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P8758  Advanced seminar on theory and research on interpersonal violence

For doctoral students only. Interpersonal violence is a recurring political and social problem that has commanded scientific and cultural interest. Societal and scientific concerns about violence tend to mirror the emergence and decline of social problems such as family violence, sexual violence, ''street'' crimes, gang violence, homicide, and state violence. In the United States, explanations of violence have implicated culture, political economy, social inequality or social class, race, firearms, hormones or genes, mental illness, alcohol and drugs, and technology. Efforts to estimate the costs of violence or predict its occurrence have raised critical questions about how we define, measure, and explain it. Despite nearly fifty years of scientific study, our knowledge of violence is incomplete, as is our ability to prevent or control it. The goal is to train students in the definitions, patterns, and explanations of interpersonal violence, and on contemporary methods of violence research. Literature on the epidemiology of violence, research methods, comparative studies, and several levels of explanation and theory are surveyed. Readings are drawn from the several disciplines concerned with violence prevention and control. Students become conversant with the contemporary issues in theory and research on violence, and apply their knowledge in developing a scholarly analysis of a topic in violence.

3 points