Understanding Violence and Its Types

Violence 1
VIOLENCE
By students name
The name of the class (course)
Professor (Tutor)
The name of the school (University)
The city located
The date

Violence 2
Violence
According to my understanding, violence refers to the use of physical force with the
intention of causing harm. The damage caused by violence may be psychological, physical or
both. Violence is a common among human beings since human beings struggle among each
other to maximize their ends. The subject whose violence is directed to may be a person, oneself
or a group of people. There are several consequences of violence which includes death, sickness
or psychological harm (Toch, 2017). When the harm is directed to an individual, it may lead to
suicide or assault to other people. There are various types of violence as discussed in this paper.
According to the WHO, the main types of violence in relation to health include child
mistreatment, youth violence, intimate partner and sexual violence, elder abuse, violence against
children, or health workers, gender-based violence, domestic violence collective violence and
self-directed violence (Ellsberg, Jansen, Heise, Watts& Garcia-Moreno 2008, 1170). Through
my experience at a community refugee clinic, I have witnessed various forms of violence. The
refugees are usually inclined to violence. Thus, in this paper, I’m going to explain my personal
understanding of violence, how I consider myself as an agent of change in relation to violence
and how I would empower fellow colleagues with the knowledge I have on violence.
The types of violence may be classified into two broad categories depending on whether
they are physical, emotional or psychological (Grych & Swan, 2012, 105). Physical violence
involves the actual use of force such as aggravated assault. In this case, the subject is tortured or
coerced by the perpetrator to achieve a certain motive. In the emotional type, the perpetrator may
threaten to use force against the subject. In addition, the threat may not bring direct bodily harm
to the subject. A good example is kidnapping a child which causes emotional torture to the
parent. Lastly, psychological violence includes the imagined violence or violence as a

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consequence of binary opposition between one's beliefs or morals and their desires when they
come into conflict. In most cases, therefore, psychological violence mainly leads to self-directed
crimes such as suicide (Straus, 2017).
Workplace violence refers to any act of threat, intimidation, forceful abuse or violation
of an individual's rights at the workplace. Incidents of workplace violence range from verbal
insults, blackmail, sexual harassment, neglect or even physical assault. There are some factors
that may increase the likelihood of violence in the workplace. These are termed as risk factors of
workplace violence. To begin with, the risk of violence is generally greater for people who work
at night than those who work during the day. In addition, some of the other factors that may
increase workplace-related violence include working alone as compared to working in groups,
service delivery to the public, handling supervisory duties, service delivery to emotionally
unstable people, presence of alcohol and drugs at the workplace and working during certain
periods that are characterised with change such as political transitions or revolution (Witt, Van
Dorn & Fazel, 2013, 55942).
There are various measures that organizations can assume to reduce workplace related
violence. These include the formulation of policies and laws that limit the risks of violence or
harassment. Atreya, Nepal, and Kanchan, 2016 argues that organizations also need to educate
workers on their rights and general self-awareness including what they can do and so to prevent
violence or to report cases of violence. In addition, organizations should develop communication
to prevent cases of violence as well as forming a strict code of conduct that does not tolerate
violence. Lastly, cultural awareness is necessary among workers which include a general
understanding of the need to appreciate personal differences. Some of the factors that may limit
the effectiveness of these measures include a lack of compliance to norms, rules, and code of