Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes [Hardcover]

James Gilligan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 2, 1996 | ISBN-10: 0399139796 | ISBN-13: 978-0399139796

An eye-opening, revisionist analysis of the social and psychological roots of violence argues that violence should be approached as a problem in public health and preventative medicine, rather than one of biological or moral origins, and that shame is the common denominator that links violent perpetrators.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

"Violence reveals the tragic flaw of civilization," says the director of the Center for the Study of Violence at the Harvard Medical School in this important work. He advances the thesis that violence is a problem in public health and social psychiatry; it is not caused by so-called evil people but by individuals who have suffered what he terms "the death of the self" as the result of shame and humiliation, whether economically, socially or psychically induced. Rejecting notions that violence is instinctual, hereditary or caused by drugs and alcohol, he argues that socially determined gender roles, a result of our patriarchal society, play a major part in its genesis. As the former director of a maximum-security hospital for the criminally insane, Gilligan excoriates our present prison system, calling it "the crime of punishment" because it only increases the shame and humiliation of those incarcerated, thus insuring their recidivism when they are released. This work could provoke a rethinking of our attitudes toward violence in our society. First serial to Atlantic Monthly.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews

Gilligan (Center for the Study of Violence/Harvard Medical School) zeroes in on the pitch-black emptiness within America's murderers before inexplicably letting his target move out of focus. To stem the contagion of violence, Gilligan believes, America needs to understand both its root causes and the social pathogens that spread it. He points to civilization's patriarchal structure, which entails a code of honor that imposes a crippling burden of shame. When the author confines himself to the murderers he met in the ``underworld,'' or maximum-security prisons (he served as head of mental-health services for the Massachusetts prison system), Gilligan's theories gain strength. For instance, he notes that, despite more shelters for battered women, the proportion of domestic-violence deaths has doubled, because their murderers ``are precisely the men who experience a life-death dependency on their wives and an overwhelming shame because of it.'' He castigates the death penalty not just as cruel but as ineffective, since it feeds a killer's desire for punishment. Moreover, one of his prescriptions--eliminating the illiteracy that fosters many criminals' sense of shame--is practical. However, the effects of Gilligan's subtle studies of killers are lost when he applies his lessons on a broader scale to an America that he says imposes ``structural violence'' on the disadvantaged. Gilligan's call to reform America's socioeconomic structure is less a prescription than a fantasy, and he downplays the fact that most of the lower class never becomes part of the criminal class. This critique has more than a share of the politically correct, as when the author notes that no other nation or culture ``has inflicted more collective violence on its victims than white (or European) Americans have inflicted on both native Americans and African- Americans over the past five centuries.'' A deeply compassionate survey of America's contemporary Desolation Row--but more than one reader will be wishing for a little more tough love. (First serial to Atlantic Monthly) -- Copyright ©1996, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 306 pages
• Publisher: Putnam Adult (April 2, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0399139796
• ISBN-13: 978-0399139796
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #304,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-read for anyone concerned with violence in America, May 29, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes (Hardcover)

At a time when dialog on this subject is dominated by
unscrupulous politicians appealing to ignorance and
vengeance, this book provides a thoughtful study of why
men (and it usually is men) commit unspeakable crimes.

The book is based on Dr. Gilligan's years of work with
violent men in maximum security prisons. It goes far
beyond clinical study of deviant individuals to show
parallels between criminal behavior and society's responses
to crime.

It turns to Greek tragedy, classic literature, and
mythology, as well as psychiatry, for understanding.
It shows how similar societal forces lay behind Hitler's
rise to power. It asks, and provides answers to, the
fundamental question: Why is violence far more widespread
in America than in any other Western democracy?

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An incredibly important study, February 26, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes (Hardcover)

Dr. Gilligan's years of psychiatric work with America's most violent males brought him to ask why America is the most violent, and yet most penal, industrialized country on Earth. The possibilities for an answer seem to surprise even him. Writing with clarity and incredible compassion, Gilligan examines mythology, ritual and the role of shame in the mechanics of violence in American society. His case for treating violence as an issue of health rather than morals is sure to be unpopular with America's prison czars and those scientists looking diligently and expensively for the "violence gene." "Violence..." is gripping, painful, disturbing, and, through Gilligans' clear suggestions for combatting this deadly outbreak, hopeful

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant writing from experience, April 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Violence: Our Deadly Epidemic and Its Causes (Hardcover)

I have only read the first half of this book. Mr. Gilliam is 'right on' with his analysis of violent crime and life today...and why the prisons are filling up as they are. He is so ingenius as to spell out how prevention is so attainable, yet going totally ignored by our systems, both moral and judicial today. That is the sad part.

I was in prison, and know what he is talking about is very true.......now I am a youth violence researcher and Hispanic Gang Alternative Educational Specialist. His work has tied together many loose ends for my theories.

Each page is fascinating and interwoven with factual stories.........makes it very good reading.

Del Hendrixson Dallas, Tx