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Language and Violence: Analysis of Four Discursive Operations

NCJ Number
220188
Journal
Journal of Family Violence Volume: 22 Issue: 7 Dated: October 2007 Pages: 511-522
Author(s)
Linda Coates; Allan Wade
Date Published
October 2007
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the content and intent of five postincident descriptions of violent interactions between individuals and/or groups, in order to check for the following factors in the descriptions: an effort to conceal the violence, hide or diminish the perpetrators' responsibility, conceal victims' resistance, and blame or negatively label the victim.
Abstract
The study found that the examined accounts of violence, although representing diverse perspectives of those giving the account and representing different forms of violence, still contained the aforementioned "four-discursive-operations." All five accounts concealed violence by misrepresenting violent acts as mutual rather than unilateral, thereby misrepresenting the nature of social interactions in which perpetrators and victims could be clearly distinguished. Accounts also sought to mitigate the perpetrator's responsibility for the violent behavior by portraying the violence as accidental or unintended rather than premeditated and deliberate. Further, the accounts concealed victims' resistance, i.e., victims' attempts to avoid or find alternatives to the violent encounter. Instead, victims were portrayed as passive or even willing participants in the violence. In addition, accounts focused on those characteristics of victims that could be interpreted as negative, blameworthy, or catalysts for the inevitable triggering of violent behavior by the perpetrator. Based on these findings, the authors argue that these four factors must be addressed in any intervention designed to prevent and/or change violent behaviors. The five accounts of violence were offered by a husband in describing the first time he assaulted his wife; a psychiatrist's description of crimes of sexualized violence against children; a judge's description of the nature and extent of a perpetrator's repeated assaults on his stepson; a politician's prepared statement on the history of colonists' treatment of Aboriginal people; and a therapist's statement about women who have endured sexualized or other forms of violence in childhood. 70 references