The United States of America: A “Culture of Violence”

by Anthony Marsella *

Charting a “Culture of Violence:” Causes and Consequences

As the immediate emotions of the presidential elections pass — the euphoria and elation of the winners, the grief, despair, anger of the losers — the harsh realities of daily life once again emerge. Among these is the widespread violence that exists in the United States as displayed in Figure 1. As Figure 1 demonstrates, the manifestations and consequences of violent acts are extensive. This suggests the existence of a “culture of violence” that is generated, sustained, and promoted by acts that arise from individual and collective impulse and intent, and that too often find tier tolerance and approval across political, economic, educational, military, and moral policies of institutions.

Regardless of our wishes that this was not the case, the United States of America is a “culture of violence.” The Figure 1 (i.e., chart) offers a quick visual display. It is neither comprehensive nor explanatory, aside from recognizing the reciprocity among the different acts and sources of violence. There is an obvious interaction across the acts displayed in which simple cause-effect relations disappears amidst the complexity. Each act is both a source and consequence. A cultural ecology of violence.

Figure 1: A Culture of Violence

The Omnipresence of Violence

Violence abounds in American society, touching everyone’s life as victim, perpetrator, or anxious observer and witness of the endless violent acts committed locally, nationally, and internationally. Ultimately we are all victims and perpetrators through acts of intention or acts of silence and indifference that support a tolerance of the situation. There is no escape from this reality. How much more violence can we view on TV, how much more violence can we cheer and applaud in entertainment, how much more violence can we experience before we are faced with a constant state of stress, anxiety, anger, and/or moral indifference?

There is a widespread fear, anxiety, and stress that leaves citizens of all ages feelings vulnerable and insecure, awaiting the possibility of violence touching their lives, and bring with it grief and sorrow. It is clear violence is widespread in the world. Every person — regardless of location — is compelled to live with daily reminders of risk and danger. What is distinct about violence in the USA, however, is the existence of a national culture of shared, learned behaviors and meanings transmitted across generations via ethoses, values, attitudes, and ways-of-life that are violent. These inform and guide our institutions resulting in the socialization of a culture of violence.

USA Foreign Policy: Driver of National and Global Violence

The foreign policies and actions of the United States of America over the course of the past 100 years are rooted in intentions to control and dominate international order of nations and cultures. These policies and actions have proven destructive to national and global peace, and have served and empowered the interests of a limited number of individuals and groups. Ultimately, under the guise of protecting “national interests” these policies and actions are major sources, carriers, and promoters of violence nationally and globally. They are asymmetrical and hegemonic in nature, and sustain the status quo in consequence. While all are announced as intentions to bring democracy and freedom, they have too often resulted in occupation, oppression, and repression of human rights. An obvious result — visible in virtually every nation caught in our efforts – is the costly growth of a vast USA network of: (1) military bases and operations, (2) massive fortress embassies/consulates, (3) encampments/prisons, (4) death squads, (5) cultural disintegration and decline.

These policies and actions do not promote cooperation and admirations, rather they encourage instability via reflexive protests, insurrections, rebellions, revolutions, and acts of domestic, state, and international terrorism. Table 1 display the spectrum of USA foreign policy and action choices, options, and alternatives. All nations act in their own interests, The issue, however, is that in a global era, in which the understanding of the causes and consequences of violence and war are now better known, selfish national interests result in direct and indirect opposition. For many nations who feel victimized and humiliated by the USA, revenge is considered just and appropriate. This creates an endless cycle. Who benefits? Table 1 displays a spectrum of USA foreign policy and action practices — they are used as needed.

