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Rewiring Our Expectations

Lessons and Prospects

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 March 2020

Richard Whittington
Affiliation:
Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim and University of Liverpool
James McGuire
Affiliation:
University of Liverpool
Maria Fernanda Tourinho Peres
Affiliation:
Universidade de São Paulo
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Summary

In this book we have posed and attempted to provide answers to a number of questions about the human capacity for violence. The fundamental aim has been to challenge the idea of violence being hard-wired into human nature, and this has led to questions about the potential for ‘rewiring’. This rethink has involved interrogating the evidence for and against various theoretical frameworks through which it is understood. It has implications for strategies to change individuals who have acted violently, the situations they might find themselves in and the societies around them. Brecht complained at the start of this book that our vision is skewed when we see only the violent behaviour of dangerous individuals and what we should always do is take a step back and make ourselves aware of the structures which partly created that person. Even more, we should consider whether the structures themselves are inherently violent because they limit and damage the person who inhabits them. We will gain more from remodelling the banks of the river which create and channel the violent torrent than we do from trying to stop the torrent itself.

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Chapter
Information
Violence Rewired
Evidence and Strategies for Public Health Action
, pp. 242 - 246
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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