Causes of Violence in American

¶ … Causes of Violence in American Society

Generally, crime is a significant factor in violence in the United States. More specifically, violence associated with crime includes both violence perpetrated against victims of crimes by criminals as well as violence among and between criminals. In some cases, criminals resort to violence as part of their competition for "turf" or for access to various resources that are sought after by different groups of criminals. Crime also generates spontaneous violence among criminals that is unplanned but that occurs in the course of criminal enterprises or dealings.

Typical examples of criminals engaging in violence against victims of crime would include carjacking and street crimes such as armed robberies. Examples of criminal violence that occurs among and between criminals would include wars between different groups of organized criminals, fights between pimps, beatings of prostitutes by pimps, and wars between drug dealers for access to neighborhoods or populations of potential customers.

Gang Violence

Criminal gangs are a major source of criminal violence in communities where there is a high level of gang activity. Generally, street gang violence is directed at other gang members of rival gangs but that is hardly always the case. By definition, criminal gangs support themselves through numerous criminal activities, some of which frequently involve crimes of violence against others. By far, the worst example of gang violence would be instances where gang shooting wars (i.e. "drive by shootings) end up killing innocent people by accident and where gang members purposely attack or murder civilians just because they happen to be wearing the wrong colors that are associated with rival street gangs in certain neighborhoods.

Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a significant source of violence in the U.S., much of which goes unreported. Domestic violence includes physical abuse between spouses as well as physical abuse of children by parents in connection with what some parents believe is merely disciplining their children. By today's social and legal standards, many parenting practices that were once commonplace and even condoned now fit the formal criteria of criminal violence. Just last week, a video captured by a home video camera surfaced on the Internet in which a family court judge viciously beat his (then) 16-year-old daughter with a belt in a manner that will, according to news reports, soon result in criminal charges filed against the judge for domestic violence.

Substance Abuse