Some Social Functions of Violence

Abstract

American social science has traditionally been somewhat remiss in examining social conflict and social violence because of its excessive commitment to models of social har mony ; this has resulted in a tame view of social structures. This paper proposes to redress the balance somewhat by dis cussing three social functions of violence: violence as a form of achievement, violence as a danger signal, and violence as a catalyst. A plea is made that the study of social violence be given greater emphasis in further research.