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Postcolonial geography confounds latitudinal trends in observed aggression and violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Paul Roscoe
Paul Roscoe*
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469. Paul.Roscoe@umit.maine.edu http://umaine.edu/anthropology/faculty-staff/jim-roscoe/
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Abstract

To support their hypothesis, the authors point to an inverse correlation between latitude and the incidence of civil conflict and crime. This observation cannot be accepted as evidence for the hypothesis, because of a weighty confounding variable: the historical geography of colonialism and its effects on the fragility of nations.

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Type
Open Peer Commentary
Information
Behavioral and Brain Sciences , Volume 40 , 2017 , e94
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Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

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References

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