Theo Todman's Web Page - Paper Abstracts

Brief Notes

• The author has a good idea, namely that many violent acts are performed not:-
  1. Because their authors are sadists or psychopaths¹, nor
  2. Because, there’s a temporary “disinhibition” whereby the violence impulses we all occasionally feel even more occasionally slip out into action, nor
  3. Because it’s – in certain circumstances – the rational way to achieve your goals.
  But because their authors think that it is the right thing for them to do – indeed their duty to do it – in their particular (sub-)culture.
• This idea works for all, most or some of judicial violence, military violence, parental child-discipline, domestic violence, honour-killings, vendettas and the like.
• However, I wasn’t convinced it worked for violence in the course of robberies and other crimes, where the rejected explanations seemed more apposite. But, maybe, from the sub-title the author agrees.