FEAR

AND
VIOLENCE
 FEAR
• Being afraid of something or
someone.
• Bother, worry, fuss, trouble
 What causes Fear?
• Fear is a vital response to physical and
emotional danger which has strong roots
in human evolution.
• If people didn’t fear, they couldn’t protect
themselves from legitimate threats, which
in the ancestral world frequently resulted
in life-or-death consequences.
• In the modern world, individuals often
fear situations in which the stakes are
much lower, such as public speaking, but
their bodies and brains may still treat the
threat as lethal. This can trigger an
extreme, although often unnecessary,
fight-flight-or-freeze response. As a
result, people may find themselves
avoiding challenges that could benefit
them in the long run or hanging back
during social interactions.
• When people today do face deadly or
extreme danger, it can sometimes
cause lingering trauma. Such
trauma can trigger a fear response
that is hard to quell, even when the
risk has passed.
 How to move Past Fear?
• Managing fears can be confusing when they
don’t necessarily correlate with a clear or
obvious danger. If fear is overtaking an
individual’s life, seeking therapy can help. In
cases of severe trauma, sexual or otherwise,
therapy is likely the best option. But formal
therapy is not always necessary; in many cases,
gradual exposure to the object of one’s fear can
be the best way to move past it.
 VIOLENCE

• The use of physical force to harm

someone, to damage property, etc.
• Great destructive force or energy.
• Violence, an act of physical force that
causes or is intended to cause harm.
The damage inflicted by violence
may be physical, psychological, or
both. Violence may be distinguished
from aggression, a more general type
of hostile behavior that may be
physical, verbal, or passive in nature.
 Types of Violence
• Violent crimes are typically
divided into 4 main categories,
based on the nature of behavior:
1. Homicide – the killing of one human
being by another, sometimes for legally
justifiable reasons.
2. Assault – physically attacking another
person with the intent to cause harm.
3. Robbery – forcibly taking something
from another person.
4. Rape – forcible sexual intercourse with
another person (child sexual abuse and
domestic violence).
 Causes of Violence
• Violence is multicasual, meaning that no single
factor is responsible for violent behavior.
• Researchers have examined multiple factors
within a person that may contribute to violence,
including genetic predisposition, neurochemical
abnormalities (e.g., high testosterone levels),
personality characteristics (e.g., lack of empathy
for others), information processing defecits
(e.g., the tendency to view other’s actions as
hostile), and the experience of abuse or neglect
as a child.
 Effects of Violence
• Regardless of its cause, violence has a
negative impact on those who experience or
witness it.
• Violence can cause physical injury as well as
psychological harm.
• Several psychological disorders, including
post-traumatic stress disorder, dissociative
identity disorder, and borderline personality
disorder, are associated with experiencing
violence.
• Other psychological symptoms, such as
depression, anxiety, and mood swings (bipolar
disorder), are common in victims of violence.
• Moreover, exposure to violence can increase
violent behavior in children. Albert Bandura
showed that children often imitate violent
behaviors, especially if those acts are
committed by trusted adults (e.g., parents).
• Children also imitate violence shown on
television and in other forms of media.
 Prevention of Violence
• Conduct a most prevention programs that target
young people.
• The most successful violence-prevention programs
are those that target all children, not just those who
are considered to be at risk for violence.
• A variety of programs have been developed to reduce
or prevent violence in individuals who have already
shown a tendency toward violence.
• Overall, the most-successful programs for preventing
violence are those that effect behavioral changes.