ADDRESSING VIOLENCE: COUNTRY CASE STUDIES AND CROSS-CUTTING TOPIC

Addressing Violence: Country Case Studies and Cross-Cutting Topics is proud to be supported by the Violence and Abuse Studies Platform. Despite the fact that the concept of “violence” goes back to the word “force”, by no means all forceful interaction is violence. It takes place only in the relationship of human individuals with free will. In ordinary consciousness, the use of violence is usually endowed with the epithets “inhuman”, “brutal”, “wild”. However, zoologists have found that animals are much more “peaceful” than people. Animals have an instinct for inhibition of intraspecific aggression, which is triggered if the animal’s strength is proportional to its ability to mortally wound a relative. If one of the individuals takes a sacrificial pose during the fight, this will automatically paralyze the aggressor. In nature, there is an intraspecific struggle and antagonisms, but there are no contradictions inherent in human consciousness. Only people are blind in their rage, free to choose from several strategies of behavior, which means they are forced to consciously control themselves.