Normal Violence: The Case of Fighting on a College Campus

Researchers have proposed a number of theories to explain how violence becomes normalized and thereby increases the incidence of violent acts. This study explores these theories using the case of interpersonal violence on the campus of a large, Mid-Atlantic university. During the 2012-2013 academic school year, undergraduate participant observers witnessed 150 altercations, and gave detailed descriptions of when and where each altercation occurred, who was involved in them, and what consequences resulted. They also described their thoughts and feelings as they witnessed the physical altercation. Some witnesses reported experiencing fear, distress and sorrow, others experienced no adverse cognitions or emotions, while still others felt amused or entertained. Using bivariate and multivariate analyses, we examined several variables that may explain why the witnesses' psychological reactions varied. These included the gender and age of the witnesses, the extent of physical injury to the fighters, as well as several situational variables such as the time and place of the altercation and the social composition of the bystanders. The study showed that psychological reactions to college fighting were explained by individual, trait-based differences between the witnesses, as well as by variation in the specific situations where the altercations occurred. Drawing on dispositional and situational perspectives, a theory of normal violence is proposed.

Name thesis:degree_name

MA

Level thesis:degree_level

Thesis

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Sociology and Anthropology

Year dc:date.available

2014

Author dc:creator

• Boyd, Brent

Contributors dc:contributor

• Joshua M. Woods
• Rachel E. Stein
• Jesse S. Wozniak

• Sociology
• Criminology

Identifier

https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/365

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:researchrepository.wvu.edu:etd-1368