Violence... examining the stages of violence

Night after night, television news recounts the violent episodes of the day in our cities, towns and neighborhoods. We don't feel safe on our streets or in our cars, and many people feel that they are imprisoned in their own homes. The threats of, presence of, effects of, violence are undeniable. We ask ourselves if there is anything we can do to counteract this violence. Is there any way we can even begin to cope with it? We know that violence needs to be addressed but how can we do this?

Some of this violence stems from personal disorders: rage, anger, criminal proclivity, recklessness. Other kinds of violence relate to cultural or structural disorders, such as the drug scene. Perhaps we need to begin to address violence of this kind by examining stages of violence as outlined by a renowned peacemaker, Dom Helder Cámara.

Cámara, former bishop of Recife, Brazil, delineates three forms of violence in his little book, the Spiral of Violence. We may consider these to be, at least to some degree, the roots of, the basis for, violence.

First, Bishop Cámara examines the violence of oppression. While he primarily relates this to the injustices caused by poverty, by the gap between the rich and the poor in both the developed and underdeveloped countries, we believe this can be extended to include the oppressions of racism, sexism, classism, the domination of the many by the few occurring within a nation as well as between nations. This is systemic violence. Carefully constructed, all pervading, supported and maintained by ideology, culture, religion and politics, it is frequently obscured under the guise of tradition, convention, history, even expediency. In this way, oppression may be upheld by the dominant culture and even accepted by many as a form of peace.

In reality, this can only be considered as a negative peace, and it is not the peace of the Gospel. Gospel peace is built on justice, and is eroded by such systemic violence. The reality of economic oppression cannot be disputed. One need only pick up a newspaper and read that the U.S. consumes well over 30% of the world's resources and that the disparity between rich and poor, even in the U.S., is growing by leaps and bounds. It is often linked to oppression due to racism, sexism, classism. Many of us can bear personal witness to the effects of this root of violence.

The second stage of violence, according to Cámara, is rebellion, either of the oppressed themselves, or of those resolved to strive for a more just and human world. This may exhibit itself in an organized fashion as in South Africa or in our own Civil Rights movement. It may also be unplanned and spontaneous, as evidenced in Los Angeles after the Rodney King verdict a few years ago. Manifestations of rebellion also include gang activity which may result in violent acts such as drive-by shootings, acts of terrorism which so frequently result in the death of innocent and often uninvolved people, as well as a general disinterest in education, in forming community, in responding to human needs. Sometimes we who believe we are peacemakers repudiate this violence because it disrupts peace, failing to acknowledge and to address the background causes--the systemic injustices from which this stems.

The third stage of violence, Bishop Cámera teaches us, may happen when the violence of oppression is resisted through the violence of rebellion. This third stage is the violence of repression--the use of governmental or authoritarian force to restore order. As we well know, both the developed and the underdeveloped countries have contributed towards this form of violence which occurs within a nation such as ours. It may be done under the pretext of safeguarding public order or national security and perhaps some of us need to admit that we give a sigh of relief when this happens. The status quo is resumed and we may feel safe and secure. It cannot be denied that the violence of rebellion needs to be addressed but this must happen in a just manner with respect for the rights of all, with consideration for the common good, with structural change as the end. However, reacting to the violence of rebellion by using the violence of repression only leads to a spiraling effect, an escalation of violence.

The consequences of this spiral are what we are seeing in our world, in our country, in our cities, on our streets, and even in our homes. Our questions are: How can we address this? How can we even cope with it? Let us examine these responses to violence even as we acknowledge its pervasiveness as well as our own apparent helplessness before it.

Bob Bossie, SCJ is on the staff of the Eighth Day Center for Justice, an organization supported by 29 religious communities.

Click here to read a Reflection on this Article by Sr. Adela Gross, OSF