Cascades of State Violence: Examining Lasting Consequences in Chile (1973–2023)

• In Event: State Crime and Its Harms

Abstract

Mainstream criminology often defines violence primarily as interpersonal, intentional, and mostly manifested in physical aggression. As a result, we know less about state violence. This paper challenges this de-stated approach by examining how past state violence can set in motion “cascades of violence” (Braithwaite, 2020). I operationalize cascades of state violence as a historical process in which past state violence contributes to contemporary state violence, as well as interpersonal and political violence, spreading across space. Using quantitative data from Chile spanning 1973 to 2023, a period covering two major human rights crises, I employ 2SLS and spatial lag models to investigate how exposure to historical state violence influences levels of contemporary state, political, and interpersonal violence at the county level. The findings highlight the importance of bringing back the criminogenic potential of state violence and its role in understanding the etiology and distribution of violence.

Author

• Daniel Fredes García, University of Maryland