Violence, Legitimacy, and Social Responses in Times of War and Conflict

Session Submission Type: Complete Thematic Panel

Abstract/Description

This panel explores how war and violent conflict reshape individual behaviors, societal attitudes, and institutional responses to violence. Bringing together cases from Ukraine and the United States, the papers interrogate the conditions under which violence—whether interpersonal, sexual, or state-sanctioned—is legitimized, normalized, or contested. The panel asks: How do individual psychological factors like social withdrawal, alcohol use, and morality shape violent behavior during war? How does war exposure alter public attitudes toward police violence and interpersonal aggression? How is sexual violence strategically deployed as a weapon of war, and what are its lasting psychological and social consequences? By examining violence from the street level (civilian and interpersonal) to the structural (state and military violence), the panel considers the intersections of morality, power, trauma, and legitimacy in shaping responses to violence. Collectively, the papers provide critical insights into how war destabilizes social norms and legal boundaries around violence while raising questions about accountability, survivor support, and policy interventions during and after conflict.

Sub Unit

• Area IX. Comparative & Historical Perspectives:  / 71. Human Rights

Individual Presentations

• Sexual Violence as a Weapon of War in Ukraine: Assessing the Psychological Impacts and Humanitarian Responses - CANCELLED - Zariah Pettus, Sam Houston State University; Laura Iesue, Sam Houston State University; Kathleen Ratajczak, Sam Houston State University; Anastasiia Timmer, California State University, Northridge

• Interpersonal Violence Among Civilians During the War: The Role of Alcohol Consumption and Social Withdrawal - Marii Paliienko, University of Miami; Olena Antonaccio, University of Miami; Ekaterina Botchkovar, Northeastern University; Robert J. Johnson, University of Miami; Anastasiia Timmer, California State University, Northridge

• Legitimizing Police Violence: Assessing the Impact of Systematic Decision-Making and Morality in the U.S. and Ukraine - Jullianne Regalado, Center for Drug and Health Studies, University of Delaware; Jamie Yap, University of Delaware; Anastasiia Timmer, California State University, Northridge; Laura Iesue, Sam Houston State University; Junseong Park, California State University, Northridge

• Through the Lens of War: Attitudes Toward Violence in Contemporary Ukraine - Olena Antonaccio, University of Miami; Anastasiia Timmer, California State University, Northridge; Ekaterina Botchkovar, Northeastern University

Organized by a Division or external group?

Stop Global Violence