who regards her
 Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert 171
__________________________________________________________________
behaviour as permissible is not, for that reason, an illegitimate target of emotions
like resentment that characterize moral blame.
A central reason for excusing an agent from moral blame is that her actions do
not reflect an objectionable quality of will towards those affected by her behaviour.
Insofar as this is the case, the excused agent is not an appropriate target for
attitudes like resentment. Imagine a case in which a soldier mistakenly targets a
civilian. Other things being equal, it is plausible that the soldier’s action does not
reflect a belief that the civilian’s life is morally insignificant. In such a case, it
would be reasonable to withhold moral blame. However, the actions of the
Brazilian torturer described above by Martha Huggins reflected objectionable
moral beliefs, specifically about the moral standing of those he tortured. This does
not mean that he consciously thought, ‘my victims are contemptible’ at the time he
tortured them. It is sufficient in our view that the torturer acted on reasons that he
endorsed (for example, he believed that torture was necessary to protect the State)
and that his actions reflected an attitude that treated the interests of his victims with,
at best, indifference. Thus ‘objectionable moral attitude’ should be understood to
include any attitude or belief that denies or denigrates the moral standing of other
moral agents and/or that treats the interests of some individuals or groups as less
important than comparable moral interests.
On our view, the torturer’s attitudes, as expressed by his actions, justify holding
him morally responsible regardless of whether he viewed his behaviour as
permissible. This is because these attitudes justify feelings of resentment in his
victims. The torturer’s mistaken moral belief is simply not the sort of thing that
undermines blame – it is categorically distinct from excusing conditions such
coercion, duress, or nonculpable ignorance. To take the opposing view and insist
that the torture victim must forswear blame because her torturer views her as
morally available for such treatment fails to show the victim sufficient respect.33 It
requires her to treat her own beliefs about her moral standing – her standing to
object to certain forms of treatment – as subservient to the torturer’s judgments.
The same reasoning applies to the suggestion that the torturer is blameless because
he is not responsible for acquiring his objectionable moral attitudes. What matters
is not how the torturer came by his objectionable attitudes, but rather the content of
these attitudes and how they are expressed through his behaviour.

Notes
1
The learner was a confederate of the experimenter. For a complete discussion of
the experiments see Stanley Milgram, Obedience to Authority: An Experimental
View (London, UK: Tavistock Publications, 1974), 44-78.
2
Craig Haney, Curtis Banks and Philip Zimbardo, ‘Interpersonal Dynamics of a
Simulated Prison,’ International Journal of Criminology and Penology 1 (1973):
69-97, 89.
172 War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility
__________________________________________________________________

3
Ibid., 90.
4
John Doris and Dominic Murphy, ‘From My Lai to Abu Ghraib: The Moral
Psychology of Atrocity,’ Midwest Studies in Philosophy 31 (2007): 25-55, 28.
5
Ibid., 35.
6
Ibid.
7
Ibid., 26.
8
For influential accounts of responsibility that emphasize the capacity to respond
to moral reasons see: Susan Wolf, Freedom within Reason (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1990); and R. Jay Wallace, Responsibility and the Moral
Sentiments (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1996).
9
Doris and Murphy, ‘The Moral Psychology of Atrocity,’ 38. Emphasis added.
10
Ibid., 38-41.
11
Ibid., 39.
12
Ibid.
13
Ibid., 39.
14
Ibid., 47.
15
Ibid.
16
Ibid., 48.
17
Thomas Blass discusses this problem with situationist explanations of the
behaviour of Holocaust perpetrators. See Thomas Blass, ‘Psychological
Perspectives on the Perpetrators of the Holocaust: The Role of Situational
Pressures, Personal Dispositions, and Their Interactions,’ Holocaust and Genocide
Studies 30 (1993): 30-50, 34.
18
Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda, ‘A Cognitive-Affective System Theory of
Personality: Reconceptualizing Situations, Dispositions, Dynamics, and Invariance
in Personality Structure,’ Psychological Review 102 (1995): 246-268.
19
Lee Ross and Richard E. Nisbett, The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of
Social Psychology (London, UK: Pinter and Martin, 2011).
20
See Nancy Snow, Virtue as Social Intelligence: An Empirically Grounded
Theory (New York, US: Routledge, 2009); and Daniel Russell, Practical
Intelligence and the Virtues (New York, US: Oxford University Press, 2009).
21
Walter Mischel and Yuichi Shoda, ‘Toward a Unified, Intra-individual Dynamic
Conception of Personality,’ Journal of Research in Personality 30 (1996): 414-
428, 417.
22
Snow, Virtue as Social Intelligence, 31-33.
23
Ibid., 32.
24
Ibid.
25
See Jessica Wolfendale, Torture and the Military Profession (Abingdon, UK:
Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007), Chapter 6, 127-160.
26
Doris and Murphy, ‘The Moral Psychology of Atrocity,’ 36.
 Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert 173
__________________________________________________________________

27
Albert Bandura, ‘Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities,’
Perspectives of Social Psychology Review 3 (1999): 193-209; Jean-Jacques
Frésard, The Roots of Behaviour in War (Geneva: International Committee of the
Red Cross, 2004).
28
Bandura, ‘Moral Disengagement,’ 194.
29
Martha Huggins, ‘Legacies of Authoritarianism: Brazilian Torturers’ and
Murderers’ Reformulation of Memory,’ Latin American Perspectives 27 (2000):
57-78, 63.
30
Alexander Hinton, Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide
(Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004), 28.
31
Approaches similar to the one we advocate here can be found in T. M. Scanlon,
Moral Dimensions: Permissibility, Meaning, Blame (Cambridge, MA: Harvard
University Press, 2008); Angela Smith, ‘Responsibility for Attitudes: Activity and
Passivity in Mental Life,’ Ethics 115 (2005): 236-271; Matthew Talbert, ‘Moral
Competence, Moral Blame, and Protest,’ The Journal of Ethics 16 (2012): 89-109.
32
The classic account of moral responsibility in these terms is found in P. F.
Strawson, ‘Freedom and Resentment,’ Proceedings of the British Academy 48
(1962): 1-25.
33
Doris and Murphy would no doubt agree that victims of war crimes often do feel
anger and resentment, and they might agree that such emotions may be
understandable, but they would have to describe such emotions as unreasonable or
inappropriate given their view about the moral responsibility of most perpetrators
of war crimes.

Bibliography
Bandura, Albert. ‘Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities.’
Perspectives of Social Psychology Review 3 (1999): 193-209.

Blass, Thomas. ‘Psychological Perspectives on the Perpetrators of the Holocaust:

The Role of Situational Pressures, Personal Dispositions, and Their Interactions.’
Holocaust and Genocide Studies 30 (1993): 30-50.

Doris, John and Dominic Murphy. ‘From My Lai to Abu Ghraib: The Moral
Psychology of Atrocity.’ Midwest Studies in Philosophy 31 (2007): 25-55.

