Violence and Victimization - Essay Example

Political Science of Causes of Violent Behavior There exists debate on the cause of violent behavior among human beings. Some attribute violent behavior to biological setups while others link it to social structures. Both arguments may hold to some extents, and an individual’s behavior may come about due to influence from both biological and social factors. Therefore, it becomes necessary to determine which, of the two, influences behavior more.Naturally, every human being, and in extension every animal, has some aggression in them.

However, the aggression only exhibits itself and translates into violence in some instances (Laland and Brown, 2011). The frequency of occurrence of such instances is dependent on various factors. Such factors form the basis for the argument that proposes social causes to violent behavior. It may be argued that people whose parents demonstrated violent behavior are more likely to be violent as compared to those whose parents were more peaceful (Besemer, 2014). That may lead to a linkage of such behavior to biological traits.

However, a closer study may reveal other factors that result in such connection between the parents and their offspring.Human beings are social beings, and therefore tend to learn and adapt to different environments. Socialization thus brings out different traits in them. One can, therefore, draw conclusions as to the correlation between violent behavior and social structures (Laland and Brown, 2011). For instance, for those cases where the violent acts of someone have led to a linkage to the violent acts of the parents, it may be possible to establish social causes to such a link.

It may be that the person may have experienced violence in their childhood, which affects their actions causing them to be violent. Studies indicate that children from abusive families tend to be more abusive as they grow (Besemer, 2014). Also, those exposed to violence in their childhood end up with violent tendencies in their later years. That is because they develop a form of retaliation to adversity and based on their past, this turns out to be violence.Another important social factor to violent behavior is the relationship a mother has with her child.

Where there exists a poor mother-child relationship, chances are that the child may develop violent tendencies in future (Besemer, 2014). That may be because the child may experience frequent punishment from the mother as a result of the anxious attachment between them. Apart from such maternal punitiveness and paternal inattentiveness, other social factors among peers also encourage violent behavior. The development of some cultures like formation of gangs may also provide a platform for violence to thrive.

The reason being that members of gangs encourage each other to prove their bravado through violent acts (Laland and Brown, 2011). Unemployment and poverty are also likely to increase the chances of violent behavior. That may be due to the frustrations that come with such social challenges. The frustrations may make one react violently to situations that would have drawn different reactions had the person been in under more comfortable circumstances.To solve the problem of violent behavior, focus should be on changing the environmental factors that encourage the social circumstances leading to violence (Laland and Brown, 2011).

For instance, stabilizing families to establish consanguinity may reduce violent behavior stemming from violent and abusive families. Reducing cases of neglected children would also contribute to solving violence issues from within a family. Discouraging some social behaviors such as substance abuse would also tremendously reduce instances of violent behavior. Once the social factors are managed, then even the biological factors may be managed since social factors boost biological factors to bring out the violent side of a person.

ReferencesBesemer, S. (2014). Intergenerational Transmission of Criminal and Violent Behavior. Leiden: Sidestone PressLaland, K.N. and Brown, G. (2011). Sense and Nonsense: Evolutionary perspectives on human behavior. Oxford: Oxford University Press.