EVALUATING THE PHENOMENA OF VIOLENCE UNDER MODERN SOCIETY

Abstract

Violence is a common enough term, and we all think we know what we are talking about when we use it. Yet violence is much more complex than it appears at first glance. Most people who use it are thinking only about acts that they do not like. When a criminal knocks down an old lady, it is clearly an act of violence. When a police officer knocks down a criminal it is necessary force. Because the two acts are equally violent, the real distinction is between legitimate and illegitimate violence. Illegitimate violence is what people have in mind when they speak of" The problem of violence" Violence may also be defined as "the use of force whether overt or covert, in order to wrest from individuals or groups something that they do not want to give of their own free will". Theft is not always violence, rape always is, and if rape is a conspicuous and so to speak, pure form of violence, it is because it obtains by force what is normally won through loving consent. Violence is horrifying and yet fascinating in that it enables the strong to establish profitable relations with those who are weak without expending any energy on hard work and discussion.