A Change of Perspective: Integrating Evolutionary Psychology into the Historiography of Violence

Abstract

Violence is something we always have with us, even if its presence and meaning fluctuates in different times and places. Debates continue and knowledge varies from country to country, but historians have greatly contributed to understanding the continuities and changes in this phenomenon. Painstaking archival research has produced broad statistical outlines of fatal aggression in the past. For example, homicide appears to have declined in Europe since the early modern period, a trend that has often, though not without contention, been interpreted as a 'civilising process' (Eisner 2001;Spierenburg 2008). In North America, the long-term trend is less straightforward (Roth 2009). But alongside important quantitative findings, the 'cultural turn' has directed historians' attention to the changing social meaning of violence.Since both the (largely quantitative) 'social' and (largely qualitative) 'cultural' approaches to the history of violence have their counterparts in criminology, it is surprising that, despite recurring calls for more interdisciplinary cooperation, the divide between history and criminology has remained so rarely crossed (Lawrence unpublished). In what follows I focus on historical studies of violence; however, my comments are intended to be relevant to historians and criminologists alike, given their common topical and theoretical interests. I will first consider historians' views regarding evolutionary psychology and violence, although there has been relatively little debate within the discipline on this issue; I will then leave the field of history to consider Darwinian views of two issues relevant to historical, cultural and criminological studies of violence-'social-role theory' and the notion of 'social construction'-focusing particularly on the different rates and contexts of serious physical aggression among men and women. Finally, I will reflect on how evolutionary psychology contributes to a better understanding of the social and cultural contexts of violence.

Brazil's football warriors: Social bonding and inter-group violence

“…Research on the relationships between group membership, individual differences in violent behaviour, and fitness, have increasingly contributed to an understanding of intergroup conflict and warfare (Kurzban et al, 2001;Choi and Bowles, 2007;Navarrete et al, 2010;Wood, 2010;McDonald et al, 2012;Whitehouse et al, 2017).…”

Western Europe, State Formation, and Genetic Pacification

“…As Wood (2011) has noted, historians have correctly linked the decline in personal violence to a new “sensibility” of self-control, foresight, and empathy. They have been less able, however, to explain how these parallel historic trends relate to each other and to the presumed underlying cause: “[Historians of violence] have not needed evolutionary psychology to point out such trends: however, evolutionary thinking offers helpful explanations of why such influences work , potentially solidifying our understanding of what factors have influenced changes in the prevalence of (and reactions towards) physical aggression.”…”

“…Was the historical decline in the homicide rate due, at least in part, to a steady removal of individuals who were more genetically prone to personal violence? Although many authors, particularly evolutionary psychologists, believe that some individuals are more violence-prone than others, particularly young men, they nonetheless deny that this propensity has changed during historic times, on the assumption that human genetic evolution ended during prehistory and that any subsequent behavioral change must involve cultural evolution alone ( Wood, 2011 ). Thus, Robert Muchembled (2008) writes:…”

Making sense of violence ? Reflections on the history of interpersonal violence in Europe

“…Although we think this perspective is important and needs to be engaged with by historians of violence, unfortunately, reasons of space prevent us from discussing these issues here. See Pinker (2011) ; Carter Wood (2007Wood ( , 2011 ; Hanlon (2013). 5 Shoemaker (2001Shoemaker ( , 2002 ; Eibach (2003Eibach ( , 2008.…”