Remembering our violent conversion: Conflict in the Icelandic conversion narrative

This article analyzes violent conflict in the medieval narratives of Iceland's conversion to Christianity, as told by the Icelanders themselves. The article considers physical and verbal aggression as interrelated forms of conflict connected in an economy of violent exchange. In the narratives, they are represented as attacks against material and symbolic resources. The competing pagans and Christians struggle to come out ahead as often as they can and thereby win the most converts. Verbal violence takes center stage in this analysis, more specifically three kinds of verbal violence: a particular sub-genre of insults; coercive speech; and speech as a means of supernatural power. The first of these, the insults use deeply embedded medieval Icelandic constructions of gender to create a highly corrosive discourse that combines cowardice, homosexuality and laziness, among other things, as the traits of the least desirable sort of man. Finally, in contrast the commonplace occurrence of violent conflict in these texts, an internal critique of violence appears in the later versions of the conversion story. This critique reconsiders what forms of violence are legitimate, most significantly disapproving of the previously accepted masculine activity of revenge.     

Captivity, conversion, and communal identity: sexual angst and religious crisis in Frankfurt, 1241

Following the violent destruction of Frankfurt’s Jewish community in May 1241, leading rabbinic figures debated the marital status of a young woman who had been captured and forcibly converted by local Christians. A series of legal responsa authored by R. Yitzhak Or Zaru’a and his contemporaries provides a window into the conflict, reflecting the German Jewish community’s struggle to redefine its boundaries in response to escalating physical and theological pressure. Working with talmudic archetypes yet accounting for medieval realities, some authorities searched desperately for leniencies, whereas others rejected legal loopholes and ruled with excessive stringency. The highly rhetorical language, conflicting narratives, and divergent interpretations that characterize these halakhic discussions render the texts fertile ground for considering the relationship between sexual angst and religious crisis. This study will examine the possibility of using the legalistic treatment of women, particularly in the sensitive areas of physical violation and personal status, as a measuring rod of communal identification.     

Violencia en relaciones de pareja de jóvenes y adolescentes

This paper sought to study aggressive behavior in adolescent relationships in the province of Huelva (Spain) and its relation to certain variables (sexism, frustration tolerance, interparental conflict and externalizing problems). To that end, we conducted a cross-sectional study with questionnaires on a sample of students consisting of 716 subjects (398 girls and 314 boys), aged 14 to 20. The results indicated that verbal and emotional violence was the most common subtype of violence among young couples regardless of gender. Girls were identified as the most frequent implementers of physical and verbal-emotional violence, while boys were more engaged in relational and sexual aggression.The analyses in terms of age revealed a decrease in physical violence while sexual violence increased directly related to the age of the subject. Sexism, low frustration tolerance and the presence of externalizing problems were the factors most linked to violent behavior within relationships.     

Victim and Perpetrator Groups’ Divergent Perspectives on Collective Violence: Implications for Intergroup Relations

Groups in conflict develop strikingly different construals of the same violent events. These clashing perceptions of past violence can have detrimental consequences for intergroup relations and might provoke new hostilities. In this article, we integrate and juxtapose what we know about construals of collective violence by delineating the different dimensions along which these construals differ between victim and perpetrator groups: regarding the question of who is the victim, who is responsible for the harm doing, what the perpetrator’s intent was, how severe the violence was, and when it took place. Then, we discuss the individual‐ and group‐level factors (e.g., collective narratives, social identities) that shape these construals, as well as their implications for attitudes regarding the conflict and support for relevant policies. We distinguish two different core motives that drive construals and their outcomes among victim and perpetrator groups: Perpetrator groups try to cope with moral identity threats and preserve a positive image of the ingroup, while victim groups try to protect their ingroup from future harm doing and desire acknowledgment of their group’s experiences. Lastly, we discuss implications for strategies and interventions to address victim and perpetrator groups’ divergent perspectives of collective violence.     

Visionary Eschatology: Piers Plowman

In its later versions Piers Plowman is a long, complex poem of extraordinary formal, theological, and political complexity. It is one of the greatest Christian poems. Written in a period of unprecedented conflict in English polities, including the Church, it was passionately involved in exploring many of these conflicts while seeking to imagine projects of Reformation. The poem includes fascinating reflections on diverse eschatological traditions within the late medieval Church, including neo-Joachite ones. Subjecting both the contemporary Church and such eschatologies to sustained critique, the author evolves a profoundly Christocentric vision in the light of which triumphant narratives of the Church would emerge as among the opiates threatening the Church at the poem's close.     

