The 11 Types Of Violence (and The Different Types Of Aggression)
Violence is not always easy to identify since we have it very normalized and, under certain ways of expressing it, it can go unnoticed or taken as something “that is expected.”
In this article We will review the different types of violence and we will analyze the keys to know how to identify them wherever they occur. The goal is to make it easier to recognize behavioral patterns that are different forms of violence, which helps us act accordingly.
Summarizing, Violence is the use of physical force or power against oneself or against others , so that this act causes physical harm, psychological harm or deprivation. This means that violence is the use of physical attacks to harm someone, but also the use of power, something more abstract, to cause harm or significantly limit the options available to a person.
The key elements are the existence of a strategy and a series of actions that result in someone being harmed, and that one of the main intentions behind this behavior is to cause harm or threaten someone’s physical or psychological integrity. That is to say, the intentions to harm someone are an essential factor for us to be able to talk about types of violence.
From the above it follows that the concept of violence is something really very open That is why we can also talk about the types of violence and how to identify them.
The different types of violence
There is no single criterion to classify the types of violence, but several. The most common usually stem from two factors: the way in which violence is exercised and the subject or subjects who exercise it. These two factors are what structure the classification of types of violence.
Types of violence according to the type of agent
We’ll see now the types of violence according to who inflicts the aggression regardless of everything else.
1. Self-inflicted violence
This is one of the most stigmatized types of violence that exists, since in them it is the person themselves who harms themselves , something that is very difficult to understand from the point of view of other people. In self-inflicted violence, the person may cut their arms or legs, publicly humiliate themselves, repeatedly hit their head against hard surfaces, etc.
It is common that people who carry out this type of violence are going through highly stressful situations, have a personality disorder (often, Borderline Personality Disorder) or both. It is also possible that self-inflicted violence ends up leading to suicide or, rather, that it is one of the symptoms of a behavioral, cognitive and emotional dynamic that leads to suicide. The wounds that someone has previously inflicted on themselves are not in themselves the cause of them deciding to take their own life.
The eternal debate is that there are many questionable things about the concept of self-inflicted violence, since putting all the emphasis of the violence on the individual may not be the most appropriate if their behavior is the consequence of the violence that others exert against them. That is why, when we talk about self-inflicted violence, We must take into account that behind it there may be other agents that we are unaware of and that they are the cause of this type of violence.
2. Interpersonal violence
This is the type of violence in which one individual attacks another In this category we can find domestic violence, bullying, specific cases of robbery with violence, etc.
Although in interpersonal violence the perpetrator is an individual (or a small group of them), it is possible that this type of aggression has part of its explanation in social phenomena. For example, drug use or poverty are factors closely linked to conflict.
3. Collective violence
Unlike what happens in the types of violence that we have seen, in this The aggression is of a collective nature, of a group or community against another group The motivations for collective violence are usually political, economic, or ideological-religious.
It is one of the most harmful types of violence, because its negative effects can be felt in many facets of life and, since it involves many people, it is easy for it to degenerate until it leads to injuries and sometimes deaths. For example, the same violence that causes some minorities to be viewed with contempt by a large part of the population often contributes to the appearance of physical attacks and even murders.
The situations that favor the appearance of collective violence are political, legal and social phenomena, such as the presence of religious fundamentalism, the systematic discrimination of minorities, democratic deficits by a state, the monopoly of certain valuable resources by a relatively small group of people, or great social and economic inequalities.
Types of violence according to the nature of the act
You can also distinguish between types of violence based on the way in which harm or harm is intended, that is, by observing the nature and content of the aggression. Within this category, there are the following classes:
4. Physical violence
This is perhaps the most typical and easiest type of violence to imagine, since it is very visual and easy to identify. In it, someone does something to harm another person’s body , producing someone’s pain and suffering. Sometimes it can lead to death.
Physical violence also usually leaves marks that qualified medical personnel can identify: scratches, wounds, bruises, etc.
5. Verbal violence
Verbal violence is that in which It is intended to harm the other person, it is a message or a speech It may (or may not) contain insults or taboo words, since to produce psychological discomfort it is not essential to use those kinds of resources.
In addition to causing anxiety, this type of violence can damage people’s self-esteem and their public image.
6. Sexual violence
In sexual violence There are behaviors and types of physical contact that denigrate someone by appealing to their sexual dimension When it manifests itself through rape, it goes hand in hand with physical violence, although it must be noted that in these the sexual component is not a simple complement, but rather adopts a form of violence that consists of trying to psychologically harm the other. person.
7. Economic violence
This is a type of violence in which the ability of one or more people to use the money they earn is damaged The theft and misuse of bank accounts fall into this category, as well as deception to make investments that turn out to be a scam.
8. Negligence
Negligence is a type of violence that occurs by omission , since in it aggression consists of not carrying out actions to which one is obliged to guarantee the minimum well-being of others. For example, a doctor who refuses to treat someone injured because of a personal confrontation with them is committing negligence.
This category includes the use of power to harm people by manipulating them with a series of beliefs and promises about a spiritual plane. It is very common to see how sects use this type of aggression to keep those people who put money, time and effort into maintaining the institution dominated.
10. Cultural violence
In this type of violence, Aggressions are part of the frame of reference of a culture and are related to the signs of cultural identity of a specific culture. For example, the normalization of rape in armed conflict or the cutting of female genitalia are examples of cultural violence.
11. Cyberbullying
In cyberbullying The Internet and social networks are frequently used to publish information about a person or group of people with the desire to ridicule or humiliate. It is one of the types of violence whose scope is difficult to specify, because the number of people potentially capable of viewing this type of stigmatizing content is very high.
A final thought
Violence, in some form or another, has been part of our lives. Even thousands of years ago, before civilizations and writing existed, events of great violence occurred among our ancestors that have left an archaeological record of aggressiveness. Today the volume of violence that shakes our planet continues to be overwhelming and, to a greater or lesser extent, it even sneaks into the lives of those most privileged people with more resources to live away from poverty and marginality.
Precisely because the different types of violence have been manifested in one way or another depending on the historical moment and place, each culture has used a way of interpreting it and reacting to it Knowing how to recognize the different types of violence is one of the keys to fighting this phenomenon.
