Violence in Perspective

The recent attack in Norway has shocked the world. The extremely gruesome and indiscriminate killing of innocent civilians and youths seems out of place in a country considered by many one of the safest in the world. This news combined with other thoughts recently about violence in distraught parts of Central Asia and Africa have made me think about the role of violence in our 21st century society. It seems to be easier to understand the motivations that could lead people to desperate acts of violence in places enduring civil wars and political and economic instability, but it is much more difficult to explain killing of civilians for political ideals in supposedly calm, lawful Westernized countries such as Norway and the recent shooting in Arizona in the U.S. However, even these disturbing instances can be partially explained away as an unpredictable outcome of misguided and mentally disturbed individuals having access to arms.

Yet there is a third type of violence that often does not get much attention even if it is frequently in the news. Violence related to organized crime. Not the acts of people in particularly desperate, violent environments with no rule of law, nor the acts of psychopathic individuals, but organized, rational killings for personal gain. I think this type of violence is the most frightening to me because it reveals a particularly dark side of humanity. Unfortunately from 2003 to 2008 international homicides have been the most common in the Western Hemisphere, yes, among countries in my beloved Americas not in the countries normally considered to be the home to modern “terrorists.” The UN survey defines “international homicide” as “estimates of unlawful homicides purposely inflicted as a result of domestic disputes, interpersonal violence, violent conflicts over land resources, intergang violence over turf or control, and predatory violence and killing by armed groups. Intentional homicide does not include all intentional killing; the difference is usually in the organization of the killing. Individuals or small groups usually commit homicide, whereas killing in armed conflict is usually committed by fairly cohesive groups of up to several hundred members and is thus usually excluded.” Below is a chart of the average homicide rate in regions of the world (based on UN data found on the World Bank World Development Indicators Database).

Average Homicide Rate (per 100,000 people) by Region 2003-2008