Sociological Work on Violence: Gender, Theory and Research

The suffering caused by violence is senseless, persistent and demoralizing(Gordimer, 2003). For perpetrators there is the hollowness of holding power overothers, a power that illustrates the fragility of their situation (Card, 2002;Mason, 2002). Yet despite the obvious relevance to sociology, violence ineveryday and intimate practices has not been a central concern for sociologicaltheory (Hearn, 1998; Ray, 2000). This may reflect the ‘taken for grantedness ofviolence’, the hierarchical and gendered nature of sociological work, especiallyon theory, combined with an earlier marginalization of gender, ethnicity andage. In this paper I draw upon the work of Midgley (2003) and her definition of‘myths’ to offer an over-arching analysis of the images and ideas that surroundand imbue sociological work on violence. Highlighting the barriers evident in,and recreated through, the sociological analysis of violence, the paper exploresthe challenges for sociology. A review of the tendency to atomistic approachesin sociological analysis and explanation reaffirms the need for theoreticalpluralism in social sciences on the topic of violence (Eagleton, 2003).