Abstract
One of the core challenges faced by societies in all cultures and ages is that of limiting, and if possible preventing, destructive violence. An understanding of control of violence has to be developed with reference to the established concepts of the social norm and the social order, of power and rule, and of approaches to social control. When one studies the sociological and historical perspectives on control, it becomes clear that control in modern societies is a multi-layered, complex phenomenon. Control arises as a combination of self-control and external control, of coercion, discipline, and self-regulation, and it is exercised by various different protagonists. Different actors of control may employ a wide variety of forms and styles of control. Control of violence, thereby, is an ambivalent category, and control and violence may be interrelated in many different, complex ways. The development of processes and mechanisms of violence control must be examined simultaneously on the levels of the state, society, and the subject. Three fields of violence lend themselves particularly well to analysis: school shootings, terrorism, and states in crisis.
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Notes
- 1.
Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 24th ed., s.v. “Kontrolle”; The Oxford English Dictionary (1989), 2d ed., s.v. “control”.
- 2.
The same ultimately applies to “control” in general, although one must take into account hypotheses on forms of control and influence in social relationships (e.g., Oppenheim 1961). However, the term “control” is sometimes used as a synonym for “social control.”
- 3.
It is worth noting that, according to Hobbes, the primary motive in a war of all against all is not malice or greed, but fear. The compulsions of insecurity do not stem from the evil nature of all; in the view of Hobbes, the existence of a few truly evil people is sufficient to force all the others to act as though all were evil (Hobbes [1651] 1970, 63–66, 87–90).
- 4.
Foucault defines governmentality as “The ensemble formed by the institutions, procedures, analyses, and reflections, the calculations and tactics that allow the exercise of this very specific albeit complex form of power, which has its target population, as its principle form of knowledge political economy, and as its essential technical means apparatuses of security” (1991, 103).
- 5.
Similar interrelationships between control measures and violence can also be observed in the development of protest movements and violent conflicts. In general, as Neidhardt (1981) points out, the escalation of violence is a circular, interactive process in which both sides incite each other toward increased levels of deviance (and violence). This process results in compulsions, which are difficult for either the state or its adversaries to evade, so that both sides lose control over the process to some extent.
- 6.
Horwitz (1990, 5–15); similarly, Garland points out the substantial role of informal control even for the functioning of formal control mechanisms (2001, 5, 124, 170).
- 7.
Thanks are due to Barbara Kaletta for contributing many important ideas and profound preparatory work for this section.
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Kirschner, A., Malthaner, S. (2011). Control of Violence—An Analytical Framework. In: Heitmeyer, W., Haupt, HG., Malthaner, S., Kirschner, A. (eds) Control of Violence. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0383-9_1
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