Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T16:22:40.786Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Rewiring Our Expectations

Lessons and Prospects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2020

Richard Whittington
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim and University of Liverpool
James McGuire
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Maria Fernanda Tourinho Peres
Affiliation:
Universidade de São Paulo
Get access

Summary

In this book we have posed and attempted to provide answers to a number of questions about the human capacity for violence. The fundamental aim has been to challenge the idea of violence being hard-wired into human nature, and this has led to questions about the potential for ‘rewiring’. This rethink has involved interrogating the evidence for and against various theoretical frameworks through which it is understood. It has implications for strategies to change individuals who have acted violently, the situations they might find themselves in and the societies around them. Brecht complained at the start of this book that our vision is skewed when we see only the violent behaviour of dangerous individuals and what we should always do is take a step back and make ourselves aware of the structures which partly created that person. Even more, we should consider whether the structures themselves are inherently violent because they limit and damage the person who inhabits them. We will gain more from remodelling the banks of the river which create and channel the violent torrent than we do from trying to stop the torrent itself.

Type
Chapter
Information
Violence Rewired
Evidence and Strategies for Public Health Action
, pp. 242 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×