Frésard, Jean-Jacques. The Roots of Behaviour in War. Geneva: International

Committee of the Red Cross, 2004.
174 War Crimes, Character, and Responsibility
__________________________________________________________________

Haney, Craig, Curtis Banks and Philip Zimbardo. ‘Interpersonal Dynamics of a

Simulated Prison.’ International Journal of Criminology and Penology 1 (1973):
69-97.

Hinton, Alexander. Why Did They Kill?: Cambodia in the Shadow of Genocide.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2004.

Huggins, Martha. ‘Legacies of Authoritarianism: Brazilian Torturers’ and

Murderers’ Reformulation of Memory.’ Latin American Perspectives 27 (2000):
57-78.

Milgram, Stanley. Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. London:

Tavistock Publications, 1974.

Mischel, Walter and Yuichi Shoda. ‘A Cognitive-Affective System Theory of

Personality: Reconceptualizing Situations, Dispositions, Dynamics, and Invariance
in Personality Structure.’ Psychological Review 102 (1995): 246-268.

––––––. ‘Toward a Unified, Intra-individual Dynamic Conception of Personality.’

Journal of Research in Personality 30 (1996): 414-428.

Ross, Lee and Richard E. Nisbett. The Person and the Situation: Perspectives of
Social Psychology. London: Pinter and Martin, 2011.

Russell, Daniel. Practical Intelligence and the Virtues. New York: Oxford
University Press, 2009.

Scanlon, T. M. Moral Dimensions: Permissibility, Meaning, Blame. Cambridge,

MA: Harvard University Press, 2008.

Smith, Angela. ‘Responsibility for Attitudes: Activity and Passivity in Mental

Life.’ Ethics 115 (2005): 236-271.

Snow, Nancy. Virtue as Social Intelligence: An Empirically Grounded Theory.

New York: Routledge, 2009.

Strawson, P. F. ‘Freedom and Resentment.’ Proceedings of the British Academy 48

(1962): 1-25.

Talbert, Matthew. ‘Moral Competence, Moral Blame, and Protest.’ The Journal of
Ethics 16 (2012): 89-109.
 Jessica Wolfendale and Matthew Talbert 175
__________________________________________________________________

Wallace, R. Jay. Responsibility and the Moral Sentiments. Cambridge, MA:

Harvard University Press, 1996.

Wolf, Susan. Freedom Within Reason. New York: Oxford University Press, 1990.

Wolfendale, Jessica. Torture and the Military Profession. Abingdon, UK:

Palgrave-Macmillan, 2007.

Acknowledgements
This chapter is a summary of a book project funded by the Character Project: New
Frontiers in the Philosophy of Character Funding Competition, Wake Forest
University. The Philosophy of Character Funding Competition is funded by the
John Templeton Foundation, USA.

Jessica Wolfendale is Associate Professor of Philosophy at West Virginia

University. She is the author of Torture and the Military Profession (Palgrave-
Macmillan, 2007) and has published on topics in military ethics, torture, terrorism,
and just war theory.

Matthew Talbert is Associate Professor of Philosophy at West Virginia

University. His research focuses on ethics, moral psychology, and the philosophy
of agency.
 Do Elections Trigger Violence? Explaining Election Related
Violence in Africa: A Comparative Study of Kenya, Tanzania
and Cameroon

Tambe Ojie
Abstract
This chapter is intended to examine the main causal factors that propel election
related violence in Africa following the controversial election results that were
released in Kenya and the disputed electoral process in Tanzania during the
presidential election that were held in 2005 and 2007 respectively. The recent
elections that took place during the years 2005 in Tanzania, 2007 in Kenya and
2011 in Cameroon proved some diverse outcomes. Kenya and Tanzania ended up
in a violent situation that even threatened to destabilise the countries and almost
brought them to a collapse. On the other side of the continent, Cameroon seemed to
have enjoyed a peaceful outcome, despite alleged irregularities and some
malpractices during the electoral process with little or no post-election violence.
This chapter will investigate the underlying causes of the electoral violence, and
the divergent outcome. The reason for these comparative studies is to understand
why election violence occurred in Kenya and Tanzania and not in Cameroon. The
results proved that elections in Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroon are far from the
norms of elections in advanced democracies. Analysis proved that the violence that
occurred in Kenya was as a result of the perception that the incumbent stole the
elections. In the case of Cameroon and Tanzania, the electoral process was ‘made’
by the government giving the incumbent an added advantage. The significant
difference with Cameroon is that the electoral system in Cameroon gives way for
smaller parties to be accepted in the parliament while those of Kenya and Tanzania
prevents regional parties. The first part of this chapter is the methodology and
theoretical framework; while the second part will be the empirical findings and
analysis.

Key Words: Elections, riots, conflicts, violence, fraud, vote buying, electoral
malpractice, incumbent, corruption, democratization.

*****

1. Introduction
The election violence that occurred in Kenya during the 2007 presidential and
parliamentary election was a disaster. The horror that followed the perception of
irregularities and massive fraudulent elections took the lives of more than 1000
civilians and displaced many during the presidential elections.1 This violence
occurred immediately after the incumbent president Mwai Kibaki was
controversially declared winner of the election by the election commission of
178 Do Elections Trigger Violence?
__________________________________________________________________
Kenya. Violence erupted when the opposition leader, Raila Odinga and his
supporters claimed irregularities and started protesting against the results. The
violence manifested itself in various forms ranging from intimidations of political
leaders, threats of killings, and most of all fighting between opposing camps and
malicious damages to private properties of civilians from these rival groups.2
Kenya is not the only country to be blamed for election violence in east Africa.
Election violence also occurred in the island of Zanzibar as they detected massive
irregularities with double voters at some polling stations. The 2005 presidential
election came with much more tension between the island of Zanzibar and the
mainland Tanzania but the magnitude of the violence was not so high as compared
to those of Kenya.
Cameroon had proven to secure peace during election although the elections
had been merged with mass unpublished irregularities but the outcome had always
been the incumbent winning with a landslide victory. Mindful of the fact that there
was violence in North of Africa during this period, violence at the 2001
presidential elections in Cameroon was inevitable, but to everyone’s surprise, there
was no recorded violence.
The case of Cameroon deviates from those of Kenya and Tanzania in that there
was no violence, it was believed that the electoral process was merged with fraud
and electoral malpractice, but it eventually ended up with no violence after the
election results were proclaimed and the incumbent won.

1.1 Objective
The eruption of election related violence in many African countries maybe
signifying a growing dissatisfaction with the electoral process. I am also interested
in studying the democratic quality of elections and find out the challenges facing
democratic governance in Africa. For this reason the objectives of this chapter is
toexamine the main causal factors that propel election related violence in the
selected countries.

