Understanding violence

Violence creates stress, and the body's response to stress seems to provoke more violence.

So says a new study that identifies an ever-looping cycle of stress and aggression as one reason violence tends to escalate--at least among rats.

Learning to control neurobiological responses to stress, the researchers argue, may be one way to cut down on violence.

So: is the potential for violence a part of our created nature, that which G-d called "good," or is it the result of biology gone haywire?

And how much human violence relates to hermeneutics--that is, the ways in which our perhaps subconscious interpretation of a particular event pumps a certain chemical into our brains and thus increases the likelihood of physical violence?

While I value this sort of study, the more I read about neurobiological research into human behavior, the more clearly I see that someone could make a good living translating the stuff into sensational stories for supermarket tabloids.

.: Posted by Duane Bidwell on Monday, October 11, 2004

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Celebrating the thunder at the heart of the universe, Spondizo explores pastoral theology, spiritual formation, and the vocation of caring for each other and the whole of creation.

The site is written and published by Duane R. Bidwell, Ph.D.

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© 2004-2007 Duane Bidwell. All rights reserved. Photograph courtesy of Charles W. Cushman Photograph Collection, Indiana University Archives (P15776).