Intergenerational Transmission of Conflict-Related Trauma in Northern Ireland: A Behavior Analytic Approach

Intergenerational transmission of trauma describes the impact that traumatic events experienced by one generation have for the subsequent generation. In Northern Ireland, violent conflict raged between 1969 and 1998, when a peace process begun. This study explored to what extent (if any) parents’ experiences of the conflict influenced how children perceived life in this society. Parents completed a questionnaire, and their children drew 2 pictures, depicting Northern Ireland now and before they were born. Children’s behaviors and awareness of the conflict were influenced by their parents’ experiences and narratives, their age, gender, and school. Parental narrative about the violence was influenced by individual learning history, the child’s age and gender, and present circumstances. A behavior analytic approach is offered.     

Racial microaggressions in everyday life: implications for clinical practice

Racial microaggressions are brief and commonplace daily verbal, behavioral, or environmental indignities, whether intentional or unintentional, that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative racial slights and insults toward people of color. Perpetrators of microaggressions are often unaware that they engage in such communications when they interact with racial/ethnic minorities. A taxonomy of racial microaggressions in everyday life was created through a review of the social psychological literature on aversive racism, from formulations regarding the manifestation and impact of everyday racism, and from reading numerous personal narratives of counselors (both White and those of color) on their racial/cultural awakening. Microaggressions seem to appear in three forms: microassault, microinsult, and microinvalidation. Almost all interracial encounters are prone to microaggressions; this article uses the White counselor--client of color counseling dyad to illustrate how they impair the development of a therapeutic alliance. Suggestions regarding education and training and research in the helping professions are discussed.     

Television and aggression: a test of a mediated model with a sample of Portuguese students

We examined the role of identification with violent TV heroes, enjoyment of TV violence, and perceived reality in TV violence as mediators of the relationship between viewing TV violence and subsequent physical and verbal aggression. A sample of 722 4th, 6th, and 8th grade students from schools in the central region of Portugal completed measures assessing enjoyment of TV violence, perceived reality, aggression, identification with violent TV heroes, and exposure to TV violence. The results showed that the relationship between TV violence and physical aggression is mediated by enjoyment of TV violence, perceived reality in TV violence, and identification with violent TV heroes. The TV violence to verbal aggression relationship was also mediated by enjoyment of TV violence.     

Self–Serving Perceptions of Terrorism Among Israelis and Palestinians

Definitions of political violence as terrorism are often tainted by self–serving motivations. Groups in conflict in particular tend to justify the use of indiscriminate violent means by highly regarded political ends. This study explores such self–serving perceptions of terrorism in the context of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. In two surveys during December 2001, Israeli Jews, Israeli Arabs and Palestinians were asked whether 11 local and international incidents were acts of terrorism in their view, and whether they were considered acts of terrorism by the international community. Self–serving judgments on both sides were expected, but their extent is striking, and they extend also to the international incidents. Israeli Arabs judge all acts of violence as terrorism in high percentages. Israeli Jews and Palestinians' definitions present a mirror image; however, they do not project these definitions to the international community. Instead, they perceive an international norm largely divergent from their own point of view, inflating world judgment of their own acts of violence as terrorism and underestimating world judgment of the other side's violence, in what amounts to a hostile–world phenomenon.     

Intergroup attribution bias in the context of extreme intergroup conflict

Limited research has examined attributional biases in the context of extreme intergroup conflict, and the research that does exist contains methodological shortcomings. To remedy this, 282 Indonesians read a newspaper article describing a violent incident in Ambon. Christians (but not Muslims) used stronger situational attributions for violent ingroup acts than for violent outgroup acts. In contrast, both Muslims and Christians used stronger dispositional attributions for violent outgroup acts than for violent ingroup acts. This latter tendency emerged independently of who was described in the article as the perpetrators of the violence. Implications for our understanding of intergroup conflict are discussed.     

