The Complexity of Violence

In my opinion, the two definitions of violence brought forward in class were both unsatisfying. The maximal definition only looked at the brutish, harsh view of violence and the minimal definition did not consider implied and discursive violence. This just speaks to the complexity of violence and the difficulty in accurately defining what violence truly is.  

We often talk about violence in sport and whether it can be justified. As mentioned in class and as discussed in Tracy Trothen’s (2009) article on violence in Canadian hockey, the ubiquity of violence in sport has resulted in its normalization. There is a tendency for people to think of violence in binary terms such as right or wrong. When discussing violence and sport, the focus is primarily on the perpetrator and the victim. For example, the recent widely discussed hospitalization of Max Pacioretty (the victim) after experiencing a violent hit from Zdeno Chara (the perpetrator) focused entirely on whether Chara should be suspended and how violence in hockey can affect youth. Rather than looking at violence under binary terms, I believe the theory of violence on a continuum (Falk, 2002) more accurately takes into account its intricacies. Violence can be seen as utility, risk management, and significant.

While continuing with the topic of violence in sport, I want to focus on the individual athlete and the violence they inflict on their bodies. Physically, athletes prepare for competition by working out at the gym and practicing technical skills. This physical preparation is an example of violence individuals willingly carry out on themselves. The underlying theory of exercise is the principle of overload – when an individual applies a greater than normal stress load on their bodies, training adaptation takes place and the body is stronger as a result. This type of violence can lie anywhere on the continuum of violence as utility (since the body is being made stronger for a useful purpose) and also as risk management (preventing physical injuries). The violence athletes inflict on themselves also have great significance to audiences. People who do not put themselves through physical training understand the importance of preparing the body for competition and see the importance for conditioning in sport.

Seeing violence under a continuum of utility, risk management, and significance not only takes into account the audience, but also understands the construct as more than just a binary. Defining violence is a difficult task since it is such a complex and our understanding of violence is constantly changing.