A Systems-Based Analysis of Human Violence

As much as we try to live without violence, it remains embedded in our lives. Every day on the television, we see the destruction caused by our violence. Explanations of the causes of violence have typically been biological, psychological, or social, each revealing part of the story. This paper uses the author’s Dynamics of Life model to demonstrate underlying dynamical tensions that enable life processes that manifest in different ways at each of the three levels. The levels then interact with each other.

We analyse the tensions to reveal how abuse and violence arise in human behaviour. The biological level is based around the body and how it is used to change situations. The psychological is about learning to regulate emotion and improve thinking patterns. The first part of the social level looks at two-people dynamics before exploring societal patterns and how structural violence arises. A list of strategies to help reduce levels of abuse and violence follows, and the paper ends with a summary and conclusion.