In search of the “Tossed Salad Man” (and others involved in prison violence): New strategies for predicting and controlling violence in prison

This article addresses two fundamental questions: 1) Can we accurately identify a subgroup of high risk inmates who will likely be involved in various forms of prison violence; and if so, 2) Is there an empirical research supporting the contention that current classification systems reduce the risk posed by those offenders predicted to be violent (such as gang/security threat group members)? Based on a review of the empirical evidence from the past two decades, we conclude that current classification strategies do not predict prison violence very accurately and perhaps more importantly, they do not appear to reduce the risk of violence in prison. New classification systems focusing on changing – rather than controlling – offenders while in prison represent one possible alternative strategy, given recent evidence that participation in prison programming/treatment is the most effective prison violence reduction strategy currently available.     

“I Choked Her But I Did Not Punch Her”: Constructions of Intimate Partner Violence Among Men in the Philippines

Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a phenomenon that is persistent in society and exacts a heavy psychological toll on women and children victimized by it. This research aims to understand how doers of intimate partner violence construe or perceive their alleged violent behavior. This study focuses on fifteen men with cases of Republic Act of 9262 or the Anti-Violence Against Women for physical, psychological, economic and/or sexual abuse in Surigao del Sur, Philippines. Participants were interviewed on their perception of intimate partner violence and the factors that led to their alleged violent behavior. Thematic network analysis yielded five global themes to explain that there are different yet inter-related causations of violence according to the participants: (1) act of IPV as a cognitive dissonance; (2) socio-economic condition as primary source of conflict; (3) blaming partner as the problem; (4) IPV as an impulsive and emotional response; and (5) ineffective conflict resolution. The doers position themselves to be intrinsically good people who denounce the act of violence, however, to compensate their contradicting behavior, they minimize the consequence of behavior and negate responsibility through different mechanisms of moral disengagement. Given the results, the research stresses the importance of a rehabilitation program that targets moral disengagement, anger management and effective conflict resolution.     

Teachers as informants: countering extremism and promoting violence

ABSTRACT

This article is a response to Muslim students reporting that they had been silenced by fear of the PREVENT Counter-Terrorism Strategy. By adopting a Critical Realist stance, real generative mechanisms of this actual phenomenon are investigated and theorised. Recognition of changing definitions of both ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ in different versions of PREVENT results in the discursive aspect of these real generative mechanisms being investigated using critical discourse analysis (CDA). This analysis identifies the emergence of a violent discourse of ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ (RadEx) that it is theorised has the capacity to promote rather than prevent violence. Finally, a process by which this production of violence in the classroom might have been avoided is explored and this indicates that critique of government efforts to counter ‘radicalisation’ and ‘extremism’ is a vital aspect of pedagogy in the context of PREVENT and the War on Terror.     

Seeking remission: Jewish conversion in the Crown of Aragon,c.1378–1391

Despite the expansion of research on the subject of Jewish apostates in Iberia, or conversos as they are more commonly known, we still know distressingly little about the history of Jews converted to Christianity prior to the riots of 1391. Focusing on the royal registers of King Pere III (Pedro IV of Aragon, 1336–1387) and his son Joan I (1387–1396), this article explores the issue of Jewish apostasy in the Crown of Aragon between 1378 and 1391. While Jewish conversion to Christianity is often described as the result of Christian violence, a closer look at Jewish apostates shows that reasons for conversion varied greatly in the late fourteenth-century Crown of Aragon. Jews sought conversion not only as a way out of economic and legal troubles but also in exchange for specific rewards from the king. Conversion led to much conflict between Jews and conversos and records suggest that the period experienced a rise in conversions. Yet rather than being the product of Christian harassment, which is entirely absent from the records, conversion may have been one of the few avenues left for marginal Jews to weather the declining economic conditions of the late fourteenth century.     

