Central to our understanding of violence is developing a workable definition of it. Organizations such as the Center for Disease Control and the World Health Organization recognize that violence is a strategy to gain power and control. Violence is learned and is often a reaction to real or imagined loss of power and control (for example, resulting from trauma). It is always driven by fear and commonly fed by ignorance and superstition.
For our purposes, we define violence as arising from a “thought-borne pathogen" (the "Severe Malevolent Thought Virus," or SMTV) which emerges from a condition called the Experienced Power Deficiency Disorder (EPDD). In its milder forms, the SMTV creates conflict, dissension, unwarranted suspicion and related outcomes.
The pathogen in its most virulent form (driving violence) is characterized by the following:
It is infectious, due in part to the loss of power and control by victims. A common reaction is to respond to violent episodes with violence (“profane” or “sacred”).
It is self-replicating. Because of its infectious nature, violence drives more violence. Scapegoating and mob behavior are examples where violence infects those who have not been the direct recipients of violence themselves.
We are “acclimated” to violence; numbed, tolerant and unaware. This allows violence to spread rapidly.
It is addictive. Although toxic, it can create an addiction which has its roots in power, control and the need for stimulation.
It is often characterized by denial and lack of accountability on the part of the players on the “drama triangle” (persecutor, victim, rescuer).
It is fed by social systems, including government modeling (violence as an effective strategy in response to crime and international relations), media (violent entertainment), prevailing negative cultural beliefs (bigotry, stereotyping, scapegoating), ethics (greed, avarice, exploitation, etc.), and the definition of heroic behavior.
It is seductive by nature – it invites more violence, even from those who abhor it (for example, the Oklahoma City bombing which in turn drives the state-sanctioned killing of Timothy McVeigh).
It can result in a variety of presentation complaints, ranging from the mild to the fatal — depression, paranoia, PTSD, headaches, bruises, puncture wounds, fractures, hearing degradation, digestive ailments, fetal injury, gun shot trauma, death.
It is preventable through the use of many of the same public health strategies used in increasing seat-belt and bicycle helmet usage and decreasing cigarette usage and chemical dependency.
It is widespread, presenting in epidemic proportions.
A serious outbreak of the Severe Malevolent Thought Virus (SMTV) presents as any action resulting from:
An intention to do harm; and/or
Attempts to gain inappropriate power and control for self-serving gain, which results in harm.
Harm can be physical, sexual, mental, emotional and economic. The actions can be “active” — such as hitting or intimidating someone, or depriving someone of rights — or “passive” — such as generating harm through exploitation or neglect. It can also be self-directed, as in the case of self-inflicted injury and suicide. A definition of violence allows us to move forward with an elementary sense of the nature of this disease.
Under the PAR Model, violence is viewed in terms of its infection, toxicity and trauma in any or all of the bodies (refer to the discussion on the “five bodies”). It involves a process from incubation to outbreak — a process referred to here as the “objectification/action process.”
Under the PAR Model, a distinction is made between "violent" and "injurious." The centerpoint of the differentiation is intention. For example, someone piercing your skin with a sharp object (a knife) while robbing you would be committing an act of violence. Someone piercing your skin with a sharp object (a scalpel) to perform a surgery intended to save your life is not committing an act of violence.
