NCJ Number
139352
Date Published
1992
Length
119 pages
Annotation
This book describes the process called "violentization," whereby relatively benign individuals progressively engage in violent behaviors.
Abstract
The author uses in-depth interviews with nascent and hardened violent criminals to support his theory as to how violent behaviors develop. The first stage of "violentization" is "brutalization," which consists of three elemental experiences: violent subjugation, personal horrification, and violent coaching. In this stage, authority figures coerce and force the subject to comply with rules and expectations. In the experience of personal horrification, the subject witnesses another person undergoing violent subjugation. In the experience of violent coaching, the subject is guided or influenced by an older person to engage in violence or to use violence as a means to express oneself or achieve some goal. The second stage, "belligerancy," occurs when the subject develops violent responses as a means of countering the violence and subjugation directed at the subject. The subject thus incorporates into his/her behavioral repertoire violence as a primary means of response to frustration and threat. This leads to stage three, "violent performances," which consists of repetitive violent behaviors in various contexts that trigger violence. Stage four, "virulency, involves the incorporation of violence as an essential element of the subject's ego, whereby self-worth and the experience of personal power are tied to violence that renders another helpless, powerless, or lifeless. Theoretical and policy implications of this process are discussed. Chapter notes, 38-item bibliography, and subject index