Violence and Coercion - Essay Example

? Violence and coercion al Affiliation: Introduction Violence refers to the intended use of physical power against an individual or a group. Violence usually results to injury or at times death. It can also result to maldevelopment and psychological harm. This gives a clear impression that violence is a serious issue since it lead to negative results in the society at large, generally there are no advantages or positive results that usually come out of violence as it involves using power against other people. In many parts of the globe today, there are places where violence is experienced. Violence however, can be prevented through various ways. Evidence shows that there are various implementations that can help do away with violence in the society. Among these implementations are: Developing good relationships between parents and children Education on how to prevent maltreatment Practicing gender equality Having programs in schools that address gender issues and attitudes Reducing the availability of alcohol since the effects are known to be negative to the users Supporting the economic empowerment to avoid misunderstandings among individuals. These are some of the strategies that can be implemented to make certain that violence is done away with. Coercion on the other hand, refers to the use of forceful activity to make an individual or a group of people take to take part in something in a manner which is involuntary. This means it is a situation where individuals are forced to undertake some activities without their will. Coercion can be in action or inaction through the use of intimidation and threats and some other forces of pressure. This is therefore an act that violates the free will of individuals because they take part in activities when they do not want to. Coercion generally includes blackmail, extortion and torture among other forceful-natured actions. It is an act forcing individuals to act against their own interests resulting to cooperation by the individuals being coerced. In this case, they have to cooperate because there are consequences faced by those who are not willing to do so. To avoid these consequences, they end up obeying all the rules and regulations they are given making sure that they do what is expected of them. This essay seeks to explain the degree to which the acts of violence and coercion can be attributed to beliefs and ideologies. The two issues that will be discussed in this essay are Religion and economy. These are some of the issues that have been influencing how people live with each other for a long time now all over the world. This gives a clear impression that they are sensitive issues and affect the lives of people. They have direct impacts on lives of people because practices therein are undertaken in day-today life. They are among those factors that contribute to differences and the ways in which people associate with each other. This essay will therefore cover Europe as a region in the world to see how these two issues had influence on humans and to what degree they can be attributed to beliefs and ideologies. Looking at the first issue of religion, it is clear that individuals were ordered on what to believe in and how they were to carry out their worship. The nature of the teachings in churches would not change rapidly because there was a specific thing that was supposed to be taught. Following the rules and regulations, it was quite hard for the church leaders to teach what they chose to because they could not do it. Attending the communion was a compulsory thing which mans individuals had no choice but to do what they were told. The fact that individuals were forced to worship in some way following rules and regulations they were not willing to, made them have issues with their leaders and at times engaged in violent activities. These leaders practiced coercion out of beliefs that there are some things that were not supposed to be practiced in churches (Wallace, 2004, 48). They came up with the idea that they should control the churches to make sure that their will was followed. This means that the people were not left to carry out their religious activities as they wanted but they were guided on how to do it. This is the reason why they came up with their own rules and regulations. This is one illustration giving a clear impression that beliefs and ideologies have heavy influence on violence and coercion since they can lead to practice of these actions very easily (Dickens, 1959, 65). Historians have come up with documents from their own ideas regarding the changes that were brought about by reformation in Europe. Individuals who read these documents believed what was contained therein making them believe what might be wrong. This gives a clear impression that ideas of other people can have heavy influence on other individuals. There are some individuals who to date, agree to what the historians came up with. The disadvantage is that these documents are not descriptive but prescriptive. The historians in this case, tend to order people on what to belief. This shows that ideologies have great effect on beliefs because the ideas from historians in this case, make people to believe what is not right. Historians therefore, are required to develop good knowledge about the contemporary doctrinal status in order to bring out real sense of these issues (Brigden, 1989, 56). This is because time is changing and things are not similar to the past. There are therefore, expected to have new findings in order to guide people on believing the right thing rather than misleading them. Looking at the economical sector, for some years now many women are known to be staying at home looking after children and were restricted to some areas. With the rise in feminism all this changed because it was not an assumption any more that women were supposed to earn less than men and that they were to be restricted to certain areas. This is something which caused some understanding because men could not allow them to be given equal chances with them. Activities such as chaos came up as a result of the misunderstanding making it hard for them to live peacefully. This is one instance giving a clear impression that a belief is a strong factor in contributing