essay about the causes of violence

Essays About Violence: Top 5 Examples and 7 Prompts

Violence is a broad topic and can be sensitive for many; read our guide for help writing essays about violence.

The world has grown considerably more chaotic in recent decades, and with chaos comes violence. We have heard countless stories of police brutality, mass shootings, and injustices carried out by governments; these repeating occurrences show that the world is only becoming more violent.

Violence refers to the use of physical force so as to injure, abuse, damage, or destroy . From punching a friend due to disagreement to a massacre of innocent civilians, a broad range of actions can be considered violent. Many say that violence is intrinsic to humanity, but others promote peace and believe that we must do better to improve society.

If you are writing essays about violence, go over the essay example, and writing prompts featured below. 

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1. Videogames, Violence, and Vulgarity by Jared Lovins

2. street culture, schools, and the risk of youth violence by lorine hughes, ekaterina botchkovar, olena antonaccio, and anastasiia timmer, 3. violence in media: no problem or promotes violence in society by albert miles, 4. my experience of domestic violence by ruth stewart, 5. a few thoughts about violence by jason schmidt, writing prompts on essays about violence, 1. what is violence, 2. different types of violence, 3. can social media cause people to be violent, 4. is violence truly intrinsic to humankind, 5. causes of violence, 6. violence among the youth, 7. race-based violence.

“Parents allow themselves to be ignorant of the video games their children are playing. Players allow themselves to act recklessly when they believe that playing video games for ten, twenty, or even thirty hours on end won’t have an adverse effect on their mental and physical health. People allow themselves to act foolishly by blaming video games for much of the violence in the world when in truth they should be blaming themselves.”

Lovins discusses the widespread belief that video games cause violence and ” corrupt our society.” There is conflicting evidence on this issue; some studies prove this statement, while others show that playing violent video games may produce a calming effect. Lovins concludes that it is not the games themselves that make people violent; instead, some people’s mental health issues allow the games to inspire them to commit violence.

“The risk of violence was not higher (or lower) in schools with more pervasive street culture values. Higher concentrations of street culture values within schools did not increase the likelihood of violence above and beyond the effects of the street culture values of individual students. Our results also showed that attending schools with more pervasive street culture values did not magnify the risk of violence among individual students who had internalized these same values.”

In this essay, the authors discuss the results of their study regarding “street culture” and violence. Street culture promotes toughness and dominance by using “physical force and aggression,” so one would think that students who embrace street culture would be more violent; however, the research reveals that there is no higher risk of violent behavior in schools with more “street culture”-following students. 

“We have had a violent society before media was even around, and violence is just in our nature as human beings. Those who happen to stand against this are deceived by society, due to the fact that we live in a dangerous world, which will stay this way due to the inability to create proper reasoning.”

Miles writes about people blaming the media for violence in society. He believes that government media regulations, including age-based ratings, are sufficient. If these restrictions and guidelines are taken seriously, there should be no problem with violence. Miles also states that violence has existed as long as humankind has, so it is unreasonable to blame the media. 

“It was when I was in the bath, and I looked down at my body and there were no bruises on it. None at all. I was shocked; it was the first time I had lived in a non-bruised body in many years. I don’t know if any other women who got out of violent situations felt their moment. The point at which they realised it was over, they could now get on with recovering. I promised myself that I would never stay with a violent partner ever, ever again. I have kept that promise to myself.”

Stewart reflects on her time with an ex-boyfriend who was violent towards her. Even though he kept hitting her, she stayed because she was used to it; her mother and stepfather were both violent during her childhood. Thankfully, she decided to leave and freed herself from the torture. She promises never to get into a similar situation and gives tips on avoiding staying with a violent partner. 

“I went back and replayed the burglar scenario in my head. Suppose I’d had a gun. When would I have pulled it? When he ran out of the apartment? What were the chances I would have killed him in a panic, without ever knowing he was armed? Stupidly high. And for what? Because he tried to steal someone’s TV? No.”

In his essay, Schmidt recalls an instance in which a man pulled a gun on him, threatening him with violence. He chased a burglar down the street, but the burglar pulled a gun on him, leaving him stunned and confused enough to escape. Schmidt was so bothered by the incident that he got his own concealed carry permit; however, after reading statistics regarding gun accidents, he decided to reject violence outright and pursue peace. 

