top of page

What Causes Human Violence?

Veronika Rivero

Human beings engage in violence within their own species more than any other organism within the Animal Kingdom. Crime has plagued human beings since the beginning of civilization. Whether you have a John Locke or Thomas Hobbes’ perspective on violence, the truth is that it exists.

Studies have shown that highly social and territorial animals, such as primates, are more likely to kill within their own species. Humans kill within their own species six times more than the average primate does. What causes this?

The one outstanding variable that separates humans from all other animals is conscious awareness. Studies have shown that many animals are in fact conscious. However, they do not have the abilities of advanced language, imagination, abstract reasoning, and self analysis. This would suggest that violence stems from conscious awareness, and not from humans. Which leads us back to our initial question: why? Why did such a complex species develop such a detrimental, yet common violent component?

New research suggests that humans may have a predisposition to violence through genetic makeup. According to evolutionary biologist Mark Pagel, “Humans emerged from a very long lineage of species - great apes and before them the primates - that all expressed relatively high levels of lethal violence. When you immerse an animal in a particular environment, it evolves


genetic-based strategies for dealing with that environment. There is good reason to believe this reflects a real genetic or innate tendency to solve problems with violence.” This research proves humans may have developed the violence as a form of problem solving. The classic Rousseau-esque counter argument is that the emergence of society has influenced—or perhaps even caused—human violence. However, this ideology has been entirely refuted by modern research. Research suggests that lethal violence within humans was significantly higher in prehistoric time periods. Therefore, modern society is not to blame.

Research shows that violence may be more of a deep-rooted human quality than we previously thought. However, environmental factors can be one of the greatest aspects to determine if a human is violent. The way a child grows up, family life, and exposure to violent situations can have a large impact on whether someone is violent in the future. Moreover, certain mental illnesses an


d brain damage can alter someone’s brain chemistry as well; prime examples of this are Jeffrey Dahmer and Albert Fish. Both serial killers suffered traumatic brain injuries as children that changed their brain chemistry after that point.



Sources:





Image Source:




Comments

bottom of page