CAUSAL MODEL OF CIVIL STRIFE - A COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS USING NEW INDICES (FROM ANGER, VIOLENCE AND POLITICS THEORIES AND RESEARCH, 1972, BY IVO K FEIERABEND ET AL SEE NCJ-63568)

• NCJ Number: 63569
• Author(s): T R GURR
• Date Published: 1972
• Length: 39 pages
• Sponsoring Agency: US Dept of Defense; American University
• Corporate Author: Prentice Hall
• Publication Format: Document
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: REVISED VERSION OF A PAPER READ AT THE 1967 ANNUAL MEETING OF THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE ASSOCIATION, CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, SEPTEMBER 5-9 REPRINTED FROM THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW, V 62 (DECEMBER 1968), P 1104-1124

Annotation

CROSS-SECTIONAL ANALYSES OF DATA FROM 114 COUNTRIES AND COLONIAL ENTITIES WERE USED TO DEFINE AND ASSESS A CAUSAL MODEL OF THE GENERAL CONDITIONS FOR SEVERAL FORMS OF CIVIL VIOLENCE.

Abstract

THE MODEL WAS BASED ON THE PROPOSITION THAT RELATIVE DEPRIVATION IS THE BASIC PSYCHOLOGICAL PRECONDITION FOR VIOLENCE OF ANY KIND AND THAT STRIFE INCREASES AS DEPRIVATION INCREASES IN SCOPE AND INTENSITY. RELATIVE DEPRIVATION WAS DEFINED AS THE PERCEIVED GAP BETWEEN EXPECTED AND ACTUAL MATERIAL GOODS AND LIVING CONDITIONS. VARIABLES ASSUMED TO MEDIATE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISCONTENT AND STRIFE INCLUDED SIZE OF A COERCIVE FORCE, INSTITUTIONALIZATION, PAST LEVELS OF CIVIL STRIFE, SOCIAL AND STRUCTURAL VARIABLES, AND THE LEGITIMACY OF THE REGIME. CIVIL STRIFE CONSIDERED INCLUDED UNSTRUCTURED MASS STRIFE, CONSPIRACY, AND ORGANIZED INTERNAL WAR. STRIFE'S MAGNITUDE WAS SPECIFIED BY ITS PERVASIVENESS, DURATION, AND INTENSITY. RESULTS SUPPORTED THE PROPOSITION THAT STRIFE'S MAGNITUDE VARIED DIRECTLY WITH THE INTENSITY OF RELATIVE DEPRIVATION. MOREOVER, NATIONAL LEVELS OF PERSISTING DEPRIVATION WERE CONSISTENTLY AND DIRECTLY RELATED TO THEIR LEVELS OF STRIFE. DEPRIVATION VARIABLES HAD SIMPLER EFFECTS THAN DID THE ASSUMED MEDIATING VARIABLES, SOME OF WHOSE EFFECTS WERE NEGLIGIBLE. ECONOMIC DISCRIMINATION, POLITICAL SEPARATISM, ECONOMIC DEPENDENCE, AND RELIGIOUS CLEAVAGES ALL TENDED TO CONTRIBUTE AT A MODERATE BUT CONSTANT RATE. THE FINDING THAT, UP TO A POINT, INCREASING THE SIZE OF THE GOVERNMENT'S COERCIVE FORCE ALSO INCREASED THE LEVEL OF VIOLENCE, APPEARED TO SUPPORT THE ADAGE THAT FORCE SOLVES NOTHING. FIGURES, TABLES, FOOTNOTES, AND APPENDIX TABLES AND FOOTNOTES, ARE INCLUDED. FOR THE ENTIRE VOLUME AND FOR RELATED CHAPTERS, SEE NCJ-63568, 63570, AND 63571. (CFW)