1.1.1 Research period

In this chapter, I selected the following period for the research: The 2007
presidential and parliamentary election in Kenya that triggered the violence, 2005
presidential election in Tanzania where there was violence in the island of Zanzibar
and the October 2011 presidential elections in Cameroon where there was no
recorded violence. This period were selected in order to show the variation of
violence in the three countries and to answer the research question.
Although there are many questions that could be raised concerning the re-
occurrence of election violence in the continent, I will focus on the objectives of
the chapter and the following question(s) will be studied. The question(s) are:
i) What caused the election violence in Kenya and Tanzania?
ii) What explains the differences with Cameroon?
 Ojie Tambe 179
__________________________________________________________________
1.2 Methodology and Theoretical Framework
The Most Similar System Design (MSSD) with different outcome is the method
used in the research. All the common causes were selected and excluded while the
factor(s) which are not common were isolated as the main causal factor for the
violence. This is the logic of elimination to exclude candidate cause for a common
outcome. Hence the excluded variable cannot be regarded as either being a
necessary or sufficient condition for the divergent outcome.

1.2.1 Materials
Statistical data I used for the research were available at the following databases
and institutions. They are: Electoral Institute for the Sustainable Democracy in
Africa (EISA),3 a database that contains election results, reports and background
material supplied by individual countries in Africa. The Africa Elections
Database.4 According to their website, they wish to provide a comprehensive
archive of past and present election results for the 49 countries of Sub-Saharan
Africa. More interestingly, this site contains data for all the cases in this study.
Minorities at Risk (MAR) Project, is a university-based research project that
monitors and analyzes the status and conflicts of politically-active communal
groups in all countries with a current population of at least 500,000.5 Data from
this project provides information that will be relevant to understand political
conflicts which involves relevant groups and the Uppsala University Peace and
Conflict Database, that contains a list of African countries, the type of violence, the
number of deaths, the town or village where the deaths occurred, who is
responsible for the violence and what were the causes of death.6

1.2.2 Theories
1.2.2.1 Elections
The core institution of a modern democracy where citizens can exercise their
right to choose political leaders is in the process of a competitive, free and fair
participation in elections. The role of elections has been amongst the most debated
issues in democratizing countries like Kenya, Tanzania and Cameroon. The need to
hold an uninterrupted competitive election in Africa not only based on legitimizing
the governments but also allowing citizen’s rights to participate in politics, that on
the one hand could increase the countries democratic quality and also in a positive
way spread citizens liberties in a society.7 The occurrence of interrupted elections
that leads to violence literally means that elections are undemocratic. So how can
undemocratic elections be defined?
I will borrow Mackenzie arguments that there is ‘no right way’ by which
elections are conducted but specifications that there are a number of ways in which
these processes are wrong.8 This does not mean all electoral processes are incorrect
but the mechanism by which the process is conducted sometimes confuses the
electors. There are basically four main types of elections which are undemocratic
180 Do Elections Trigger Violence?
__________________________________________________________________
and confusing which may trigger violence. They are: Muddled elections, Stolen
elections, Made elections and Elections by Acclamation.
Muddled election is a type of election by which political leaders forecast that
they might be a relatively low voter turnout by political parties during an election.
In this case therefore the parties need to recruit special organisers who will bridge
the gap between the parties and the electors in order to reinforce the voters’
turnout. At this point therefore parties became much more important to the
electors. Since these ‘parties became very important to protect the electors’
interest, a voter’s choice will not be met ‘if’ the electorates organisation does not
respect certain internal rules at the assembly. At this point, elections will be
‘Muddle’ and there are no effective electoral parties or when the elector’s
organisations ‘go their own way regardless of the electorates’.9
Stolen elections involves the direct intimidation of voters after receiving some
tokens ( with promises of voting for) from a political leader in which case they are
‘forced’ to vote for that party. The controversial issue apart from intimidation is
that the elector is ‘free’ to choose whether to sell his vote or not before receiving
any gift, but the incumbent exerts pressure on the electors. It may be easier to steal
votes in this way because it is less corrupt than mass propaganda.Made elections
occurs when the states’ administrative organisationis by far developed than the
party organisation. The state administration decides in order to win the elections by
all means tend to ‘twist things’ in the electoral process to facilitate their winning.
The danger arises when this fails, the electoral process ends up with
violence.Election by acclamation involves the direct rigging of election by
dictators. In this type of elections, there is only one candidate and one party. Either
one is voting for the candidate or abstaining. The elector has no choice and
therefore this may be considered ‘unfair and un-free elections’.10

1.2.2.2 Conflicts and Violence

Although elections can enhance the democratization process in Africa, it
sometimes turns out to generate conflicts which eventually end up in violence. The
primary motives of the competing political parties are to gain power and control
the available resources while the party or parties in power never wish to lose
power. This eventually will create friction between the opposition and the
party(ies) in power over who will be in control after the next elections. When these
political parties become unable to handle these conflicting interests, there is a
chance that violence will occur between the opposition and the party in power
before or even after the elections. It should be noted that ‘elections do not cause
violence’ but the process of elections can trigger conflict that probably may turn to
violence. Electoral violence is therefore a sub- set of activities within larger
political conflicts.11
 Ojie Tambe 181
__________________________________________________________________
1.2.2.3 Election Management Body
The integrity of an election depends on the efficiency of the Election
Management Body, the EMB. They play a vital role in the process of election in
that they are responsible for organising, conducting and declaring the winner of an
election. In order to have effective results the EMB should be able to meet up with
certain criteria’s. They should be independent from the interferences from the
governments. In order to reduce the risk of the outbreak of electoral violence and
the integrity of the electoral process, insofar as the EMB is the institution that
handles the votes, they should be impartial and transparent with their results.

1.2.2.4 Election Systems

The electoral system is responsible to determine the inclusivity of the different
parties in the parliament. Amongst the electoral systems used in Africa is the
proportional representation system (PR) and the plurality or the first-past –the-post
system. The first-Past-The-Post system, or the winner takes-all have two basic
forms in order for a party to win. Either the simple or the overall majority are the
types which determine the winner. With the simple majority, the candidate that
gets most votes eventually wins in the election while the overall majority is that
one candidate ‘must’ have a 50%+1 in order to be the winner. The Proportional
Representation, both the minority and the majority parties are represented in the
election depending on the proportion of the votes the get from the general election
depending on the percentage the country requires.

2. Empirical Findings and Analysis

There was a closed race to obtain power during the 2007 presidential and
parliamentary elections in Kenya. The incumbent Mwai Kikaki had 46.42% while
the opposition leader, Raila Odinga had 44.07%. In Tanzania, the election took
place on the 14th of December with the main party in power winning with an 80%
vote over the opposition with 11% and below. The presidential elections in
Cameroon that took place on the 9th October 2011, Paul Biya won with a land slide
victory of 77.99% over the opposition that came with 10%.
In the case of Kenya, the election commission of Kenya announced that Kibaki
has won the election. In response to this, even before the announcement of the
results and the fact that the results were delayed, there were suspicions that
irregularities are inevitable. Odinga responded violently rejecting the results with
riots by his supporters but the blunt response to these riots by the government, and
the fact that riot police were sent to stop the protesters simply indicated that the
government had mishandled the electoral process. In Mombasa, 20 people
wereshot dead by the police.12Spontaneous shooting by police in different
demonstrations in towns brought the death toll to about 81 that were confirmed by
the police. Up to the middle of January 2008, it was confirmed that the police has
182 Do Elections Trigger Violence?
__________________________________________________________________
shot dead more than 205 people and more that 100 are been shot dead in the
southern rift, Kisumu, and Eldoret.