Table 1: USA Foreign Policy and Actions Choices, Options, Alternatives

  •  Assassinations/death squads/drones,
  • Bounties for info/capture
  • Bribery/blackmail/entrapment
  • Celebration of national “morality”/necessity of torture
  • Collaboration/contracts with universities, scientists, professional organizations
  • Contingent “humanitarian” aid
  • Contingent foreign aid
  • Control UN via vetoes
  • Control IMF and World Bank
  • Cooperate with foreign nations (e.g., military, intelligence)
  • Development of domestic crowd controls (militarization of police)
  • Diplomacy
  • Drug wars and corruptions
  • Disproportionate support of “allies” and enemification of others,
  • Establishment of military bases [more than 900 known foreign bases],
  • Exportation of popular American culture
  • Foreign student/faculty/consultant exchanges
  • Fund development of disguised/pseudo-organizations (e.g. Human Ecology Fund)
  • Glorification of war, militarism, warrior mentalities
  • Hegemonic globalization
  • Infiltrate peace and anti-war groups
  • Mass surveillance, monitoring, and archiving of data,
  • Massive government/private intelligence security agencies/organizations
  • Media influence and control
  • Military intervention
  • Mind control technologies (e.g., drugs, EMR)
  • Negotiation/conflict resolution
  • Non-Prosecution of connected military, government, civilian law violators/abusers
  • Occupation
  • Promotion of nationalism/pseudo-patriotism
  • Propaganda and promotion of USA exceptionalism,
  • Purchase and installation of pro-American leaders and dictators,
  • Recruitment of spies, informers, collaborators, agents
  • Use surrogate nations and forces
  • Use false flags incidents
  • Use major philanthropic foundations to influence policy and actions
  • Vilification of domestic/international critics.
  • Weapons/arms dealer/sales
  • Witness protection programs

Closing Remarks

I have published two articles in recent years regarding war and peace. The first article is entitled: “The United States of America: A Culture of War” (Marsella, A.J. [2012]. The United States of America: A “culture of war.” International Journal of Intercultural Research, 35, 714-728.This article documents the long history of war in the United States, and the American cultural ethos that has spawned and nurtured wars. The second article is a please for nonkilling and an end to violence. It is entitled “Nonkilling psychology and lifeism” (Marsella, A.J. (2011). Nonkilling psychology and lifeism. In J. Pim & D. Christie (Eds.) Nonkilling Psychology (pp. 361-378). Honolulu, Hi: Center for Global Non-Violence.). This article calls for humanity to move beyond unbridled national identities to an identity with life itself, the very force that animates our world and universe.

In both of these articles, and in this article, it is clear to me that we are headed for a “dreadful reckoning” (Grieder’s term) if we do not come to an awareness of the many sources and consequences of violence in our lives, particularly the perpetuation of “cultures of violence” that are sources of endless suffering, destruction, and death. The answer resides in the necessity of non-violent activism to prevent violence. This is the timeless answer of every great peacemaker.

*Originally published on TRANSCEND Media Service, November 9, 2012

Anthony Marsella, Ph.D., a  member of the TRANSCEND Network, is a past president of Psychologists for Social Responsibility, emeritus professor of psychology at the University of Hawaii, and past director of the World Health Organization Psychiatric Research Center in Honolulu. He is known nationally and internationally as a pioneer figure in the study of culture and psychopathology who challenged the ethnocentrism and racial biases of many assumptions, theories, and practices in psychology and psychiatry. In more recent years, he has been writing and lecturing on peace and social justice. He has published 15 edited books, and more than 250 articles, chapters, book reviews, and popular pieces. He can be reached at marsella@hawaii.edu.

Where it all begins, Part 2

Colin Henderson’s winning design displayed at 2009 Domestic Violence Awareness Rally, Fort Jackson. Author: Sharonda Pearson As a work of the U.S. federal government, the image is in the public domain.

 

By Kathie MM

As noted in my last post , if people want to move their countries from a preoccupation with war, hatred, power, threat, and punishment to the pursuit of peace, brotherly (and sisterly) love, social equality, justice, and reconciliation, the place to start is the home.

Suggestions for starting can be found in the work of Robert J. Burrowes and his “promise to children”:

“From today, I promise that I will try to no longer inflict this violence on you, including that which I call ‘punishment’ so that I can pretend that I am not using violence…

I also admit that we adults have done a bad job at looking after each other, including all of our children, and planet Earth, your home, and that you are going to have an increasingly difficult life as the natural world continues to break down. So I promise to participate in efforts being made to address all of these problems, such as that outlined in ‘The Flame Tree Project to Save Life on Earth’….