From cooperation to conflict: The role of collective narratives in shaping group behaviour

In this paper, we review the concept of collective narratives and their role in shaping group behaviour. We see collective narratives as ‘meta-stories’ embraced by groups that incorporate values and beliefs about social reality, therefore providing a blueprint for group norms which, in turn, inform group members' behaviour. Our aim is to both describe the psychological processes underpinning the relation between collective narratives and group behaviours and develop an integrative typology of the functions of collective narratives (as they connect to various collective behaviours). We start by discussing definitions in the recent literature and propose an integrative conceptualisation which positions collective narratives in the context of collective action research. Next, we focus on the process by which collective narratives provide the bases for identity formation, development, and change, thus shaping group behaviour. We see collective narratives as central in understanding group behaviour, as they function as ‘meta-stories’ that incorporate moral codes and values, and beliefs about the ingroups and outgroups—providing a blueprint for group norms which, in turn, inform group members' behaviour. In the second part of the article, we describe a typology of collective narratives according to their functions, structured around two core dimensions: the context/s in which collective narratives develop and are shared (i.e., intragroup vs. intergroup) and their effects within these contexts (i.e., driving consensus vs. driving dissent). We identify four distinctive types of collective narrative functions and review research showing how each of them shapes specific social identity content, including behaviour prescribing norms. We then show how these specific norms shape behaviours ranging from cooperation and pro-social action to hostile intergroup conflict. The implications of this contribution are twofold. First, by providing a systematic account and categorisation of how collective narratives function in society and of their connections to social identities (and their content), we can more accurately deduct group norms and predict behaviours in specific circumstances, including in relation to political violence. Second, by better understanding the narratives that provide the bases of identity formation, development, and change, we can improve attempts to create alternative narratives that unify rather than divide people, so that pathways to co-operation might be chosen over conflict.     

Violence in Ideological and Non‐Ideological Groups: A Quantitative Analysis of Qualitative Data1

Multiple models have been proposed to account for violence among ideological groups. To identify critical variables contributing to violent behavior in these groups, violent ideological groups were compared to relevant comparison groups. A historically based content analysis was conducted to assess these groups with respect to a number of variables examining leader, group, organizational, and environmental attributes held to influence violence. Discriminant analyses revealed that violent ideological groups differed from comparison groups with respect to leader extremism, group righteousness, organizational indoctrination, and environmental conflict and disruption. Regression analyses revealed that these discriminant functions predicted a number of notable violent and ideological criteria. The implications of these findings for understanding the origins of violence in ideological groups are discussed.     

Infant exposure to domestic violence predicts heightened sensitivity to adult verbal conflict

The current study examined whether one‐year‐old infants whose mothers had been victims of domestic violence during the infant's lifetime (exposed; n = 30), compared to those who had not (not exposed; n = 59), would be more likely to experience distress in response to a simulated verbal conflict and whether amount of distress expressed would be influenced by infant temperament. Infants were videotaped during and for five minutes after an experimenter pretended to have a telephone argument. Exposure to domestic violence was related to infant distress following the episode of simulated adult verbal conflict. Temperamental activity, adaptability, and negative mood predicted greater distress only among non‐exposed infants. Findings suggest that while only temperamentally more reactive infants would typically display distress in response to verbal conflict, infants exposed to domestic violence may be likely to display distress in response to verbal conflict regardless of temperament.     

“I Survived”: The Content and Forms of Survival Narratives

Individuals impacted by violent crime are at risk for posttraumatic stress disorder and other comorbid conditions. Screening and early intervention are key to the detection and treatment of these consequences of victimization. A growing literature points to the diagnostic power of narratives; however, little is known about the narratives produced by survivors. This study assessed the content and forms of narratives told by survivors of violent crime. In our sample, narratives of growth and optimism, grief and loss, providence, self-reliance, and justice were common. These narratives also featured common lexical properties. The discussion articulates possible explanations for these findings.     

Palilalia and repetitive speech: two case studies.

Palilalia, a disorder of speech characterized by compulsive repetitions of utterances has been found in various neurological and psychiatric disorders. It has commonly been interpreted as a defect of motor speech. This article describes palilalia and other variants of verbal repetitive behavior, such as monosyllabic iterations and conduite d'approche. The clinical features of palilalia, its prevalence in different language tasks, and the individual patterns of verbal repetitive behavior are illustrated in two patients with a long-standing cerebrovascular disease. An attempt is made to locate the origin of different forms of verbal repetitions in a standard model of speech production (Butterworth, 1980a; Garrett, 1980; Levelt, 1989) by analysis of their morphology and correlation with impairments of lexical or phonological processes. From these observations it is suggested that palilalia results from control malfunctions at the level of the Articulator, whereas other variants of pathological verbal iterations result from an impairment of the Formulator or from malfunctions of both the Articulator and the Formulator.