Perceptions of violence

One way of combining what we know of the social distribution of violence with analysis at the individual level is to consider violent behaviour to be the outcome of a decision making process. It is argued that conceptualising violence as the outcome of a rational choice, or a decision, on the part of the offender illuminates the goals of violence. The view of violence as goal directed and instrumental is adopted by a range of scholars trying to understand individual motives for violence. In this article it is argued that this view can also be applied to explain cross cultural and gender differences as well as historical trends in violence. Cultural beliefs about anger as well as the instrumentality and acceptability of violence influence the decision to use violence. Cultural differences and historical trends in violence reflect these beliefs. Offenders' accounts of their use of violence are used to illustrate decisions to use violence. The article concludes with a discussion of changing cultural beliefs about violence and the implications for social policy.