Micro-Behavioural Mechanisms of Violence
Micro-Behavioural Mechanisms of Violence
Thursday, 10 July 2025: 09:00-10:45
Location: FSE024 (Faculty of Education Sciences (FSE))
RC45 Rational Choice (host committee) Language: English
Many forms of violence, including wars, honour killings, blood feuds, intimate partner violence, mass murders and many incidences of homicides often involve extraordinary costs even for the perpetrator with unclear or uncertain benefits. As such, they pose thorny puzzles for sociological research and most relevantly for models that incorporate micro-behavioural decision making mechanisms. This session invites contributions on the theoretical and empirical analysis of violence, broadly defined, particularly from but not restricted to micro-level behavioural perspectives. Example questions that the presentations may address are as follows. How can various forms of violence be modelled theoretically? What are the decision mechanisms and motives behind violent acts? Are certain forms of violence “irrational”? Who is more or less likely to be violent? What are the contextual or social determinants of violence? What policies can prevent violence? Contributions can be empirical with experimental or observational data, they can be theoretical with micro-macro models or agent-based simulations, or they can combine theory with data.
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Oral Presentations