 Most importantly of all, I promise that I will listen to you as best I can. See ‘Nisteling: The Art of Deep Listening’….

Oh, and finally, as best I can, I promise to love you and to respect you as a unique, beautiful and compassionate creation with a great deal to offer the world (as long as adults don’t get in your way)….”

After presenting his pledge to children, Burrowes asks, “As an adult, would you be willing to make this promise too? To whom would you make it?

He then comments, “There is no doubt that giving every child (or adult, for that matter) all of the space they need to feel, deeply, what they want to do, and to then let them do it (or to have the feelings they naturally have if someone or something prevents them from doing so) will have some dysfunctional outcomes in the short term.

This is because we have all been dysfunctionalized, to a greater or lesser extent, by the violence we have already suffered throughout our lives. But listening deeply to a child from birth (or starting today), and supporting them to act out their own Self-will, will lead to an infinitely better overall outcome than the system of emotional suppression, control and punishment of children which has generated the incredibly violent world in which we now find ourselves.”

Again, as I asked in my last post, what do you think about these ideas?

If you wish to join the worldwide movement to end all violence, including violence against children, you can sign online ‘The People’s Charter to Create a Nonviolent World’.

Where it all begins, Part 1

By Kathie MM

Most children, in this country and much of the rest of the world, have been subjected to considerable verbal and psychological violence, and often physical violence, by the age of two—and it may only get worse. The “terrible twos” often means terrible treatment.

Toddlers are routinely yelled at, sworn at, called names, threatened. They are shaken, slapped on the hands or buttocks, sometimes slapped in the face, spanked, sometimes hit with switches, kicked, beaten—and all of these things may happen in what people think of as “good homes.”

Given the level of violence in families, it should not be surprising that in day care and nursery schools, children are heard yelling, “I hate you, I’m going to kill you!” They don’t need to watch TV to learn these messages.

Robert J. Burrowes has written passionately about the likely outcomes of violence against children.

Here is an example of what he has to say:

“The man who inflicts violence on women was damaged during childhood. The white person who inflicts violence on people of colour was damaged during childhood. The employer who exploits workers was damaged during childhood.

The individual who endorses the state violence inflicted on indigenous peoples was damaged during childhood. The terrorist, the political leader who wages war and the soldier who kills in our name were all damaged during childhood.

The person who supports structures of violence (such as the military, police, legal and prison systems) was damaged during childhood.

The person who supports structures of exploitation (such as capitalism and imperialism) was damaged during childhood. The person who thoughtlessly participates in destruction of the natural environment was damaged during childhood.”

What do you think of Burrowes’ argument?

Do you have other explanations for this country’s high level of engagement in violence?

Clearly poverty and racism can also damage children but hordes of violent people are reapers rather than victims of those social ills. If we really want to reduce violence in and by our country, we better play closer attention to what we do in our homes.

Please share your views.

Do we have a right to rights?

Do women have human rights? Do children? The United Nations has declared that women and children do have human rights, yet women are disproportionately denied them in the world today: they are beaten to death, burned to death, raped, and tortured at alarming rates. Children also suffer terribly in many parts of the world, as do various minority groups in many areas.

The U.N. recognizes November 25 as International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. It is the beginning of 16 days of activism culminating on December 10, International Human Rights Day.

You know that the United Nations was established in the wake of World War II to help prevent further world wars? Why, then, are they concerned about violence against women? About racial discrimination?  About elder abuse?

Wise global leaders have recognized that violence and its close friend denial of human rights are diseases that can spread interminably and infect viciously. One of the most basic steps toward peace and social justice on a global scale is peace and justice (reparative justice, not punitive justice) in the home and the local community. How do we achieve them?

I recently asked students in my family violence seminar what specific, concrete steps THEY could take to reduce family violence. They struggled with the question for several minutes, then provided great answers; for example,

  • Form a group of people willing to go to the local superintendent of schools and press for anti-violence programs, including anti-family violence programs, in the schools
  • Talk to our state’s new governor about making anti-violence fliers available at polling places
  • Donate money to anti-violence causes

How about you?  How can you aid in the quest against violence?

Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology