Violence is a broad term. It can describe anything from a terrorist attack to a schoolyard tussle. Merriam-Webster defines violence as “the use of physical force to harm someone, to damage property, etc.: great destructive force or energy.” This, too, is a broad definition.
This article is about a specific type of violence: criminal violence. Criminal violence can be divided into two categories: social violence and asocial violence.
Social violence
Social violence can be defined as natural violence within a species. In his book Facing Violence, Rory Miller describes five types of social violence:
- The monkey dance
- The group monkey dance
- The status-seeking show
- The educational beatdown
- Territorial defense
The major difference between the two categories of violence is that social violence does not follow the same tactics as violence against other species.
For example, two rams will butt heads in a dominance contest to determine which one will mate with the flock. That is social violence. If a ram were protecting the flock from a wolf, it might flank the wolf and ram it from the side. This is asocial violence.
Simply put, the kind of violence used within our own species is ritualized and typically designed to be nonlethal.
Asocial violence
If social violence is how violence is used within a species, what is asocial violence?
Asocial violence is still used within our species, but its tactics and goals are quite different. Instead of using violence to gain status or dominance, asocial violence is predatory. It is used to get something from the person being attacked.
Asocial violence can be divided into two categories:
- Resource predators
- Process predators
Both resource and process predators may use violence, and may even kill, to meet their objectives. They use dehumanization to detach their victims from themselves.
A rapist may not see the victim as a person, but as a means to an end: the act of rape. We use dehumanization as well. When a serial killer has dismembered and eaten victims, we call that person a monster. Soldiers may use dehumanization in war. Racists use it to separate other ethnic groups from themselves.
Dehumanization makes it easier to commit violent acts against other human beings that a person might not otherwise be able to commit.
Continuing the discussion
This is a brief introduction to the different types of criminal violence. Other articles in this series examine the categories, patterns, and tactics associated with different forms of violence.
References
- “Violence.” Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster. Accessed December 19,
- Rory Miller, Facing Violence (Wolfeboro, New Hampshire: YMAA Publication Center, 2011), 25–36.
- Miller, Facing Violence, 36.