As stated previously, violence is quite a broad topic, so it can be challenging to understand fully. Define the word violence and briefly overview some of its probable causes, how it manifests itself, and its effects. You can also include statistics related to violence and your own opinions on if violence is a good or bad thing. 

There are many types of violence, such as domestic violence, gun violence, and war. List down the commonly occurring forms of violence and explain each of them briefly. How are they connected, if they are? To keep your essay exciting and readable, do not go too in-depth; you can reserve a more detailed discussion for future essays that are specifically about one type of violence.  

Social media is quite explicit and can show viewers almost anything, including violent content. Some sample essays above discuss the media’s effect on violence; based on this, is social media any different? Research this connection, if it exists, and decide whether social media can cause violence. Can social media-based pressure lead to violence? Answer this question in your essay citing data and interview research.

Many argue that humans are innately violent, and each of us has an “inner beast.” In your essay, discuss what makes people violent and whether you believe we have tendencies towards violence. Be sure to support your points with ample evidence; there are many sources you can find online. 

Violence arises from many common problems, whether it be depression, poverty, or greed. Discuss one or more causes of violence and how they are interconnected. Explain how these factors arise and how they manifest violence. With an understanding of the causes of violence, your essay can also propose solutions to help prevent future violence.

Youth violence is becoming a more severe problem. News of school shootings in the U.S. has set public discourse aflame, saying that more should be done to prevent them. For your essay, give a background of youth violence in the U.S. and focus on school shootings. What motivates these school shooters?  Give examples of children whose upbringing led them to commit violent acts in the future

Another issue in the U.S. today is race-based violence, most notably police brutality against African-Americans. Is there a race issue in policing in America? Or do they target offenders regardless of race? Can both be true at the same time? You decide, and make sure to explain your argument in detail. 

If you’d like to learn more, in this guide our writer explains how to write an argumentative essay .Grammarly is one of our top grammar checkers. Find out why in this Grammarly review .

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Violence Essay | Essay on Violence for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Violence Essay: Violence is the intentional use of physical force or power, vulnerable or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a gaggle or community, that either ends up in or incorporates a high chance of leading to injury, death, psychological hurt, and deprivation.

Violence is much more than it means to initiate the harm or exert cynicism to someone, whether verbally, physically, emotionally, sexually, psychologically, spiritually, culturally, and financially or neglect. Violence has been expressly known as a big public ill-health. Violence comes in several forms, and to only outline it as being a physical factor is presenting or forming a haul in our society nowadays.

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Long and Short Essays on Violence for Students and Kids in English

We provide students with essay samples on a long essay of 500 words and a short essay of 150 words on the topic of Minimum wage for reference.

Long Essay on Violence 500 Words in English

Long Essay on Violence is usually given to classes 7, 8, 9, and 10.

Violence is the expression of physical or verbal force against self or different, compelling action against one can on pain of being hurt. The word violence covers a broad spectrum. It will vary from physical words between 2 beings, wherever a small injury could also result, to war and killing, wherever millions might die as a result. Violence could be a comparatively common form of human behaviour that happens throughout the globe. Individuals of any age could also be violent, though older adolescents and young adults are presumed to interact in violent behaviour. Violence features various adverse effects on those that witness or expertise it, and youngsters are particularly liable to its damage. As luck would have it, numerous programs are productive in preventing and reducing violence. Human is a peaceable entity, but greed, passion, misguidance, etc. lead an individual to adopt violent behaviour. Violence has created mayhem throughout the planet. Each country within the world faces some reasonable violence or the opposite.

Violence may be an international development leading to the deaths of over one. Six million folks annually, creating it one of all the leading causes of death worldwide. Violent crimes square measure usually divided into four main classes, supported the character of the behaviour: killing, assault, theft, alternative varieties of violence overlap with these classes, like kid sexual and violence.

Sexual violence will occur at associate degree social or collective level. Sexual violence incorporates non‐consensual sexual contact and non‐consensual non‐contact acts of a sexual nature, like paraphilia and harassment.12 Acts qualify as sexual violence if they’re committed against somebody unable to consent or refuse, as an example, attributable to age, disability, misuse of authority, violence, or threats of violence.

