Violence in Societies

Violence in societies is by no means a new problem. Since the beginning of civilization, violence has played a role in societies. Many different factors can attribute to this, which makes it a global problem. For the United States, the problem of violence can be blamed on many issues. One of the early factors was during the immigration boom there was an overabundance of young males.

It is been noted in research that societies who are plagued with violence are normally full of young males full of testosterone and are not controlled by family life. Until the twentieth century the U.S. population was unequal between the males and females and because of this many men never married. A family life can have a calming effect on males and is why they coined the term settling down when getting married.

During the pioneer frontier days, this worsened because the culture was really wrapped up in racism and a preoccupation with honor. To keep busy some ethnic groups were known to frequent saloons and gambling halls. Trivial arguments broke out and to ensure one kept their honor it led to fights that many times became violent in nature. To make matters worse there really was a lack of law enforcement, which would allow crimes to go unpunished. This began to change in the mid-twentieth century and the balance between male and female became narrower.

There was an increase in violence around the 1960's and 70's which is said to be caused by males avoiding marriage or getting divorces. In statistical figures in 1960, the average American spent 62% of life with a spouse and children. By 1980, this number had dwindled down to an all time low of 43%. This would leave many children unsupervised and lacking social skills needed to make it in life.

In order to gain acceptance many kids joined street gangs to replace what was missing at home. This contributed to the boom of street gangs like the Bloods and Crips that turned the inner cities into a modern frontier community. Many children also would turn to watching television or playing video games for hours on end.