Violence Rewired: Evidence and Strategies for Public Health Action

322 Pages·2020·2.041 MB·English

by  Richard Whittington, James McGuire

Violence Rewired
This thought-provoking book draws together research from genetics,
anthropology, psychology and the social sciences to show that wide-
spreadassumptionsabouttheinevitabilityofhumanviolencearealmost
entirely a collection of myths. While violence has been a recurring
feature of human life, there is no reason to suppose that it is inherent
in‘humannature’.Onthecontrary,patternsofaggressivebehaviourare
largely learned through experience, and even those individuals who
have often acted violently can learn to change. Rejecting the specula-
tionsofmuchcontemporarywritingabouthumanaggression, Violence
Rewired presents an evidence-based alternative: a multilevel model of
actiontoreduceviolenceatbothindividualandcollectivelevels,linked
topublichealthinitiativesdevelopedbytheWorldHealthOrganization.
Ifhumanityistosurvivethechallengesitfaces,amorerealisticappraisal
of ourselves and our basic tendencies is an indispensable part of the
solution.
richard whittington isaProfessorattheNorwegian University
ofScience&Technology(NTNU)andisbasedattheBrøsetCentrefor
Research & Education in Forensic Psychiatry, St. Olav’s University
Hospital, Trondheim, Norway. He is a psychologist with a focus on
violence prevention and mental health and is an Honorary Senior
ResearchFellowattheUniversityofLiverpool,UK.
james mcguire is Emeritus Professor of Forensic Clinical Psych-
ology at the University ofLiverpool, UK. He isalso an expert witness
incriminalcourtsandmentalhealthtribunals,hasworkedasaconsult-
antforcriminaljusticeagenciesinthirteencountriesandwaswinnerof
the2012ResearchPrizefromtheInternationalCorrectionsandPrisons
Association.

Violence Rewired
Evidence and Strategies for Public Health Action
Richard Whittington
NorwegianUniversityofScience&Technology(NTNU)
andSt.Olav’sUniversityHospital
James McGuire
UniversityofLiverpool
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www.cambridge.org
Informationonthistitle:www.cambridge.org/9781107018075
DOI:10.1017/9781139086486
©RichardWhittingtonandJamesMcGuire2020
Thispublicationisincopyright.Subjecttostatutoryexception
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noreproductionofanypartmaytakeplacewithoutthewritten
permissionofCambridgeUniversityPress.
Firstpublished2020
PrintedintheUnitedKingdombyTJInternationalLtd.PadstowCornwall
AcataloguerecordforthispublicationisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary.
LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Names:Whittington,Richard(RichardCharles),author.|McGuire,James,
1948–author.
Title:Violencerewired:evidenceandstrategiesforpublichealthaction/
RichardWhittington,JamesMcGuire.
Description:Cambridge,UnitedKingdom;NewYork,NY:Cambridge
UniversityPress,2020.|Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
Identifiers:LCCN2019038661(print)|LCCN2019038662(ebook)|
ISBN9781107018075(hardback)|ISBN9781139086486(epub)
Subjects:MESH:Violence–prevention&control|Violence–psychology|
PublicHealthPractice|BehaviorTherapy|Models,Theoretical
Classification:LCCHM1116(print)|LCCHM1116(ebook)|NLMHM
1116|DDC303.6–dc23
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accurateorappropriate.
Theragingstreamtheycallviolent
Buttheriverbedthatcontainsit
Noonecallsthatviolent.
BertoltBrecht,‘OnViolence’*
* From ‘On Violence’, originally published in German in 1964 as ‘Über die Gewalt’,
translated by Tom Kuhn. Copyright © 1964 by Bertolt-Brecht-Erben/Suhrkamp
Verlag. Translation copyright © 2019, 2015 by Tom Kuhn and David Constantine,
from Collected Poems of Bertolt Brecht by Bertolt Brecht, translated by Tom Kuhn and
DavidConstantine.UsedbypermissionofLiverightPublishingCorporation.

Contents
Listof Figures page x
Listof Tables xi
Listof Boxes xii
Foreword: BetweenChimpanzees and Bonobos: The Challenge
of Violence Prevention, by Maria FernandaTourinho Peres xiii
Acknowledgements xvii
Introductionand Overview 1
Part I Origins 13
1 TheProspect ofHuman Violence:Pessimism or Realism? 15
1.1 HumanViolence:TheTendencytoPessimism 15
1.2 TheDeclineinRatesofInterpersonalViolence 18
1.3 ViolenceasaHealthIssue 23
1.4 Violence,Death,andPhysicalInjury 26
1.5 ViolenceandMentalHealth 27
1.6 ViolenceasaClinicalIssue 30
1.7 ViolenceasaPublicHealthIssue 32
1.8 Conclusion 36
2 TheRoots of Human Violence: InSearchof the
‘Hard Wired’ 37
2.1 Introduction:TheStandardNarrativeof‘HardWiring’ 37
2.2 EvolutionaryConnections 42
2.3 ViolenceinEarlyHumanSocieties 46
2.4 ViolenceinSmall-ScaleSocietiesToday 51
2.5 EvolutionaryForensicPsychology 57
2.6 Conclusion 61
3 TheBiology of Violence:Possibilities and Limitations 63
3.1 Introduction 63
3.2 NeurobiologyofViolence 65
3.3 GenesandBehaviour 68
vii
viii Contents
3.4 QuantitativeGenetics:Studiesof‘Heritability’ 70
3.5 MolecularGenetics 81
3.6 Gene–EnvironmentInteractionsandEpigenetics 93
3.7 Conclusion 97
4 Developmental Factors in ViolencePropensity:
The Learning ofViolence 100
4.1 Introduction 100
4.2 BecomingViolent 102
4.3 TheInfluenceofTemperament 102
4.4 Socialisation 107
4.5 CulturalContext 115
4.6 SituationalFactors 118
4.7 CognitiveProcesses 121
4.8 Conclusion 123
5 StructuralViolence:Socialand Political Factors in
Understanding Violence 124
5.1 Introduction 124
5.2 BeyondDirectViolence 126
5.3 TheConceptofStructuralViolence 129
5.4 InequalityastheEngineofViolence 132
5.5 DevelopmentsintheIdeaofStructuralViolence 134
5.6 Violence,StructureandPublicHealth 137
5.7 Conclusion 138
PartII Solutions 139
6 Advancing aGlobalPublicHealth Responseto Violence 141
6.1 TheGlobalStatusReportonViolencePrevention 141
6.2 NationalActionPlansforViolencearoundtheWorld:Coordinating
Law,Policy,andInterventions 146
6.3 LawstoDeterandPreventViolence 153
6.4 Social,Educational,andTherapeuticPreventionProgrammes 156
6.5 VictimServices 159
6.6 MonitoringViolence:NationalPrevalenceSurveys 160
6.7 TheLogicandProceduresofEvaluationResearch 161
6.8 Conclusion 164
7 Risk Assessment:Can Violence Be Predicted? 165
7.1 Introduction 165
7.2 TheDevelopmentofRiskAssessment 167
7.3 TheContinuumofRiskAssessmentApproaches 171
7.4 ElementsofRiskAssessmentResearch 174
7.5 ReviewsofRiskAssessmentResearch 176
7.6 EthicalQuestionsRaisedbyRiskAssessment 183
7.7 Conclusion 184