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Gender‐based violence includes violence against girls occurring at intervals the family, geographically, or culturally specific kinds of abuse. For example, feminine sex organ accidental injury, “honor killings” and dowry‐related violence, as varied kinds of sexual violence, rape throughout the warfare, trafficking of ladies, and made harlotry. Although ladies will be violent against their male partners and violence could also be found in heterosexual or homosexual partnerships, it’s well accepted that ladies at the hands of men bear the overwhelming burden of partner violence worldwide.

Family violence refers to kid ill-usage, relation violence, intimate partner violence, and elder abuse. The thought of family violence is progressively being employed to draw attention; however, each of the sub‐types of family violence could cause or be a risk issue for the opposite subtypes. There could also be common underlying risk factors at the family’s amount and the relationship between the family and the wider community and society.

Short Essay on Violence 150 Words in English

Short Essay on Violence is usually given to classes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6.

Violence is an associate expression of aggression. There may be numerous reasons that cause this sort of behaviour. Numerous unfavourable social things or circumstances in life affect a private. Those that area unit short-tempered or unable to deal with the ever-changing surroundings realizes it onerous to behave rationally. This frustration comes to call in the shape of anger and violent behaviour. Though, environmental factors area unit accountable, however, solely to associate extent.

Violence may be an important public ill-health and defies easy analysis. Process violence in numerous ways has each ethical and material consequence, like whether a wrongdoer is prosecuted, whether or not a hindrance program is funded, or, however, a victim understands their state of affairs. It’s most vital that public health practitioners perceive the broad scope of violence and area unit to establish points for sure-fire intervention to forestall violence and its health and social impression.

10 Lines on Violence Essay in English

1. The most successful violence prevention programs target all youngsters, not simply people who are thought to be in danger of violence. 2. The most vital outcome of specializing in violence and process is that the potential to additional exactly perceives its scale to stop its prevalence or switch its effects. 3. The primary hindrance is that the handiest variety of hindrances, however, additionally the foremost troublesome to attain. 4. Primary hindrance is widely acknowledged to boost kids’ outcomes and scale back their risk of changing into victims or perpetrators of abuse. 5. The secondary bar aims to reduce hurt once a violent incident has occurred that specialize in immediate responses. 6. The tertiary bar aims to treat and rehabilitate victims and perpetrators. 7. Various programs are developed to cut back or stop violence in people United Nations agency have already shown an inclination toward violence. 8. Universal interventions addressing violence area unit aimed toward the overall population, or teams inside it while not relevant individual risk. 9. Indicated interventions specialize in United Nations agency have detectable issues, like perpetrators of force or sexual offenders. 10. Selective interventions specialize in those at heightened risk of violence. As an example, early intervention programs specializing in folks.

FAQ’s on Violence Essay

Question 1. How can we prevent violence?

Answer:  Report crimes activities or suspicious activity to the police, school authorities, parents, or that person that we can trust.

Question 2. What violence causes?

Answer:  Violence is associated with an extreme degree of variety of aggression, like assault, rape, or murder.

Question 3. What are some real-life examples of violence?

Answer:  There are several examples of violence, which generally occurs like sexual violence, gender-based violence, youth violence, child maltreated violence, etc.

Question 4. Is violence necessary?

Answer:  No. Violence is not good, and it doesn’t solve issues. People sometimes might resort to violence but winning concerning it last for some time or gets converted to enmity. So it is good if we try to solve matters peacefully.

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Causes of Violence in Society

What are the causes of violence in society: abstract, the causes of violence in society: drugs and alcohol, the causes of violence in society: mental illness and brain injury, the causes of violence in society: justice for offenders, what are the causes of violence in society: conclusion.

There are many factors that can cause people into violent acts. Acts of violence in humans can be caused by triggers to violent acts and propensity to be violent.

The propensity to be violent depends on the personal character of the one committing the acts of violence (Haggård‐Grann et al., 2006). The trigger represents a social factor that leads a person into crime.

