Violence in Society Issue 8 Home Page

Staff Photo We can hardly solve the problems unless we know what causes violence.   Guns are Not the Only Problem Pinar Mufftler from Turkey Pinar Mufftler feels that society must work on determining the unseen causes of violence. Although guns are a big factor in the escalation of violence all over the world, they are not the only problem that we have to solve to stop the violence. We an hardly solve the problems unless we know what causes violence. There are many proximate and ultimate causes of violence, including genetic, psychological, and environmental reasons. Some scientists think genes cause a person to behave violently and they have done experiments to find out if this is true. According to these researchers, if the natural father and/or mother is criminal, the child tends to be more violent than other children. Even though you separate the child from his or her family and raise it to love peace, he or she is likely to behave violently because of inherited genes. Other people think environment causes violence. They believe the place you live in, the place you work at, and the people around you influence your life. If you've grown up in an area where you experience or observe violence, your lifestyle will be different and your values will probably be different. In some situations, people have to learn to be violent themselves in order to survive. Other researchers say psychological reasons are also important. They think the important part is how you've grown up. When you look at the criminals' lives, you see most of them had a bad childhood. Some of their parents were separated, some were alcoholic, or some beat their children. These researchers say it's normal for a child to be aggressive if he or she grew up in these kinds of bad situations. So, if we want to stop the violence, taking away the guns isn't a solution. We have to correct the unseen reasons that cause people to behave violently. It's better to prevent the development of violent behavior than to try to stop violence by taking guns away from violent people. More on violence in society: Society Worries about Televised Violence | Social Action Against Violence The Cycle That Leads to Violence | The Need to Limit Gun Acquisition Return to:  Violence in Society | Issue 8 | Home Page TOPICS Online Magazine - ©1997-2006 - Sandy and Thomas Peters - topics mag@yahoo.com