Does Sensitivity to Perceive Conflicts as Violence Vary Cross-Nationally?

• In Event: International Self-Report Delinquency (ISRD) Project: New Substantive and Methodological Insights

Abstract

Social theory, as postulated by Durkheim, predicts that people’s sensitivity to perceive conflicts as violence varies as a function of social, cultural, and crime-related variables. Prior research conducted in Western nations indicates that violence-perception thresholds vary by socioeconomic factors. Sensitivity to see conflicts as violence has also increased over the recent decades. We lack broader cross-national comparative research on violence perception, however. To remedy this, the fourth sweep of the International Self-Report Delinquency Study (ISRD) incorporated questions probing violence perception. In this paper, we draw on ISRD-4 data to take a first look at if (and how) violence perception varies across research sites. The patterns are discussed from the point of view of Durkheimian sensitivity theory.

Authors

• Matti Näsi, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki

• Janne Kivivuori, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki

• Maiju Tanskanen, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki

• Karoliina Suonpää, Institute of Criminology and Legal Policy, University of Helsinki