BEYOND THE SUBCULTURE OF VIOLENCE - AN EVOLUTIONARY AND HISTORICAL APPROACH TO SOCIAL CONTROL (FROM CRIME AND DEVIANCE, P 181-210, 1980, BY GRAEME R NEWMAN - SEE NCJ-69332)

• NCJ Number: 69338
• Author(s): C HAFT-PICKER
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 30 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THIS ARTICLE PROPOSES, AS AN ALTERNATIVE FRAMEWORK FOR THE STUDY OF VIOLENCE, -- A THEORY WHICH PORTRAYS VIOLENCE AS THE TOOL OF SOCIAL CONTROL IN THE EVOLUTIONARY DEVELOPMENT OF JUSTICE SYSTEMS.

Abstract

THE LIMITATIONS OF THE SUBCULTURE OF VIOLENCE THEORY ARE DISCUSSED, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF REESTABLISHING CONCEPTUAL LINKS BETWEEN EVOLUTION AND CULTURE IS UNDERLINED. BY REESTABLISHING SUCH CONCEPTUAL LINKS, FURTHER EFFORTS CAN DEFINE CULTURE FROM A SEMIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE (THE STUDY OF SYMBOLIC SYSTEMS) AND APPROACH THE PURPOSE OF CULTURE AS AN ALTERNATIVE ADAPTIVE MECHANISM TO SURVIVAL. LIKE THE EVOLUTION OF BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS, THE EVOLUTION OF PARALLEL BUT DISTINCT SOLUTIONS TO THE SURVIVAL DILEMMA HAS BEEN MET BY THE EVOLUTIONARY ORGANIZATION OF HUMAN BEINGS INTO SOCIAL CONTROL SYSTEMS. FOR EXAMPLE, THE FEUDING RESPONSE, ONE FORM OF SOCIAL CONTROL, HAS BEEN CONSISTENTLY EVOKED THROUGHOUT HISTORY AS A RESPONSE TO EXTERNAL THREATS, SUCH AS CHAOTIC CONDITIONS AND ECOLOGICAL SCARCITY. IN ADDITION, WHEREVER FEUDING HAS BEEN A PHENOMENON, CERTAIN THEMES HAVE BEEN UNIVERSAL IN ITS DEVELOPMENT: SURVIVAL THREATS, FEAR, HONOR AND SHAME, AND VIOLENCE. WHEN A CULTURE RESORTS TO VIOLENCE IN SETTLING INTERNAL DISPUTES, IT IS RESORTING TO A FEUDING RESPONSE AS THE MEANS OF ESTABLISHING AN INFORMAL JUSTICE SYSTEM. VIOLENCE THUS BECOMES THE INTANGIBLE COMMODITY AROUND WHICH A HIERARCHICAL ORDERING OF RELATIONSHIPS IS ESTABLISHED AND JUSTICE MAINTAINED. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)