A Change of Perspective: Integrating Evolutionary Psychology into the Historiography of Violence (original) (raw)

The Limits of Culture? Society, Evolutionary Psychology and the History of Violence

Cultural and Social History 4, no. 1 2007: 95-114 (+Responses), 2007

Recent debates about the meaning and role of cultural history have focused on the relationship between 'culture' and 'society'. Some have taken this opportunity to position cultural history as a site of resistance to 'biological' explanations of human behaviour. In contrast, this article argues that 'biological' methodologies -particularly the perspectives of evolutionary psychology -can usefully contribute to the historical understanding of culture and social development. To this end, it outlines the fundamentals of Darwinist psychology, suggests options for interdisciplinary cooperation and uses the topic of interpersonal violence to explore the potential for uniting cultural, social and evolutionary psychological methodologies.

The Evolutionary Psychology of Violence

This paper reviews theory and research on the evolutionary psychology of violence. First, I examine evidence suggesting that humans have experienced an evolutionary history of violence. Next, I discuss violence as a context-sensitive strategy that might have provided benefits to our ancestors under certain circumstances. I then focus on the two most common forms of violence that plague humans —violence over status contests and intimate partner violence— outlining psychological mechanisms involved in each. Finally, I suggest that greater progress will be made by shifting the study from contexts to mechanisms.

Expanding Evolutionary Psychology: toward a Better Understanding of Violence and Aggression

Social Science Information, 2003

The “mainstream” evolutionary psychology model is currently under criticism from scientists of other persuasions wanting to expand the model or to make it more realistic in various ways. We argue that focusing on the environment as if it consisted only of social (or sociocultural) factors gives too limited a perspective if evolutionary approaches are to understand the behavior of modern humans. Taking the case of violence, we argue that numerous novel environmental factors of nutritional and physical-chemical origin should be considered as relevant proximate factors. The common thesis presented here is that several aspects of the biotic or abiotic environment are able to change brain chemistry, thus predisposing individuals to violence and aggression in given contexts. In the past, aggressive behavior has had a number of useful functions that were of particular importance to our ancestors' survival and reproduction. However, some of the conditions in our novel environment, which...

Future agendas for research on violent crime: The challenge to history from evolutionary psychology

Crime, Histoire & Sociétés/Crime, History and Societies , 2017

This is a short contribution to the forthcoming twentieth-anniversary special issue of _Crime, Histoire & Sociétés / Crime, History and Societies_, 2017, on future agendas for research on the history of crime and criminal justice. It argues that historians of violence should take into account -- and attempt to learn from -- evolutionary psychological approaches to this topic. In particular, the essay points to sex differences in violence as an area where such an approach could be useful.

Why can't we all just get along? Evolutionary perspectives on violence, homicide, and war

2012

We review and discuss the evolutionary psychological literature on violence, homicide, and war in humans and non-humans, and in doing so argue that an evolutionary perspective can substantially enhance our understanding of these behaviors. We provide a brief primer on evolutionary psychology, describing the basic tenets of the field. The theories of sexual selection and parental investment are explained and subsequently used to highlight the evolutionary logic underlying the use of violence by humans and other animals. Our examination of violent behavior begins with a focus on non-human animals, reviewing the different contexts in which violence occurs and discussing how an evolutionary perspective can explain why it occurs in these contexts. We then examine violence in humans and illustrate the similarities and differences between human and non-human violence. Finally, we summarize what an evolutionary perspective can offer in terms of understanding violence, homicide, and war, and...

Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War

The Oxford Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Violence, Homicide, and War, 2012

We review and discuss the evolutionary psychological literature on violence, homicide, and war in humans and nonhumans, and in doing so we argue that an evolutionary perspective can substantially enhance our understanding of these behaviors. We provide a brief primer on evolutionary psychology, describing basic tenets of the field. The theories of sexual selection and parental investment are explained and subsequently used to highlight the evolutionary logic underlying the use of violence by humans and other animals. Our ...

Human aggression in evolutionary psychological perspective

Clinical Psychology Review, 1997

This article proposes an evolutionary psychological account of human aggression. The psychological mechanisms underlying aggression are hypothesized to he context-sensitive solutions to particular adaptive problems of social living. Seven adaptive problems are prqbosed for which aggression might have evolved as a solution -co-opting the resources of others, defending against attack, inflicting costs on same-sex rivals, negotiating status and power hierarchies, deterring rivals from future aggression, deterring mates from sexual infidelity, and reducing resources expended on genetically unrelated children. We outline several of the con texts in which humans confront these adaptive problems and the evolutionary logic of why men are cross-culturally more violently aggressive than women in particular contexts. The article con eludes with a limited review of the empirical evidence surrounding each of the seven hypothesized functions of aggression and discusses the status and limitations of the current evolutionary psychological account. 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd ANCIENT HOMINID skeletal remains have been discovered that contain cranial and rib fractures that appear inexplicable except by the force of clubs and weapons that stab (Trinkaus & Zimmerman, 1982). Fragments from the weapons are occasionally found lodged in skeletal rib cages. As paleontological detective work has become increasingly sophisticated, evidence of violence among our ancestors has mush-

How old is human brutality? On the structural origins of violence.

Common Knowledge 22 (1): 81-104, 2016

To understand in any depth contemporary instances of human brutality, it is necessary to explore the long-term historical dynamics of the human relationship with violence. Given the paucity of evidence, much of the scholarship remains sharply divided over the question, How old is human violence? Despite disagreements, where some scholars regard humans as intrinsically violent and others emphasize their nonviolent characteristics, there is a pronounced tendency to rely, from both of these perspectives, on a simple naturalist epistemology. What is needed, at this stage of the controversy, is an alternative interpretation focusing on the structural foundations of violent action. If, instead of tracing violent (or nonviolent) behavior to "human nature," we assume that the origins of violence are linked to the rise and proliferation of complex social organizations, we may come to more far-reaching and significant conclusions.