Physical violence against subordinates is routine and institutionally shaped, not uncontrolled rage

Evidence

Far from being the uncontrolled eruption of extreme animosity, physical violence is a routine component of social inequality that finds form within the constraints and opportunities presented by key intergroup institutions. For example, in gender relations, the institution of the family provides a private niche in which individual males may indulge in moments of physical violence to reassert their dominance with little fear of outside sanction, despite strongly stated societal norms that forbid violence against women and a general lack of antipathy toward women ( Jackman, 1999, 2001). — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 678 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Far from being the uncontrolled eruption of extreme animosity, physical violence is a routine component of social inequality that finds form within the constraints and opportunities presented by key intergroup institutions. For example, in gender relations, the institution of the family provides a private niche in which individual males may indulge in moments of physical violence to reassert their dominance with little fear of outside sanction, despite strongly stated societal norms that forbid violence against women and a general lack of antipathy toward women ( Jackman, 1999, 2001). — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 678 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Other researchers have demonstrated that, contrary to Allport’s argument, violence does not require a history of animosity at either the group or individual level. Weingast (1997) has shown that social groups can become poised for armed conflict, even when they have a history of good relations and a preference for peace, if political institutions fail to safeguard each group’s interests and mutual trust is undermined. At the individual level, experimental research has shown that organizational factors alone transform ordinary people with no personal pathologies or prior hostility into demons who torture and punish their victims for minor infractions or for no reason at all (e.g., Milgram, 1974; Zimbardo, 2004). … Such organizational factors include instructions that permit or legitimize the use of violence, a chain of command that relieves perpetrators of responsibility for their acts, the assignment of anonymous identities to perpetrators, and granting pervasive powers to perpetrators without threat of retaliation or sanctions. — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 655 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Physical assault is a routine condition of street-level work, not an anomaly — Michael Lipsky, Street-Level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of…, 267; Violent collective action is a normal tactical channel, not aberrant behavior; Coldly instrumental violence needs no emotional distress to occur. (+4 more)

Broader Connections

• Physical violence is a routine structural tool of inequality, not uncontrolled animosity #corroborates (0.98) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 678
• Intergroup violence is routine institutional control, not uncontrolled hostility #corroborates (0.96) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 678
• The form of violence reflects institutional structure, not underlying hostility. #expands (0.95) — , Rudman, Laurie A - On the Nature of…, 655