to violence. Employees in all fields of work knew that they have rights and that those rights are not to be violated (Wesseling, 2004, 71). They came up with the idea that they should be paid well enough for them to have enough income to keep them going. This is one thing which made them have a conflict with the authority because at some point their wish for increment in salary was not granted. This is basically because if salary is increased in one field then the other individuals would complain too. This is something which was not easy for the administration to handle and this created conflict. In this case, the idea of the public workers to have salary increment created conflict where sometimes they demonstrated leading to violent activities (Cooper, 2005, 46). This is another illustration showing that ideas have influence on violent activities. Ideologies and beliefs generally have high influence on the rate of violence and coercion because they are sensitive issues to be dealt with in the society at large. Many people love it when they are given freedom so that they can live peacefully with others (Bayly, 2004, 87). Conclusion Violence and coercion are activities that have led to many negative results in many parts of the globe. It is clear that these two actions are not among those that can help in building up a better economic situation. This is because the end results for both of them are usually not beneficial to an individual. Rather, they result to issues such as injuries, deaths, psychological harm, maldevelopment, hatred and other negative implications on the society at large. It is hard for the condition of a region which has experienced these actions to be normal just after the happenings. Many things change and this means all the plans are ruined. For instance in the cases of injuries and deaths, the hospital bills and funeral arrangements take up a lot of money. This money used can as well be used for the development of the economy if not for these actions. Violence can also lead to destruction of property making individuals not to have ample time in their residential areas. This is one reason why there are individuals who keep moving from one place to another to look for safety and comfortable life. Looking at the case of coercion, it may also lead to migration because individuals tend to move to places where they can have freedom and do what they want to do. Many people do not like it when they are pushed to doing things. This is mainly because when they are forced to, they are not able to perform their duties perfectly because they are not willing to. This means that those who undergo this torture are not able to live as they wish and cannot tell what next for them because they do not know what they will be forced to engage in next. In such conditions and places where it is hard to move away, \individuals are forced to stick to all the rules and regulations and hope for the best but live in a dilemma state. There are those who always hope that one day they will have their freedom and that they will be able to live comfortably like other individuals. They always live not knowing what next which means they are always ready for anything. Recommendation For a nation to be safe from violence and coercion there are some strategies that should be implemented. It is best for every nation to make certain that the administration of every nation to take this matter into consideration. Citizens usually hope to have the best living standards in their residential areas. This means that they need freedom and do not expect to be followed up and down in matters affecting their lives. In a place where every individual adheres to legal rules and regulations without being forced, there is always peace and harmony. For this to happen, leaders have to implement the following strategies: Ensure that there is development of good relationships between parents and children Provide education how to prevent maltreatment in order to avoid development of hatred among people. Make certain that gender equality is practiced so as to give equal chances to people regardless of their gender. This mean it should not be believed that there are activities which women can do better than men and vice versa. Such beliefs make it impossible for individuals to show their potential since they are not given the chance to. It is therefore best to have equal chances for everybody to avoid inequality. Having programs in schools that address gender issues and attitudes Reducing the availability of alcohol since the effects are known to be negative to the users which result to issues like chaos and other irresponsible actions. Supporting the economic empowerment to avoid misunderstandings among individuals. Implementation of laws to punish those who coerce others and take part in violent activities. Implementation of these activities will make it possible for every nation globally to do away with violence and coercion. This gives a clear impression that without the two forceful-natured actions, individuals are able to live peacefully and happily since they have nothing to be worried about. This will help in many fields for instance improving the economy. This will happen in that money that could have been used for extra expenses of treatment due to violence and coercion will be used for other beneficial purposes. It is clear that without these actions a nation can move on making it possible for all undertakings to take place on time enabling all duties to be done to completion. Generally without these actions it is possible to make many steps forward compared to when they are practiced. Bibliograhy Bayly, C.A. (2004) The Birth of the Modern World 1780–1914, Oxford, Blackwell. Brigden, S. (1989) London and the Reformation, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Cooper, F. (2005) Colonialism in Question: Theory, Knowledge, History, Berkeley, University of California Press. Dickens, A.G. (1959). Lollards and Protestants in the Diocese of York, 1509–1558, Oxford, Oxford University Press. Wallace, P.G. (2004) The Long European Reformation: Religion, Political Conflict and the Search for Conformity, 1350–1750, London, Palgrave Macmillan Wesseling, H.L. (2004) The European Colonial Empires, 1815–1919,Harlow, Pearson Longman. Read More