violence in the community
Increases in Violence among the Tahitians
Like most of the other societies described in this website, the designation of the Tahitians as “peaceful” rests on careful analysis by a qualified anthropologist. Robert Levy convincingly provided detailed analyses of conditions on the ground in a particular time and place—the Society Islands in the 1960s. But how have social and cultural conditions changed […]
Overcoming Memories of Violence [journal article review]
The Zapotec living in the mountains north of Oaxaca City had a violent history in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a subject that a recent journal article carefully explores. Patrick J. McNamara writes an essay about the local people fighting against the outside forces of industrial owners, whose practices threatened the lives of […]
Inuit Men Helping Each Other
Piita Irniq argues that the best way to overcome a tendency toward violence in young Inuit males is for other men to help them reconnect with their cultural history. As an example, he told Sarah Rogers, a reporter for Nunatsiaq Online last week, “I’d like to see men making small qamutiit [sleds] for babies and […]
Piaroa Women Protest Violence
Piaroa women, and their colleagues in surrounding communities, are becoming increasingly concerned about the violence that illegal miners and armed rebel gangs bring into their territories. The Organización de Mujeres Indígenas de Autana(OMIDA), a group based in the Amazonas State of Venezuela and composed primarily of Piaroa women, though with the support of females from […]
Domestic Violence among the Tahitians
A Tahitian news source reported last week that two different men had assaulted two different women, one in Papeete and the other on the normally more peaceful island of Huahine. Both women filed complaints with the police. The details serve to challenge the idea that the Tahitians are still able to maintain a peaceful society, […]
Violence in a Yanadi Community
Changes occur in all societies, and while many of the peaceful peoples have been able to retain some—or most—of their nonviolent values and practices, very few of them remain static. One of the purposes of these weekly news columns is to trace the changes that do occur, even if events are sometimes less than “peaceful.” […]
Reports of Violence in Thai High Schools [journal article review]
A recent journal article reports that, due to sweeping social changes, high school students in Thailand witness nearly as much violence as young people in the United States. The study, by Penchan Sherer and Moshe Sherer, was published in the May 2014 issue of the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. The authors […]
Raging Violence, Nubians Versus Arabs
Over a week ago, conflicts between rival Arab and Nubian clans in Aswan, in southern Egypt, escalated into street violence that claimed 26 dead and over 50 injured. Accounts in the Egyptian and international media differ as to who or what caused the violence. The story, as told by the Egyptian government on Saturday the […]
Nubians Have Conflicts
A brief incident of violence broke out among the normally peaceful Nubians at the end of last week, but the major injury was to the tourist trade image of southern Egypt. Since the incident affected over 600 tourists, it generated some news coverage. Details are a bit sketchy from the different accounts, but apparently a […]
Tragedy in Tsumkwe
The news report from Tsumkwe last week was stark. Two men, one 25 and the other 29, argued over a woman, both claiming her. Both were under the influence of alcohol. The younger man pulled out a poisoned arrow, fit it to the bow he was carrying, and shot the older man directly in the […]
