Violence
Violence is the intentional use of force causing harm.
Violence is the use of physical force by people to harm other living beings, causing pain, injury, disablement, death, damage, or destruction. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines it as the intentional use—whether threatened or actual—of physical force or power against oneself, another person, or a group or community. This can result in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment, or deprivation, but the definition also includes violence that does not lead to injury or death.
The WHO sorts violence into three broad categories: self-directed, interpersonal, and collective. This system distinguishes between harm a person inflicts on themselves, harm between individuals or small groups, and harm carried out by larger groups like states. Violence can also be classified as either instrumental or hostile.
Self-inflicted violence has two forms: suicidal behavior (including thoughts and attempts) and self-harm (such as self-mutilation).
Collective violence, per the WHO, is the instrumental use of violence by people who identify as members of a group—whether temporary or permanent—against another group or individuals to achieve political, economic, or social goals. It may be targeted or stochastic. Political violence includes conflicts led by communities, states, and other groups; its most extreme form is war, which requires multi-factorial analysis. Economic violence involves attacks for financial gain, such as disrupting economic activity, blocking access to essential services, or creating economic division. Slow violence is often invisible, gradual, and structural, occurring through degradation, attrition, and pollution. Structural violence happens when social structures or institutions harm people by preventing them from meeting basic needs or rights.
Interpersonal violence can be subdivided by type of abuse (physical, emotional, etc.), location (home, work, etc.), or age disparity (child, elder). It can affect victims' other relationships in both the short and long term.
Intimate partner violence (or domestic violence) includes physical, sexual, and emotional violence by a current or former partner. While males can be victims, it disproportionately affects females, and commonly occurs in child marriages or early/forced marriages. Among unmarried adolescents, it is sometimes called dating violence. A theory called "The Criminal Spin" suggests a
- WHO definition
- Intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or a group or community
- Three broad categories
- Self-directed, interpersonal, and collective
- Self-inflicted forms
- Suicidal behavior and self-harm
- Collective violence subtypes
- Political, economic, slow, and structural
- Interpersonal violence subtypes
- Intimate partner, child maltreatment, elder maltreatment, psychological, sexual
Lore & Background
The World Health Organization divides violence into three broad categories: self-directed, interpersonal, and collective. Self-directed violence includes suicidal behavior and self-harm. Interpersonal violence encompasses intimate partner violence, child maltreatment, elder maltreatment, and psychological or sexual abuse. Collective violence refers to the instrumental use of violence by a group against another to achieve political, economic, or social objectives, and includes war as its most extreme form.
Reader's Guide
Violence is a global phenomenon with serious lifelong consequences for individuals and societies. The WHO framework highlights that violence can be self-directed, interpersonal, or collective, and that it may be instrumental or hostile. Child maltreatment, for example, is associated with increased risk of mental illness, chronic diseases, and social problems, and is complex to study due to lack of reliable global estimates. Intimate partner violence disproportionately affects females and can escalate through a mutual flywheel effect termed 'The Criminal Spin.' Effective prevention strategies include school-based programming for adolescents, microfinance combined with gender equality training, and reducing harmful alcohol use. Elder maltreatment is predicted to increase as populations age. Sexual violence has serious short- and long-term consequences, and few interventions have been demonstrated effective, though school-based programs to prevent child sexual abuse appear promising. The concept of slow violence highlights invisible, gradual harm through degradation and pollution, while structural violence involves social institutions preventing people from meeting basic needs.
Did You Know?
- The WHO definition of violence includes threatened or actual use of force that may not result in injury or death.
- Approximately 20% of women and 5–10% of men report being sexually abused as children.
- Elder maltreatment is estimated to affect 4–6% of elderly people in high-income countries.
- The Criminal Spin theory suggests a mutual flywheel effect between intimate partners that escalates violence.
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