Structural violence: Its many faces and challenges in research, policies, prevention, and intervention

Abstract

In this themed issue of the Journal of Prevention & Intervention in the Community, each contribution deals with a different face or aspect of violence. A first block, comprising three articles, deals with Gender-Based Violence (GBV): The first article draws a picture of the general situation of Gender-Based Violence (GBV), its numbers, causes, intersectionalities, and consequences, and reflects upon implications for action. The second article focuses on a particular face of GBV: Intimate partner violence IPV, and determines, based on the analysis of DHS data from Peru, the persistence and perpetuating effects of personal history of violence on the likelihood of IPV. The third article on GBV addresses a different aspect: distorted thoughts about women in a sample of men imprisoned for violence against women in Spain, including thoughts on the culture of honor, gender stereotypes, and jealousy and infidelity as justifiers of gender violence. A second block of articles deal with other forms of social violence: The fourth article reviews literature on the variables associated with adolescent antisocial behavior, such as: family and peers with antisocial backgrounds, antisocial peer attitudes, alcohol consumption, offensive behavior, education level, perception of safety in the community, and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, to find support for a bioecological model as a plausible framework for understanding antisocial behavior in juvenile offenders. The fifth article analyzes two experiences in educational settings, with children, young university students, and graduates, aimed at reconstructing and re-processing collective memories with regard to violence during the two decades of armed conflict in Peru. A sixth article experimentally proves the effects of a pedagogic module on political violence in Peru on knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions with regard to violence as a means to exert social control or social domination.

Keywords:

• Gender-based violence history of violence intimate partner violence
• culture of honor
• aggressors
• juvenile offenders
• collective memories of war