My Last thoughts on Violence
Violence is always a tough subject to talk about which is why when entering into this class I had no idea as to how I would react or what I would learn. I knew I had experienced much violence living in Zimbabwe for 6 years of my life but didn’t really think it affected my life here in Canada. I thought most violence in the world only happened in third world countries, and my experiences living in a third world country for the first years of my life only further strengthened my reasons for thinking this. Canada was by far a more peaceful and safe place to live. Before taking this course, I felt that violence was a negative part of the world that often seemed to take place for no reason. No good can ever come to the people surrounded by any kind of violent actions. But I also thought that violence was something that all humans have innately in us or an “evil gene”. Not everyone acts on it however. I knew that there were many violent acts that went on in the world such as gun use, murder, rape and molestation. After being in this class for a few weeks I started to realize that my views on violence were starting to change and I learned that there were many differing areas in which violence occurs.
Since learning about violence this semester I have been increasingly more aware of what takes place in the world around me. The class took part in many discussions and debates about different aspects of violence. One of the most shocking discussions was about a picture of two kids holding toy guns to a crying child’s head. It instantly made me think of the Taliban and how torn the middle Eastern world is, and how children have been forced to become child soldiers, stripped of their innocence. However, it also made me come to the very sad realization that some children are modelling violent behavior because of exposure to images such as this and become desensitized to it at such early ages. One of the other most shocking and interesting things I learned during this course was about the Stanford Prison Experiment. It showed us how easy it is to get caught up in leadership roles, such as those who became the prison guards for example, where it became quite abusive. This abuse can lead to mental or psychological issues down the road.
From the course I have learned how many ways violence affects my life. Before the course I did not realize the extent of violence in my surrounding environment. Makes me think that I am just like those two little kids with the toy gun, also desensitized to the topic. The topic is even prevalent in the simplest lyrics of todays most popular songs and can even be seen in music videos, television shows or movies. As a society we seemed to have become complacent with the idea of violence, almost accepting of some aspects of violent topics within pop culture and the media. This is often because of the over exposure we have had towards violent acts before which makes us less mindful the next time we see those acts. The violence on animals is something that I thought was not as big of an issue as it turns out to be. I knew that many people would hunt for food and survival but the simple act of torturing animals is baffling to me. The most interesting topic for me was learning abut the ways in which serial killers often evolve from torturing and killing animals and then move up to mimicking those actions on humans.
When thinking about reasons for which people are violent I discovered that there is not just one reason but it could be a combination of many reasons. It could be as simple as a defense mechanism in protecting oneself or could stem from learned behavior. Not only can it be a learned behavior but could also occur because of one’s religious views. There are also grey areas when discussing violent actions. The biggest area for this would be with BDSM. While some people believe these are not acts of aggression with what I have learned in class on the topic this certainly falls under the category of violence. It is considered one of the grey areas because both parties are consensual and agreeing on what is appropriate for them. However, these are still violent acts being executed on consenting adults within an environment that is deemed safe.
With all the concepts learned in class I can say that my views on violence have changed while still maintaining my belief that violence can have severe and damaging affects on those being forced to endure it. My views changed because I have seen violence in a new light. It is not a concept that is black and white like I had originally thought; there are many grey areas. I also learned how such violent people can commit such violent crimes and how it evolves from small, violent actions that often turn into bigger, more violent actions that have a major consequence not only for the individual but for society as a whole.