2.1 What Caused the Violence in Kenya and Tanzania?

During the campaign period, the incumbent Mwai formed a new coalition; the
Party of National Unity (PNU). The main opposition and challenger was the
Orange Democratic Movement with their leader Raila Odinga. There was a very
tight race close to the Election Day between the two opposing blocks. This race
became dangerous with many different ethnic slogans like ‘eliminate non-natives’
by the ODM in the rift valley region. The target for this became the ‘Kikuyu’ who
are the main inhabitants of the region.13

2.1.1Fraud Claims
With these fear and tension that is being surrounding the election period, the
ODM started claims that the PNU may manipulate the election results through
influencing changes from the Election Commission of Kenya. In response to this
claim by the ODM, the incumbent with his ‘powers’ replaced 19 out of the 22
Election Commissioners before the election day.14Although the ODM party leader
cried out loud, that the new appointed commissioners were members of the PNU
and might influence changes to protect the incumbent in the election results with
fraud, it was too late for him to stop the appointment and therefore the
commissioners resumed their post days before the elections. This gesture by the
incumbent clearly showed that there might be a relatively high level of electoral
malpractices and fraud. The ODM leader called the process illegitimate and
claimed they are merged with irregularities and declared himself the peoples’
president.

2.1.2 Irregularities
Although there were reports of electoral irregularities the election went well
and with the muafaca accord that was signed by the political parties contesting was
a deterring factor for violence. The government took advantage of these and
confronted protesters which eventually fuelled the conflicts into really low level
violence. This gave little voice to the opposition for petitions against the results
and therefore there were no protests

2.2 What Explains the Difference with Cameroon?

In Tanzania, the ruling CCM party dominated the campaign in all the regions of
the country. They had the capacity to organize rallies and to offer gifts to votes.
The election day saw reported incidence of double voting, inconsistency of the
election registration list, an excessive use of force by the ruling party and
intimidation of voters, paving way for multiple voting in some polling station;
these provided evidence that the elections were ‘made’ by the ruling government.
 Ojie Tambe 183
__________________________________________________________________
In Cameroon, there were about 47 opposition parties contesting for the
elections with the incumbent Paul Biya, during the 2011 presidential elections, it
proves that the incumbent is not that ready to loosen his grip on the government.
There is a bureaucratic fusion of the government and its institution that leads to a
high level of corruption. Since the main electoral institution in Cameroon the
Election Cameroon (ELECAM) is internally loyal to ministry of territorial
administration and to the president of the republic, this increases the risk of
massive irregularities. The fact that this type of election is similar to those of
Tanzania, the use of force by the policein the island of Zanzibar made it suspicious
to the electors and therefore they perceived there were massive irregularities.

2.2.1Electoral System
The causes of election violence could be triggered from the countries electoral
system. Theviolence in Kenya during the 2007 election based on the FPTP system,
Kibaki got a 46.46% while the opposition parties grasped 44%. Kibaki therefore
was declared winner followed by immediate protest which suddenly turned violent.
In the case of Cameroon, the electoral system is the PR. Any political party in
Cameroon is eligible by law to be represented in the parliament if the party passes
the 4% of the national elections. In this case therefore any party that succeeds to
meet this criterion is automatically represented in the parliament. This is one of the
main reasons why there had been little or no election related violence in Cameroon.
In Cameroon the smaller parties are unable to form a coalition against the main
ruling party although the PR system allows smaller parties to participate in the
election.

2.2.2 Other Explanations

Apart from the above explanations, the following factors might also account for
the election violence. Although all these countries have some forms of diverse
ethnic group, there exist some separatists’ who wish to secede from their various
countries. In Tanzania the island of Zanzibar wishes to have their own autonomy
from its mainland Tanzania, while the Mombasa region in Kenya is trying to
separate from the Kenya as they feel they have the economic power with no
political power so any form of tension during elections might trigger violence. But
with Cameroon, the need for the English speaking populace to secede from the
French speaking hasn’t been a problem. The inability of the government to handle
protests, deprivation of some social groups from politics, broken social contracts
are just some of the factors that might trigger election related violence in the
selected cases.

3. Conclusions
This chapter attempts to show that the electoral process in Kenya, Tanzania and
Cameroon lack the qualities of a democratic ‘free and fair elections’. It has also
184 Do Elections Trigger Violence?
__________________________________________________________________
been studied that it is the state repression on the civil society that triggered the
violence in Kenya and Tanzania. The manipulation of the electoral process by
pressure from the governmental party in power on the Election Management Body,
owing the fact that the government is their main source of funding, it could be
perceived that election can be merged with irregularities and this might be the main
causal factors that triggers election related violence.
Apart from the fact that Cameroon’s electoral process is ‘made’, a significant
difference lie in the electoral system. The proportional representation in Cameroon
paves way for smaller and regional parties to get seats in the parliament. This
reduces the risk of marginality and conflict in the electoral process. The delay to
announce the election results in Kenya and the incumbent having power over the
EMB during the election created the perception that the elections were stolen by
the incumbent therefore elections in Kenya were termed stolen elections. Studies
from this chapter have proven that the inefficiency of the electoral management
bodies and the state repression are the main factors that lead to the re-occurrence of
election violence in Kenya and Tanzania.
In the case of Cameroon and Tanzania, it has been studied that the
governmental party and the incumbents’ government are more organised and are
well informed about the organisation and the ‘rule’ of the electoral games. They
therefore have the capability to manoeuver the opposition parties to gain the votes
and retain power. In the case of Kenya, the fact that the incumbent decided to
replace nineteen of the election commissioners, coupled with the delay in the
proclamation of the results, and finally the incumbent wins clearly proves that the
election is according to Mackenzie, ‘stolen elections’.
It could also be identified that the problem of election related violence arises
from weak leaderships, corruption, bad governance and institutional failure in the
selected countries. From this chapter, it could finally be concluded that elections do
not cause violence but the process could trigger violence especially in multicultural
and fragmented societies as have been studied in this chapter.