Some of these triggers include the use of drugs, alcohol, brain injury and mental illness. Nevertheless, these triggers can only lead to violence if the propensity to be violent exists in the violent individuals (Haggård‐Grann et al., 2006).

There are people who have the use drugs, alcohol, or have mental illness and brain injuries and yet they are not involved in acts of violence. This paper wishes to relate how the use of drugs and alcohol as well as mental illness and brain injury plays a role in acts of violence.

Use of drugs and alcohol can affect the one’s personality making them violent. In the United States, most of the cases that lead to incarceration can be connected to the use of drugs and alcohol. Alcohol and drugs have been connected to property offenses, public order offenses, drug offenses and domestic violence (Parker & Auerhahn, 2008).

Use of alcohol in the United States and most countries is legal and this contributes to social problems such as violence. Alcohol contributes to 40% of acts of violence and according to statistics most of the offenders in jail were drunk when they were arrested (Parker & Auerhahn, 2008).

Alcohol contributes to more violent acts than the use of illegal drugs. Alcohol has been found to contribute to rape, physical attacks, robbery, massacre and domestic violence. There are more than 3 million acts of violence every year connected to alcohol (Bushman, 2003).

Statistics connected to the use of alcohol show that drunk offenders commit most of the assaults. Alcohol is connected to crimes where the victim and the offender know one another and most of the intimate criminal acts are connected to alcohol.

Use of illegal drugs can also be connected to acts of crime. There are times where violent offenders commit the crimes to meet their demand for drugs. Offenders engage in acts of robbery to purchase the drugs (Bushman, 2003).

Those who abuse drugs are most likely to be incarcerated for acquisitive acts of crime such as looting, handling stolen items, burglary and robbery, only to feed their stomachs. Many people are arrested for driving when intoxicated with drugs and alcohol.

Intoxicated driving is understood to be among the main causes of death. Statistics indicate that alcohol and drugs also contribute to juvenile crimes (Alvarez & Bachman, 2013). Juvenile Justice Systems reveal that teens and children arrested for acts of violence are under the influence of alcohol.

Violence in the context of mental illness and brain injury is sensationalized and this affects the stigma of the patients. In today’s society, brain injury and mental illness can be connected to violence and this in turn complicates the work of the psychiatrists (Carmel & Hunter, 2009).

It is because of this fact that most patients with brain damage or mental illness are discriminated in the community for assumptions that they are violent. Most of the violent acts connected to brain damage and mental illness take place in health facilities. This takes place when the patients become aggressive and the psychiatrists and doctors are called to assess the situations.

Mental illness and brain injury patients with stable conditions are not connected to violence. Mental illness and brain injury patients with violent behaviors mostly get involved because of biological factors (Carmel & Hunter, 2009).

When dealing with patients of mental illness and brain injury, it is important to consider their psychosocial factors as they contribute to violent behaviors. Aggression in patients with brain injuries and mental illness occurs when the libidinal impulses are blocked. Violent behavior in these patients may develop from past scenes and experiences.

The criminal justice system’s work is to rule on the cases of violence. Considering that most of the patients with brain injury and mental illness are bound to commit crimes, it would be important to consider rehabilitation than punishment (Swartz et al., 2014). Past experiences and scenes could trigger the violent behaviors of the offenders. Punishing them increases their stigmatization and they end being frustrated.

On the other hand, offenders who commit acts of violence for having abused drugs and alcohol should be punished and at the same time counseled on their effects on their reasoning (Swartz et al., 2014). Alcohol and drug abuse affects the personality of humans and sometimes leads them to behave violently. Incarceration is not the only approach that can be used to make them reform; they can be given guidance for them to end their violent behaviors.

The causes of violence are pre-determined by different factors such as drug and alcohol abuse or mental or brain injury. Most of the violent offenders are incarcerated, but they are not given a chance to reform. The criminal justice system’s role is to ensure safety for all (Alvarez & Bachman, 2013). Though the offenders deserve punishment, they should also be rehabilitated to ensure they do not go back to violent behaviors after they are free again.

Alvarez, A., & Bachman, R. (2013). Violence: The enduring problem . New York, NY: Sage Publications.

