The 11 types of violence (and the different kinds of aggression)

Violence can manifest itself in many different ways.

Violence is not always easy to identifyIt is often normalized and, under certain forms of expression, can go unnoticed or be taken as something "to be expected".

In this article we will review the different types of violence and analyze the keys to identify them wherever they occur. The aim is to make it easier to recognize patterns of behavior that are different forms of violence, which helps us to act accordingly.

What is violence?

To summarize, violence is the use of physical force or power against oneself or against othersin such a way that this act causes physical harm, psychological harm or deprivation. This means that violence is the use of physical aggression to harm someone, but also the use of power, something more abstract, to cause harm or significantly limit the options open to a person.

The key elements are the existence of a strategy and a series of actions that result in someone being harmed, and that one of the main intentions behind this behavior is to cause harm or attempt against someone's physical or psychological integrity. In other words, the intention to harm someone is an essential factor for it to be possible to speak of types of violence.

It follows from the above that the concept of violence is really very open. That is why we can also talk about the types of violence and how to identify them.

The different types of violence

There is no single criterion for classifying types of violence, but several. The most common ones are usually based on two factors: the way in which violence is exercised and the subject or subjects who exercise it. It is these two factors that structure the classification of types of violence.

Types of violence according to the type of agent

We will now look at the types of violence according to who inflicts the aggressionindependently of everything else.

1. Self-inflicted violence

This is one of the most stigmatized types of violence that exist, since in it it is the person who harms him/herself, which is very difficult to understand.This is very difficult to understand from the point of view of other people. In self-inflicted violence, the person may cut his or her arms or legs, may publicly humiliate him or herself, may repeatedly hit his or her head against hard surfaces, and so on.

It is common for people who carry out this type of violence to be going through highly stressful situations, to have a personality disorder (often Borderline Personality Disorder) or both. It is also possible that self-inflicted violence may end up leading to suicide or, better said, that it is one of the of the symptoms of a behavioral, cognitive and emotional dynamic that leads to suicide. The wounds that someone has previously inflicted on themselves are not in themselves the cause of their decision to take their own life.

The eternal debate is that there are many questionable things about the concept of self-inflicted violence, since putting all the emphasis of violence on the individual may not be the most appropriate if her behavior is the consequence of the violence that others exert against her. That is why, when we talk about self-inflicted violence, we must take into account that behind it there may be other agents that we do not know and that are the cause of this type of violence. and that are the cause of this type of violence.

2. Interpersonal violence

This is the type of violence in which an individual assaults another individual.. In this category we can find domestic violence, bullying, specific cases of mugging with violence, etc.

Although in interpersonal violence the perpetrator is an individual (or a small group of individuals), it is possible that this type of aggression is partly explained by social phenomena. For example, drug use or poverty are factors closely linked to conflict.

3. Collective violence

Unlike what occurs in the types of violence we have seen, in this type of violence the aggression is of a collective nature. the aggression is of a collective nature, from one group or community against another group.. The motivations for collective violence are usually political, economic or ideological-religious.

It is one of the most damaging types of violence, because its negative effects can be felt in many facets of life and, because it involves many people, it can easily degenerate into injury and sometimes death. For example, the same violence that causes some minorities to be viewed with contempt by a large part of the population often contributes to the appearance of physical aggression and even murder.

Situations that favor the emergence of collective violence are political, legal and social phenomena, such as the presence of religious fundamentalism, systematic discrimination against minorities, democratic deficits on the part of a state, the monopoly of certain valuable resources by a relatively small group of people, or major social and economic inequalities.

Types of violence according to the nature of the act

A distinction can also be made between types of violence according to the way in which harm or injury is intended, i.e., by looking at the nature and content of the aggression. Within this category, the following classes exist:

4. Physical violence

This is perhaps the most typical and easiest type of violence to imagine, since it is very visual and easy to identify. In it, someone does something to harm another person's body, producing Pain and suffering.producing someone's pain and suffering. Sometimes it can lead to death.

Physical violence also usually leaves marks that can be identified by qualified medical personnel: scratches, wounds, bruises, etc.

5. Verbal violence

Verbal violence is violence in which is intended to harm the other person in a message or speech.. It may (or may not) contain insults or taboo words, since to produce psychological discomfort it is not essential to use such resources.

In addition to producing anxiety, this type of violence can damage people's self-esteem and public image.

6. Sexual violence

Sexual violence behaviors and types of physical contact that denigrate someone by appealing to his or her sexual dimension.. When it manifests itself through rape, it goes hand in hand with physical violence, although it should be noted that in these cases the sexual component is not a simple complement, but adopts a form of violence that consists of attempting to psychologically harm the other person.

7. Economic violence

This is a type of violence in which the capacity of one or both parties is the ability of one or more persons to use the money they earn is harmed.. Theft and misuse of bank accounts fall into this category, as well as deception to make investments that turn out to be a scam.

8. Negligence

Negligence is a type of violence that occurs through omissionIn this case, the aggression consists of not carrying out actions to which one is obliged in order to guarantee the minimum welfare of others. For example, a doctor who refuses to attend to someone wounded by a personal confrontation with him is committing negligence.

9. Religious violence

This category includes the use of power to harm people by manipulating them with a set of beliefs and promises about a spiritual plane. about a spiritual plane. It is very common to see how sects use this type of aggression to keep dominated those people who put money, time and effort in the maintenance of the institution.

10. Cultural violence

In this type of violence, aggressions are part of the frame of reference of a culture and are related to the signs of cultural identity of a particular culture. and are related to the signs of cultural identity of a particular culture. For example, the normalization of rape in armed conflicts or female genital mutilation are examples of cultural violence.

11. Cyberbullying

In cyberbullying is the frequent use of the Internet and social networks to publish information about a person or a group of people with the aim of or group of people with the aim of ridiculing or humiliating them. It is one of the types of violence whose scope is difficult to pinpoint, because the number of people potentially capable of seeing this type of stigmatizing content is very high.

• To learn more about this kind of violence you can read: "Cyberbullying: analyzing the characteristics of virtual bullying".

A final thought

Violence, in one way or another, has been part of our lives. Even thousands of years ago, before civilizations and writing existed, there were events of great violence among our ancestors that have left an archaeological record of aggression. Today, the volume of violence that shakes our planet is still overwhelming and, to a greater or lesser extent, even creeps into the lives of those people who are more privileged and have more resources to live away from poverty and marginality.

Precisely because the different kinds of violence have manifested themselves in one way or another depending on the historical moment and the place, each culture has used a different way of interpreting and reacting to it.. Knowing how to recognize the different types of violence is one of the keys to combating this phenomenon.