The Science of Violence

1. Behavior is learned.  Violence doesn't appear suddenly in an individual.  It emerges over years.   ... so ?
2. Over those years, we learn the most from what we see and experience.  We copy the familial and social models around us. 
   ... and?
3. From year to year, it's unconscious learning – we pick it up with little awareness that we're being deeply changed.    ... and?
4. Violence emerges as an outlet for frustration, commonly from repeated failure to make progress or anger at failing yet again to change things.   ... and?

   

   ... the language of the unheard

5. And, exposure to violence increases our own risk of becoming violent; it spreads from one person to another like a contagious disease.  ... is there a solution?  Yes, but it's not an easy one.

We've seen the changes around us -- increasing crime and violence, the decline of family and community, the rise in incarceration, and today's angry polarization; we taught ourselves to do all of that.

That is what we know.  It's old news.  

The plague is not uniform, of course. Not every child will become a criminal, not every relationship will be a battlezone, not every school will be a hostile environment. But our culture continues to change. Violence in the media (along with sensuality) is a centerpiece sales element, and exposure has multiplied in every age bracket and every venue.

We are physiologically changed by violence,

experienced or witnessed,

first or second-hand.    

Children are more likely to experience violence than adults. [Ref]  In 2014, more than two-thirds of children (below age 18) were exposed to violence, either directly as victims or indirectly as witnesses. [Ref]  It can lead to lasting physical, mental, and emotional harm, whether you're a direct victim or a witness.   Such exposure changes us.  

Perhaps the best Solution:  Not everyone is equally conformed to our troublesome culture; some walk a different path by deliberate choice and effort.  That advice to be "in the world, but not of the world" turns out to be extraordinarily practical wisdom.  Just going with the flow would be the opposite.

Everything is on the table for review -- lifestyle, entertainment choices, fashion, consumption, vocabulary, activities, relationships, subjects of conversation, attitude, affiliations, values, principles, and life goals.  

So do we need to change things?  Obviously.  The contaminated part has to be detached and removed.  It takes deliberate choice, and we'll need help for ourselves to change.  Then as we progress, we can perhaps encourage others and be a helpful example.  Then what?  How broadly can we affect our culture?