Triple violence: Conceptualising interwoven structural, psychological and interpersonal harm

In this paper, we propose that the idea of ‘triple violence’ can be a fruitful conceptual tool for scholars, policymakers and practitioners concerned with interpersonal physical violence between young people. Building on and adapting previous theoretical analyses of the multi-layered, relational nature of violence, we set out a conceptualisation intended to articulate the dynamic relationship between structural, psychological and interpersonal forms of harm. Grounded in interviews and focus groups with youth practitioners and young people from Glasgow (Scotland) and London (England), we outline the similarities and differences in experiences of violence across the two cities, as well as exploring their interconnectedness. In a UK policy context which tends towards a narrow conception of interpersonal violence, we suggest the need for attentiveness to the tightly interconnected phenomena of structural and psychological harm, to which the concept of ‘triple violence’ offers a helpful shorthand.