Trenholm (2008) stated, “cultures …. are learned” (p. 343); and because of this expectations of how to perform our culture are imposed on our worldview from the beginning of life. While I agree we are “products of our cultures” (p. 343), committing to the practice of our learning and subscribing to the ideologies of our systems (primarily family), I believe, as Carol inquired in our prompts, we can (italicized emphasis) “break though the limits of our cultures.”
In the professional work I produce with violence education and prevention curriculums, my colleagues and I train students to understand violence is a learned behavior and it can be unlearned. Because violence is ubiquitous - present in song lyrics, video games, and the places we feel most safe – cycles of violence cultivate and suffocate our experiences.
In a study conducted at Wake Forest University (2000), researchers found a correlation between “exposure to violence and the use of violence …. illustrating that violence is a learned behavior ” (¶ 1) evolved, primarily, from social learning (e.g., seeing someone be physically abused as opposed to seeing someone use a gun). Because violence, especially intimate partner/person violence, is a pattern (italicized emphasis) of behaviors intended to exert power and control over another person, it is possible to unlearn the violence and manage new practices of nonviolence and conflict resolution.
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ReplyDeleteYour post stood out to me because the court systems tend to rationalize violence as an individual criminal behavior. When you are convicted of a violent crime it is assumed there is something morally wrong with you or that you are someone who is criminally inclined. It is always based on the individual's psychology or demeanor, and not on how they may have been predisposed to violence through the media or our culture. There are several sources to learn violence in our culture, yet the blame for acting out violently is always placed on the individual. I think it would do a lot of good if the justice systems looked at group behavior of a culture rather than just an individual outside of shared learned behaviors.
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