Bushman, B. J. (2003). Human aggression while under the influence of alcohol and other drugs: An integrative research review. Current Directions in Psychological Science , 148-152.

Carmel, H., & Hunter, M. (2009). Staff injuries from inpatient violence. Psychiatric Services , 40 (1), 41-46.

Haggård‐Grann, U., Hallqvist, J., Långström, N., & Möller, J. (2006). The role of alcohol and drugs in triggering criminal violence: a case‐crossover study*. Addiction , 101 (1), 100-108.

Parker, R. N., & Auerhahn, K. (2008). Alcohol, drugs, and violence. Annual review of sociology , 291-311.

Swartz, M. S., Swanson, J. W., Hiday, V. A., Borum, R., Wagner, H. R., & Burns, B. J. (2014). Violence and severe mental illness: the effects of substance abuse and nonadherence to medication. American journal of psychiatry .

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Home — Essay Samples — Social Issues — Youth Violence — Violence in Schools: Causes and Effects

Analysis of The Cause and Effect of School Violence

• Categories: Bullying Youth Violence

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Published: Mar 14, 2019

Words: 893 | Pages: 2 | 5 min read

Violence in schools (essay)

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How to Identify and Prevent School Violence

Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.

Ann-Louise T. Lockhart, PsyD, ABPP, is a board-certified pediatric psychologist, parent coach, author, speaker, and owner of A New Day Pediatric Psychology, PLLC.

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Recognizing the Signs of School Violence

School violence refers to violence that takes place in a school setting. This includes violence on school property, on the way to or from school, and at school trips and events. It may be committed by students, teachers, or other members of the school staff; however, violence by fellow students is the most common.

An estimated 246 million children experience school violence every year; however, girls and gender non-conforming people are disproportionately affected.

"School violence can be anything that involves a real or implied threat—it can be verbal, sexual, or physical, and perpetrated with or without weapons. If someone is deliberately harming someone or acting in a way that leaves someone feeling threatened, that‘s school violence,” says Aimee Daramus , PsyD, a licensed clinical psychologist.

This article explores the types, causes, and impact of school violence and suggests some steps that can help prevent it.

Types of School Violence

School violence can take many forms. These are some of the types of school violence:

• Physical violence , which includes any kind of physical aggression, the use of weapons, as well as criminal acts like theft or arson.
• Psychological violence , which includes emotional and verbal abuse . This may involve insulting, threatening, ignoring, isolating, rejecting, name-calling, humiliating, ridiculing, rumor-mongering, lying, or punishing another person.
• Sexual violence , which includes sexual harrassment, sexual intimidation, unwanted touching, sexual coercion, and rape .
• Bullying , which can take physical, psychological, or sexual forms and is characterized by repeated and intentional aggression toward another person.
• Cyberbullying , which includes sexual or psychological abuse by people connected through school on social media or other online platforms. This may involve posting false information, hurtful comments, malicious rumors, or embarrassing photos or videos online. Cyberbullying can also take the form of excluding someone from online groups or networks.

Causes of School Violence

There often isn’t a simple, straightforward reason why someone engages in school violence. A child may have been bullied or rejected by a peer, may be under a lot of academic pressure, or may be enacting something they’ve seen at home, in their neighborhood, on television, or in a video game.

These are some of the risk factors that can make a child more likely to commit school violence:

• Poor academic performance
• Prior history of violence
• Hyperactive or impulsive personality
• Mental health conditions
• Witnessing or being a victim of violence
• Alcohol, drug, or tobacco use
• Dysfunctional family dynamic
• Domestic violence or abuse
• Access to weapons
• Delinquent peers
• Poverty or high crime rates in the community

It’s important to note that the presence of these factors doesn’t necessarily mean that the child will engage in violent behavior.

Impact of School Violence

Below, Dr. Daramus explains how school violence can affect children who commit, experience, and witness it, as well as their parents.

Impact on Children Committing Violence

Children who have been victims of violence or exposed to it in some capacity sometimes believe that becoming violent is the only way they‘ll ever be safe.

When they commit violence, they may experience a sense of satisfaction when their emotional need for strength or safety is satisfied. That‘s short-lived however, because they start to fear punishment or retribution, which triggers anger that can sometimes lead to more violence if they’re scared of what might happen to them if they don’t protect themselves. 