Notes
1
Daniel Branch and Nic Cheeseman, Democratization, Subsequencing and State
Failure in Africa (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008), 4.
2
Roland Schwartz, Political and Electoral Violence in East Africa (Nairobi:
Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Entre for Conflict Research, 2001), 6.
3
Electoral Institute for the Sustainable Democracy in Africa (EISA), viewed on 12
August, 2014, http://www.eisa.org.za.
4
The Africa Elections Database, viewed on 12 August 2014,
http://africanelections.tripod.com/about.html
 Ojie Tambe 185
__________________________________________________________________

5
Minorities at Risk (MAR) Project, viewed on 12 August 2014,
http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/mar/
6
Uppsala University Peace and Conflict Database, viewed on 12 August 2014,
http://www.pcr.uu.se/data/
7
Steffan I. Limberg, The Power of Elections: Democratic Participation,
Competition, and Legitimacy in Africa (NY: Lund Political studies, 2004), 14.
8
William James Millar Mackenzie, Free Elections (London: Museum Street
London, 1958), 169.
9
Ibid., 170.
10
David Throup and Charles Hornsby, Multi-Party Politics in Kenya (Nairobi:
East African Education Publishers, 1998), 522.
11
Kristine Höglund, ‘Election Violence in Conflict-Ridden Societies: Concept,
Causes and Consequences,’ Terrorism and Political Violence 21 (2009): 416.
12
Murunga R. Godwin, Spontaneous or Premeditated? Post-Election Violence in
Kenya (Uppsala: The Nordic African Institute, 2011), 23.
13
Ibid., 19.
14
Barak Hoffman and Smith Evan, Preventing Post-Election Violence in Africa
(Bethesda: Democracy International, 2010), 9.

Bibliography
Branch, Daniel and Nic Cheeseman. Democratization, Subsequencing and State
Failure in Africa: Lesson from Kenya. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008.

Godwin, Murunga R.. Spontaneous or Premeditated? Post-Election Violence in

Kenya. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikanskainstitude, 2011.

Hoffman, Barak and Smith Evan. Preventing Post Election Violence in Africa.
Bethesda: Democracy International, 2010.

Höglund, Kristine. ‘Election Violence in Conflict-Ridden Societies: Concept,

Causes and Consequences.’ Terrorism and Political Violence 21 (2009): 412-427.

Lindberg, Steffan I. The Power of Elections: Democratic Participation,

Competition, and Legitimacy in Africa. NY: Lund Political Studies, 2004.

Mackenzie, William James Millar. Free Elections: An Elementary Text Book.

London: Museum Street London, 1958.
186 Do Elections Trigger Violence?
__________________________________________________________________

Roland, Schwartz. Political and Electoral Violence in East Africa. Nairobi:

Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), 2001.

Throup, David, and Charles Hornsby. Multi-Party Politics in Kenya. Nairobi: East
African Education Publishers,1998.

OjieTambe is a Masters Student at Södertörn University Stockholm Sweden. He is

interested in democratization, peace and conflict studies and electoral processes
with focus on Africa.
 Corporate Violence

Kathleen O’Donnell
Abstract
Violence is a term synonymous with crime and the infliction of harm onto others.
When the perpetrator of such crime is an artificial entity and does not physically
exist, for example a corporation, the use of the word ‘accident’ or ‘tragedy’ can
deflect corporate culpability for causing violence, even where the violence may be
widespread. Health and Safety crime falls within this remit, and remains a global
concern. Examples of corporate violence in this context include Bhopal, the Piper
Alpha disaster, and the Herald of Free Enterprise, to name a few, and highlight the
huge loss of life and ongoing devastation corporations are capable of inflicting.
The fundamental objective of corporations, who operate within highly competitive
capitalist economies, is to maximise profits whilst keeping costs at a minimum.
Ensuring the safety of employees and members of the public is essentially a ‘cost’
for corporations. While there are clear moral and legal obligations for organisations
to ensure they to do not injure or cause death in the pursuit of lowering costs and
maximising profits, frequent news headlines indicate the vast capacity for
corporations to inflict harm on large number of victims. This chapter examines
highly contentious questions including; are industrial disasters and accidents
another form of violent crime? Also, as corporations are ‘separate legal entities’ in
the eyes of the law, how can a criminal justice system sanction and deter such
violence and criminal wrongdoing? In this context, should individual directors be
given criminal responsibility for deeply entrenched corporate criminogenic policies
which injure and kill? This chapter analyses cases and examples of corporate
violence and explores the UK’s legislative response. In addition it gives a
comparative analysis of the Australian model of criminal accountability for
corporate violence.

Key Words: Corporate, health, safety, crime, culpability, legislation.

*****

1. What is a Corporation?
Corporations are legal constructs with ‘separate legal personalities’. In 1897
the House of Lords decision in Salomen v Salomen & Co Ltd,1 firmly upheld the
concept of a corporation as an ‘independent legal entity’, distinct from its
shareholders and directors, as set out in the Companies Act 1862. Consequently,
shareholders, directors and employees can benefit from a ‘corporate veil’, and it is
the company that shall be legally liable for civil or criminal wrongdoings.2
188 Corporate Violence
__________________________________________________________________
Despite now being well-established law, arguably, this remains an unnatural
concept when it comes to trying to identify the ‘state of mind’ of the company or
how the company should be punished in criminal law. This was recently
highlighted by Lord Hoffmann:

[R]eference to a company ‘as such’ might suggest that there is

something out there called the company of which one can
meaningfully say that it can or cannot do something. There is in
fact no such thing as the company as such.3

As corporations are artificial entities and they do not physically exist, it may be
argued that criminal courts cannot satisfactorily impose sanction for causing
deaths. As famously stated, corporations have, ‘no soul to be damned, and no body
to be kicked.’4
On this view, corporations are purely legal creatures. On the other hand,
corporations consist of human agents, who are capable of acting morally or
immorally, rationally or irrationally, ethically or unethically. Lord Denning gave
corporations an anthropomorphic comparison, stating that:

[C]orporations may in many ways be likened to a human body.

They have a brain and a nerve centre which controls what they
do. They also have hands which hold the tools and act in
accordance with directions from the centre.5

In this way, characterised as organisations comprised of and comparable to

human beings, corporations are capable of being rational and ethical, and
performing acts which may have a genuine impact on others, thus there is a strong
argument they should be subject to the full extent of criminal law.
Even if it is accepted that ‘a company’ cannot think, feel or reason, and
therefore to assign culpability or sanction to a company is inappropriate, further
analysis is still warranted to determine how the criminal law can deal with the
contributions of directors or senior managers to corporate violence.

