Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Although every imaginable explanation of violent crime has been proffered at one time or another, it is rare to find one that is comprehensive enough to explain how violent criminals develop, how violent communities originate and change, and how violent criminal acts are committed. The theory of violentization (vz.) is relatively unique not only because it explains all three of these crucial matters, but also because it explains them in processual terms. By identifying how the stages in these processes unfold, it provides an opportunity for stopping their completion and, thereby, a potential means for stymieing the violent crime problem. According to vz. theory, violent socialization occurs over a process that has four stages. The first stage, brutalization , is a composite social act made up of three distinct social acts: (1) violent subjugation , (2) personal horrification , and (3) violent coaching . During violent subjugation, authentic or would-be subjugators use or threaten to use physical force to make a perceived subordinate accept their domination. During personal horrification, perceived subordinates do not undergo violent subjugation themselves, but they witness an intimate experience of it. Finally, during violent coaching, a superordinate places himself in the role of coach and assigns a perceived subordinate to the role of novice. The coach instructs novices that ... log in or subscribe to read full text