Structural violence

“Any thorough understanding of the modern epidemics of aids and tuberculosis in haiti or elsewhere in the postcolonial world requires a thorough knowledge of history and political economy. this essay, based on over a decade of research in rural haiti, draws on the work of sidney”

“Structural violence refers to the social structures that put people in harm’s way. farmer and colleagues describe the impact of social violence upon people living with hiv in the us and rwanda.”

“Explores the concept of violence and gives details to the distinction between ‘structural’ and ‘physical’ violence. discusses the relationship between the two and how one may be used to prevent the other. describes the concept of peace in terms of these definitions and suggests the implications for research and peace studies.”

“Everyone knows that suffering exists. the question is how to define it. given that each person’s pain has a degree of reality for him or her that the pain of others can surely never approach, is widespread agreement on the subject possible? almost all of us would agree that premature and painful illness, torture, and rape constitute extreme suffering. most would also agree that insidious assaults on dignity, such as institutionalized racism and sexism, also cause great and unjust injury. given our consensus on some of the more conspicuous forms of suffering, a number of corollary questions come to the fore. can we identify those most at risk of great suffering? among those whose suffering is not mortal, is it possible to identify those most likely to sustain permanent and disabling damage? are certain”

“Despite clear evidence of a substantial biological basis to schizophrenia, there is also evidence that social, economic and political factors have considerable relevance to the clinical features, treatment and outcome of the illness. individuals from lower socio-economic groups have an earlier age at first presentation and longer durations of untreated illness, both of which are associated with poor outcome. individuals with schizophrenia are over-represented in the homeless population. migration is associated with increased rates of mental illness, including schizophrenia, and this relationship appears to be mediated by psycho-social factors, including difficulties establishing social capital in smaller migrant groups. individuals with schizophrenia are substantially over-represented amongst prison populations, and imprisonment increases the disability and stigma associated with mental illness, and impedes long-term recovery. the adverse effects of these social, economic and societal factors, along with the social stigma of mental illness, constitute a form of ‘structural violence’ which impairs access to psychiatric and social services and amplifies the effects of schizophrenia in the lives of sufferers. as a result of these over-arching social and economic factors, many individuals with schizophrenia are systematically excluded from full participation in civic and social life, and are constrained to live lives that are shaped by stigma, isolation, homelessness and denial of rights. there are urgent needs for (1) the development of enhanced aetiological models of schizophrenia, which elucidate the interactions between genetic risk and social environment, and can better inform bio-psycho-social approaches to treatment; (2) a renewal of emphasis on the united nations’ ‘principles for the protection of persons with mental illness’ and related legislative measures in individual countries; and (3) continued study and examination of the impact of social, economic and political structures on the clinical features and outcome of mental illnesses. © 2005 elsevier ltd. all rights reserved.”

“Structural violence (also called indirect violence and, sometimes, institutionalized violence) is differentiated from personal violence (also called direct or behavioral) and refers to preventable harm or damage to persons (and by extension to things) where there is no actor committing the violence or where it is not practical to search for the actor(s); such violence emerges from the unequal distribution of power and resources or, in other words, is said to be built into the structure(s). this article discusses the origins, dimensions, development, and use of the term as well as the relationships between the two types of violence and examines various advantages and disadvantages for the concept’s use in peace research and peace action. © 2008 elsevier inc. all rights reserved.”

“AbstractIn red tape, i do not use the term ?arbitrary? in opposition to ?systematic?, as is alleged by harriss and jeffrey. arbitrariness accompanies systematic forms of discrimination, and is the result of both, the indifference to outcomes and to the chaotic style of functioning of indian bureaucracies. interpreting structural violence, or explaining injustice, requires understanding what the state means to different people. the chief argument that poverty is a form of violence, and represents the killing of the poor, underlines the injustice that results from treating poverty as a biopolitical fact. i employ a notion of politics that is not restricted to parties and mobilization, but which saturates all relations of inequality. despite voicing dissatisfaction with the analysis presented in red tape, harriss and jeffrey fail to forward an adequate and coherent alternative.”

“(From the chapter) in this chapter, the author is concerned about later generations of human rights and their impact on the way peace psychologists think and practice. whereas first-generation rights refer to civil and political rights, second-generation rights focus on social, economic, and cultural rights. third-generation rights refer to ‘solidarity rights’ such as the right to development, self-determination, peace, and a clean environment. fourth-generation rights refer to the rights of indigenous peoples. after discussing the historical formulation of these rights, the author then shows how several recent psychological theories, including liberation psychology, cultural psychology, and social constructivism elucidate this extended thinking about human rights. she argues that examining these extended human rights helps us illuminate the chronic and hidden structural violence produced by armed conflict. she then describes how the cases of argentina and guatemala demonstrate a ‘shift toward the social and structural’ within selected areas of psychological and human rights discourse. she then describes community peace-building that focuses on the structural violence produced by violations of these extended human rights. (psycinfo database record (c) 2012 apa, all rights reserved).”

“This article provides a comprehensive review of the emerging domestic violence literature using a race, class, gender, sexual orientation intersectional analysis and structural framework fostered by women of color and their allies to understand the experiences and contexts of domestic violence for marginalized women in u.s. society. the first half of the article lays out a series of challenges that an intersectional analysis grounded in a structural framework provides for understanding the role of culture in domestic violence. the second half of the article points to major contributions of such an approach to feminist methods and practices in working with battered women on the margins of society.”

“Objective the aim of this study was to assess the financial costs to hospitals for the implementation of hospital-wide patient safety and infection control programs. methods we conducted questionnaire surveys and structured interviews in seven acute-care teaching hospitals with an established reputation for their efforts towards improving patient safety. we defined the scope of patient safety activities by use of an incremental activity measure between 1999 and 2004. hospital-wide incremental manpower, material, and financial resources to implement patient safety programs were measured. results the total incremental activities were 19,414–78,540 person-hours per year. the estimated incremental costs of activities for patient safety and infection control were calculated as us$ 1.100–2.335 million per year, equivalent to the employment of 17–40 full-time healthcare staff. the ratio of estimated costs to total medical revenue ranged from 0.55% to 2.57%. smaller hospitals tend to shoulder a higher burden compared to larger hospitals. conclusions our study provides a framework for measuring hospital-wide activities for patient safety. study findings suggest that the total amount of resources is so great that cost-effective and evidence-based health policy is needed to assure the sustainability of hospital safety programs.”

“Two studies examined the relationship between exposure to violent video games and aggression or violence in the laboratory and in real life. study 1 participants were either randomized or allowed to choose to play a violent or nonviolent game. although males were more aggressive than females, neither randomized exposure to violent-video-game conditions nor previous real-life exposure to violent video games caused any differences in aggression. study 2 examined correlations between trait aggression, violent criminal acts, and exposure to both violent games and family violence. results indicated that trait aggression, family violence, and male gender were predictive of violent crime, but exposure to violent games was not. structural equation modeling suggested that family violence and innate aggression as predictors of violent crime were a better fit to the data than was exposure to video game violence. these results question the common belief that violent-video-game exposure causes violent acts.”