2. Violent Corporations and Criminal Law: A Complex Fusion

The conventional perception of ‘violence’ typically involves an
intentional/reckless and direct act of aggression which inflicts harm onto others,
such as murder, or assault. Looking beyond the more familiar understanding of
violent behaviour it is important to highlight how violence can manifest in forms
which may not be as obvious.
Salmi6 identifies 4 main forms: Direct Violence, Alienation, Repressive
Violence and, significantly for the purposes of this chapter, ‘Indirect Violence.’
Indirect violence:
 Kathleen O’Donnell 189
__________________________________________________________________
causes harmful, sometimes deadly situations or actions caused by
human intervention but without a direct relationship between the
parties involved. This includes ignoring humans in danger or in
need (violence by omission) and mediated violence, which is
altering of natural or social environments, endangering people.7

This nuanced description encapsulates the argument that corporations can

perpetrate violent behaviour and highlights that such behaviour should not be
unthinkingly deflected by the use of words such as ‘accident’ or ‘tragedy’.
An example of the ability of corporations to inflict mass causalities and/or
fatalities through indirect violence is the case of Bhopal.8 Prior to the accident
there were reports detailing the failure of several safety systems due to poor
maintenance, and safety systems being switched off to save money. Though the
case does not generate evidence of ‘aggression’ in the way of a conventional
murder or assault, it fits squarely within Salmi’s definition of Indirect Violence.
Another example is the Piper Alpha disaster,9 involving the North Sea oil
production platform operated by Occidental Petroleum (Caledonia) Ltd. The
Cullen Inquiry (set up in November 1988 to establish the cause of the disaster) was
critical of Piper Alpha’s operator, Occidental, which was found guilty of having
‘inadequate maintenance and safety procedures’.10 Again this fits within Salmi’s
conception of Indirect Violence, being behaviour and omissions capable of having
a deadly effect on others, without involving a direct relationship between the
parties.
The victims in the above cases undoubtedly died as a result of the
organisations’ indirect violent conduct. Since committing a violent act against
others is invariably a criminal matter, then Criminal courts should have jurisdiction
to address such behaviour. In order to do this, however, (ie to legally recognise and
then impose a sanction on corporations who have committed violent and criminal
actions), certain legal criteria must be satisfied.
A fundamental principle of criminal law is that a crime consists of both a
mental and a physical element. The actus reus11 is the physical act of the crime
itself, with the more problematic element for our corporate analysis being the
‘guilty mind’ (the mens rea).12 The latter may include a person’s awareness of the
fact that his or her conduct is criminal, or it may be what constitutes criminal
‘recklessness’ or being ‘wilfully negligent’.13
The initial problem for prosecutors in cases of corporate violence, is to whom
and how the necessary mens rea of a company can be ascribed, as the company
itself has no mind. Here, the case of Tesco v Nattrass14 set legal precedent stating
that in order to establish the culpability of a company, an employee of sufficient
level within the company must be identified as the ‘directing mind and will.’ Thus
as Lord Reid states:
190 Corporate Violence
__________________________________________________________________
He is acting as the company and his mind which directs his acts
is the mind of the company.15

In order to appreciate how problematic this ‘identification doctrine’ is for

establishing mens rea, when attempting to prosecute large companies, it is
appropriate to examine examples in case law.

3. Examples of Corporate Culpability

A notable case which sparked public debate and created a general consensus
that the existing system was ill equipped to hold companies to account for crimes
such as manslaughter or culpable homicide,16 was that of the Herald of Free
Enterprise.17
The Herald of Free Enterprise capsized just off the Belgium coast on the 6th
March 1987, after the bow doors were not correctly closed. This lead to the death
of 188 passengers.18 The public inquiry held under Lord Justice Sheen in 1987
highlighted that;

… a full investigation into the circumstances of the disaster leads

inexorably to the conclusion that underlying or cardinal faults lay
higher up in the Company.19

Lord Sheen found complacency on the part of the company, remarking (in
terminology strikingly similar to Lord Denning’s use of anthromoporphology) that;

.. From top to bottom the body corporate was infected with the
disease of sloppiness....20

Following the disaster, charges of manslaughter were brought against eight

defendants, including P & O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd (‘the company’) as
owner of the vessel. In R v P & O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd,21 it was accepted
that a corporation could be convicted of manslaughter:

As manslaughter in English law is the unlawful killing of one

human being by another human being and that person who is the
embodiment of a corporation and acting for the purposes of the
corporation is doing the act or omission which caused the death,
the corporation as well as the person may also be found guilty of
manslaughter.22

On 5 June 1990, however, when the Crown levied a charge of ‘corporate

manslaughter’ on the company, based on the verdict of ‘unlawful killing’ and the
highly critical findings regarding the management involved, the Court of Appeal
 Kathleen O’Donnell 191
__________________________________________________________________
cleared the company of any direct responsibility for the disaster. Although various
reasons were advanced, the basis for the Court of Appeal decision was that there
was a failure by the prosecution to establish the requisite mens rea and actus reus
against ‘those who were to be identified as the embodiment of the company
itself’.23
R v P & O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd24 was the first example of a company
being prosecuted for the offence of corporate manslaughter. It was also the first
example of how the larger the company, the greater the confusion over personal
and corporate responsibility, and how this could result in the collapse of a case. It
was impossible in this case, given the jurisprudence of the time, to establish a
‘guilty mind’, despite the obvious (if indirect) violence perpetrated on the victims.
Another key case which reinforced the demand for legislative reform regarding
corporate violence is that of the Clapham Rail Disaster. On the morning of 12
December 1988, three UK trains collided and killed 35 passengers. Nearly 500
other passengers were injured.
The inquiry, chaired by Anthony Hidden QC,25 found that the immediate cause
of the crash was faulty wiring work. The report described the error as:

a disastrous departure from acceptable standards of electrical

work.26

The report went on to identify that the larger cause of the accident was the
failure by British Rail senior management, detailing that there was;

a deplorable lack of monitoring and supervision.27

The report also highlighted that staffing levels were inadequate and safety was
compromised, as employees were overstretched and under immense pressure to
rush through their work.28
The British Rail Board admitted liability for the Clapham Disaster, and as the
Board was responsible under the "vicarious liability" principle for civil29
proceedings, it paid compensation reaching £1m in some cases, although no-one
was prosecuted for manslaughter.
The 1996 Law Commission Report into Involuntary Manslaughter stated the
reason why no criminal action was taken in the Clapham case was;

probably due to the difficulty of mounting a manslaughter

prosecution against a large-scale corporate defendant.30

This is clear recognition that even if it is accepted that corporations can bear
criminal responsibility for criminal actions, actually proving the identification of
192 Corporate Violence
__________________________________________________________________
the ‘directing mind and will’ or mens rea in such a large, structurally complex
organisation is completely impracticable, thus negating any possible prosecution.
A Scottish case which reinforced the need for reform of the criminal law is that
of Transco Plc v HM Advocate,31 in which the Crown sought, for the first time in
Scottish legal history, to prosecute a limited liability company for the common law
offence of culpable homicide. The charge libelled was that Transco’s various
bodies and ‘posts’, which were responsible for aspects including safety, had
knowledge of risks in the operation of their gas distribution system, and with
reckless indifference of the consequences, failed to act upon them32. The
consequence of these omissions was a fatal tragic explosion in Scotland on 22
December 1999, in which a family of four died.
It was alleged that Transco showed ‘complete disregard for safety of the
public.’33 The firm failed to properly investigate reports that a gas main had leaked
on 27 separate occasions and that gas leaks had been reported by members of the
public on 13 occasions between July 1988 and December 1999.
Transco argued that under the existing law of Scotland, a non natural person
could not in any circumstances be guilty of the common law crime of culpable
homicide.34 The charge referred to ‘knowledge’ by Transco concerning the risks
arising from the corrosion of ductile iron pipes used for gas distribution. The
Crown aimed to prove that all matters in relation to the safe transportation of gas
had been delegated to junior members of staff and that, as such, the ‘directing mind
and will’ of Transco was the decision making of those persons. The Crown argued
that a collective decision was sufficient, and that the requisite mens rea was the
delegation of ‘mind and will’ (ie ‘the knowledge of a delegated person/committee’
was the knowledge ‘of Transco’ itself).

