Violence as a Strategy of the Weak Against the Strong: The Case of Siblings

• NCJ Number: 129524
• Author(s): S L Feld
• Date Published: Unknown
• Length: 31 pages
• Grant Number(s): MH15161-11
• Sponsoring Agency: National Institute of Mental Health; University of New Hampshire, Family Research Laboratory
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Research (Theoretical)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

New findings based upon a U.S. national sample are described to show the relatively frequent use of violence by weaker siblings against more powerful siblings and to propose a theory that applies to a wide range of situations as well as sibling violence.

Abstract

The intent is to show that violence against the strong occurs often enough to be an important phenomenon. The combined findings of Straus et al. (1980) and Felson and Russo (1988) are consistent with predictions of use of violence by the weak in the context of sibling violence. The theoretical discussion suggests that even though strong actors have greater means for using violence and weak actors are more likely than strong actors to suffer from the use of violence, the motive and opportunity structure of relatively powerless social actors may encourage their use of violence toward the strong. Weak social actors may be more likely to engage in violence toward the strong when they have reason to expect observers to come to their support. The use of violence on the part of terrorists, social movements, corporations, governments, and particular disempowered categories of individuals may be understood in part by the application of these simple theoretical principles. 13 footnotes (Author abstract modified)