Children need help to try and break the cycle; they need to understand that violence can be temporarily satisfying but that it leads to more problems.

Impact on Children Victimized by School Violence

Victims of school violence may get physically injured and experience cuts, scrapes, bruises, broken bones, gunshot wounds, concussions, physical disability, or death.

Emotionally speaking, the child might experience depression , anxiety, or rage. Their academic performance may suffer because it can be hard to focus in school when all you can think about is how to avoid being hurt again.

School violence is traumatic and can cause considerable psychological distress. Traumatic experiences can be difficult for adults too; however, when someone whose brain is not fully developed yet experiences trauma, especially if it’s over a long time, their brain can switch to survival mode, which can affect their attention, concentration, emotional control, and long-term health. 

According to a 2019 study, children who have experienced school violence are at risk for long-term mental and physical health conditions, including attachment disorders, substance abuse, obesity, diabetes, cancer, heart disease, and respiratory conditions.

The more adverse childhood experiences someone has, the greater the risk to their physical and mental health as an adult.

Impact on Children Who Witness School Violence

Children who witness school violence may feel guilty about seeing it and being too afraid to stop it. They may also feel threatened, and their brain may react in a similar way to a child who has faced school violence.

Additionally, when children experience or witness trauma , their basic beliefs about life and other people are often changed. They no longer believe that the world is safe, which can be damaging to their mental health.

For a child to be able to take care of themselves as they get older, they need to first feel safe and cared for. Learning to cope with threats is an advanced lesson that has to be built on a foundation of feeling safe and self-confident.

Children who have experienced or witnessed school violence can benefit from therapy, which can help them process the trauma, regulate their emotions, and learn coping skills to help them heal.

Impact on Parents

Parents react to school violence in all kinds of ways. Some parents encourage their children to bully others, believing that violence is strength. Some try to teach their children how to act in a way that won’t attract bullying or other violence, but that never works and it may teach the child to blame themselves for being bullied. 

Others are proactive and try to work with the school or challenge the school if necessary, to try and keep their child safe. 

It can be helpful to look out for warning signs of violence, which can include:

• Talking about or playing with weapons of any kind
• Harming pets or other animals
• Threatening or bullying others
• Talking about violence, violent movies, or violent games
• Speaking or acting aggressively

It’s important to report these signs to parents, teachers, or school authorities. The child may need help and support, and benefit from intervention .

Preventing School Violence

Dr. Daramus shares some steps that can help prevent school violence:

• Report it to the school: Report any hint of violent behavior to school authorities. Tips can be a huge help in fighting school violence. Many schools allow students to report tips anonymously.
• Inform adults: Children who witness or experience violence should keep telling adults (parents, teachers, and counselors) until someone does something. If an adult hears complaints about a specific child from multiple people, they may be able to protect other students and possibly help the child engaging in violence to learn different ways.
• Reach out to people: Reach out to children or other people at the school who seem to be angry or upset, or appear fascinated with violence. Reach out to any child, whether bullied, bullying, or neither, who seems to have anxiety, depression, or trouble managing emotions. Most of the time the child won’t be violent, but you’ll have helped them anyway by being supportive.

A Word From Verywell

School violence can be traumatic for everyone involved, particularly children. It’s important to take steps to prevent it because children who witness or experience school violence may suffer physical and mental health consequences that can persist well into adulthood.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Preventing school violence .

UNESCO. What you need to know about school violence and bullying .

UNESCO. School violence and bullying .

Nemours Foundation. School violence: what students can do .

Ehiri JE, Hitchcock LI, Ejere HO, Mytton JA. Primary prevention interventions for reducing school violence . Cochrane Database Syst Rev . 2017;2017(3):CD006347. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD006347.pub2

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Understanding school violence .

Ferrara P, Franceschini G, Villani A, Corsello G. Physical, psychological and social impact of school violence on children . Italian Journal of Pediatrics . 2019;45(1):76. doi:10.1186/s13052-019-0669-z

By Sanjana Gupta Sanjana is a health writer and editor. Her work spans various health-related topics, including mental health, fitness, nutrition, and wellness.