In allowing the prosecution to proceed, Lord Carloway agreed; It

may well be that in England there is a need to identify a
particular person who could, if charged, also have been guilty of
manslaughter, before a company can be found to have committed
that crime. It is not a requirement under the Scots law of culpable
homicide35

On appeal, however, Transco was successful, as the Court of Appeal held that
the Crown’s case depended on an ‘aggregation’ of separate states of mind, which
was contrary to the basic principles of Scots criminal law.36
It is evident with the cases highlighted, that in large companies with complex
managerial structures, it is extremely problematic for the prosecution to ascribe
criminal liability where mens rea is required. Thus, in effect, a legal loophole
existed which allowed acts of violence perpetrated by corporations against large
numbers of victims, to remain un-prosecutable in the UK.
 Kathleen O’Donnell 193
__________________________________________________________________
4. The UK and Australian (ACT) Legislative Responses
Growing public and political pressure to address deficiencies lead to enormous
responses to various pre-legislative consultations,37 resulting in the Corporate
Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act,38 which came into force in the UK on
6 April 2008. One of the benefits of the new legislation is that it allows the
prosecution to ‘aggregate’ several mentes reae.39 This may overcome some of the
problems mentioned above, where the prosecution could not identify the sufficient
‘directing mind and will’ of the corporation, without aggregating individuals’
mentes reae.
Despite the considerable consultation period, however, the final Act is still
subject to much criticism. Gobert argues the CMHCA did not go far enough, as the
Crown still faces complex evidential barriers to overcome before a successful
prosecution is a realistic prospect.40 For in order to establish liability the
prosecution has to prove a number of factors such as that; a relevant duty of care
was owed to the victim; the death was attributable to a ‘gross breach’; also that the
way in which the organisation’s activities were managed or organised by its ‘senior
management’ constituted a ‘substantial element’ in the gross breach.
To date there have been only 3 successful prosecutions41 under the legislation,
however, two of the companies were relatively small in size and therefore did not
test the effect of the new provisions on corporations with complex managerial
structures. In the third case, the structure of the company was fairly large (100
workers), but the case still failed to test the efficacy of the Act. Three of the
company’s directors faced individual charges of gross negligence manslaughter
and failing to ensure the health and safety of their employees,42 but the Crown
Prosecution Service later dropped charges against the individuals in return for a
plea of guilty from Lion Steel (the company) for causing death in accordance with
the CMCHA. Thus, to date there have been no larger companies put on trial under
the legislation and successfully prosecuted.
Overall, in the UK the success of legislative attempts to address corporate
violence largely remains to be seen. The number of prosecutions is small, and
corporate complexity continues to make evidence-gathering and the aggregation of
mens rea difficult. In this context, a comparative model of Corporate Criminal
culpability to consider is the Australian model.43 In 2003, the Australian Capital
Territory (ACT), the smallest Australian jurisdiction, was the first to pass
legislation creating the offence of Industrial Manslaughter.44
The ACT legislation identifies a ‘corporate culture’ as the requisite mens rea
for this crime. Therefore if the corporate culture permits ‘gross negligence’ or if
the body corporate;

expressly, tacitly or impliedly authorised or permitted the

commission of the offence45
194 Corporate Violence
__________________________________________________________________
Industrial Manslaughter may be made out. Therefore the prosecution have the
means of prosecuting companies where bad or dangerous health and safety
practices are tolerated throughout the organisation, ie where a poor ‘corporate
culture’ has emerged.
Arguably, establishing the ‘corporate culture’ as the mens rea for corporate
violence, rather than requiring proof of the individual mens rea of employees, or an
‘aggregate’ of the mentes reae of multiple employees (as in the UK) is a more
effective evidential tool for the prosecution. At the very least, it recognises that:

Corporate culture may exist independently of individual

employees or officers and may continue to exist despite changes
in personnel.46

The ACT corporate criminal liability model acknowledges that complacent

attitudes, policies and structures are pre-existing and deeply entrenched in within
companies. As argued;

This model recognises that corporations have distinct public

personae and possess collective knowledge. It considers
corporations as quite capable of committing crimes in their own
right, that is, through the collective. The fundamental shift in the
conception of corporate criminal liability, that is, the “transition
from derivative to organizational liability” has come about
because of the increasing acceptance of the notion that
corporations are moral and responsible agents.47

In this context, it is possible from the Australian legislation to see how

corporate violence – which often manifests itself as Indirect Violence – can be
encompassed within the criminal law, even allowing for traditional concepts such
as actus reus and mens rea.
Reverting back to the one of the major criticisms of the ‘senior manager test’ in
the CMCHA 2007 in the UK, it is clear that the Crown can experience major
difficulties prosecuting a structurally large, complicated organisation, by having to
try to identify senior manager(s) and prove that the way they managed the
company’s activates constituted a gross breach, which in turn caused the fatality.
Trying to locate the mens rea for violence in individuals within a corporation in
this way, fails to take into account the essence of a corporation – that it is a
separate legal entity, separate from the individuals who formulate and participate
in its activities. Nevertheless, the corporate culture of the organisation can
coalesce to create acts of criminal violence including homicide, and once
identified, should be prosecuted.
 Kathleen O’Donnell 195
__________________________________________________________________
5. Conclusion
Unfortunately, legislation in both the UK and Australia has not had a great
impact on the commission or punishment of corporate violence, as far as successful
corporate prosecutions to date are concerned. As highlighted by James Gobert and
Maurice Punch, however;

criminal law was not developed with companies in mind.

Concepts such as mens rea and actus reus, which make perfectly
good sense when applied to individuals, do not translate easily to
inanimate fictional entity such as a corporation. Trying to apply
these concepts to companies is a bit like trying to squeeze a
square peg into a round hole.48

Criminal prosecutions against artificial entities, where the law requires a

mental element, remain a theoretically unnatural concept and in reality, a difficult
path to prove. Despite this, the CMCHA and the ACT amendments to the
Australian Criminal Code are valuable as a symbolic attempt to address the legal
anomalies which arise when using traditional criminal law to prosecute the indirect
violence perpetrated by corporations. The use of ‘corporate culture’ as the mens
rea (in the ACT) and the mens rea obtained by ‘aggregating’ the state of mind of
individual actors within a corporation (in the UK) are not without problems, in
terms of collecting and proving the evidence. They are, however, a step forward in
recognising that where acts of violence, even indirect violence, result in injuries
and death, criminal liability is appropriate and available.

Notes
1
Salomen v Salomen & Co Ltd [1897] AC 22.
2
s16 The Company Act 2006.
3
Meridian Global Funds Management Asia Ltd v Securities Commission [1995]
B.C.C. 942 Privy Council at 946.
4
Edward, First Baron Thurlow 1731 Quoted in John Poynder, ‘Literary Extracts,’
1 (1844) 268.
5
H. L. Bolton (Engineering) Co Ltd v T.J.Graham & Sons Ltd [1957] 1 WLR 454
6
Jamil Salmi, ‘Violence in Democratic Societies: Towards an Analytic
Framework’ ‘Beyond Criminology? Taking Harm Seriously, ed. Paddy Hillyard
Christina Pantazis, Steve Tombs and Dave Gordon (London: Pluto Press, 2004),
55-66.
7
Ibid., 57.
8
On December 3 1984, more than 40 tons of methyl isocyanate gas leaked from a
pesticide plant in Bhopal, India, immediately killing at least 3,800 people and
196 Corporate Violence
__________________________________________________________________

causing significant morbidity and premature death for many thousands more. The
company involved in what became the worst industrial accident in history
immediately tried to dissociate itself from legal responsibility.
9
The world’s worst offshore oil disaster occurred when the North Sea Piper Alpha
oil rig off the coast of Aberdeen in Scotland caught fire, killing 167 people.
10
Great Britain and W. Douglas Cullen. The Public Inquiry into the Piper Alpha
Disaster (London: H. M. S, 1991), 557-67.
11
H. M.Advocate v MacKenzie 1913 S.C (J) 107.112.
12
David Hume, Commentaries on the Law of Scotland, Respecting Crimes
(Edinburgh: Bell & Bradfrete, 1819), 21-22.
13
The latter means ‘a total indifference to and disregard for the safety of the
public’ R. H. W. v H. M. Advocate, S. L. T. (1982): 420-420.
14
Tesco Supermarkets v Nattrass (1972) ac 153 (HL)
15
Ibid.
16
Manslaughter is term used in England and Wales, whereas Homicide is the term
used in Scotland.
17
R. v P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd (1991) 93 Cr. App.
18
R v HM Coroner for East Kent ex parte Spooner (1987) 88 Cr App R.
19
Great Britain. The Merchant Shipping Act 1894, mv Herald of Free Enterprise,
Report of Court No. 8074, Formal Investigation (London: H.M.S.O.1987) 14.
20
Ibid.
21
R v P & O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd (1991) 93 Cr. App.
22
Bingham, L. J. R. v H. M. Coroner for East Kent ex parte Spooner (1987) 88 Cr
App R.
23
Ibid.
24
R v P & O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd (1991) 93 Cr. App. R.72.
25
Anthony Hidden, Investigation into the Clapham Junction Railway Accident
(London: H. M. S. O., 1989).
26
Ibid., 61.
27
Ibid., 65.
28
Ibid., 73.
29
Civil law is the mechanism whereby one party can take a matter before a court in
order to seek some kind of redress, for instance to sue to someone for money owed.
Criminal law is enforced by an agency like the police or trading standards on
behalf of the Crown and usually only such an agency can bring proceedings. In
civil proceedings the court can reach a decision on the balance of probabilities. In
criminal law a guilty decision is dependent on facts proved beyond a reasonable
doubt. Criminal courts can impose severe sanctions such as imprisonment and
unlimited fines, whereas civil courts are generally restricted to financial payments
or property confiscation.
 Kathleen O’Donnell 197
__________________________________________________________________

30
Great Britain, Henry Brooke, and Mary Arden, Legislating the Criminal Code:
Involuntary Manslaughter: item 11 of the 6th programme of law reform : criminal
law. (London: HM 1996) 1.15
31
Transco Plc v HM Advocate 2004 SLT 41 (henceforth Transco).
32
Indictment of charges against Transco
33
Transco plc v HM Advocate 2004 J.C. 29.
34
‘Common law’ is law contained in judgements from court cases (ie not law
handed down in legislation written by parliament
35
Lord Carolway. Transco plc Minuters (appellants) v Her Majesty’s Advocate
(respondent) 2004 SCCR 1
36
Hamilton, LJ. HMA v Transco [2005] B.C.C. 296
37
Great Britain.. Criminal law: involuntary manslaughter : a consultation paper
(London: H.M.S.O, 1994 )
Great Britain, Henry Brooke, and Mary Arden. Legislating the criminal code:
involuntary manslaughter : item 11 of the 6th programme of law reform : criminal
law. (London: HM 1996)
Great Britain. Reforming the law on involuntary manslaughter: the government’s
proposals. [London]: Home Office Communication Directorate. 2000
38
Henceforth CMCHA
39
As Section1 (3) states; ‘An organisation is guilty of an offence under this section
only if the way in which its activities are managed or organised by its senior
management is a substantial element in the breach referred to in subsection (1).’
40
Gobert, James ‘The Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide Act 2007
– Thirteen years in the making but was it worth the wait?’ Modern Law Review. 71
(3) 2008: 413-433
41
R v Cotswold Geotechnical (Holdings) Ltd [2011] All ER (D) 100
JMW Farms Northern Ireland [2012] NICC 17
R -v- Lion Steel Equipment Ltd 20 July 2012
42
Under Section 37 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.
43
Note that Australia is a federation of states and territories, where criminal law
differs from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. The various States/Territories can opt into
the Commonwealth (Federal) legislation or not, and there is no legal compulsion
for the States/Territories to unify their criminal law in terms of approach, content
or sanctions
44
Crimes Act 1900; Crimes (Industrial Manslaughter) Amendment Act
45
Australian Criminal Code 1995 S12.3 (1).
46
Clough, Jonathan. Will the punishment fit the crime? Corporate manslaughter
and the problem of sanctions. School of Law, Flinders University. School of Law,
Flinders University 2005 : 119.
198 Corporate Violence
__________________________________________________________________

47
New South Wales. Sentencing: corporate offenders. Sydney: New South Wales
Law Reform Commission 2003: 24
48
Gobert, James , and Maurice Punch. Rethinking corporate crime. (London:
Butterworths/LexisNexis, 2003) 10.

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 Kathleen O’Donnell 199
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200 Corporate Violence
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Kathleen O’Donnell is currently a PhD student at Glasgow Caledonian University

researching ‘The Utility of the Corporate Manslaughter and Corporate Homicide
Act 2007 in Scotland.’ In addition she currently employed at Crown Office
Procurator Fiscal Service.