This paper reviews theory and research on the evolutionary psychology of violence. First, I examine evidence suggesting that humans have experienced an evolutionary history of violence. Next, I discuss violence as a context-sensitive strategy that might have provided benefits to our ancestors under certain circumstances. I then focus on the two most common forms of violence that plague humans -...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the occurrence of physical and/or psychological violence according to sociodemographic variables, lifestyle habits, and medical conditions in a Brazilian urban population. METHODS This epidemiological, cross-sectional study was conducted with a representative sample of the urban population of Feira de Santana, state of Bahia, Brazil, aged > 15 years. We used a semistructu...

OBJECTIVE To describe forms of external and indirect violence that affect the mental health of workers of the Programa Saúde da Família (Family Health Program), as well as the strategies developed by these workers to enable their work and to be psychologically protected. METHODS Qualitative study on the Programa Saúde da Família work process, performed in the cities of São Paulo, Ribeirão Pre...

OBJECTIVE To assess the psychological health of journalists in Kenya who have reported on, and been exposed to, extreme violence. DESIGN Descriptive. Psychological responses were elicited to two stressors, the ethnic violence surrounding the disputed 2007 general election and the Al-Shabab attack on the Westgate Mall in Nairobi. PARTICIPANTS A representative sample of 90 Kenyan journalists ...

OBJECTIVE We investigated the possible reciprocal relationship between victimization experiences and psychological functioning by assessing abuse experiences in childhood, adolescence, and during a 2-month follow-up period. METHOD At the beginning of the study (Time 1), abuse histories, trauma and depressive symptoms, and interpersonal functioning were assessed in 551 college women. Subsequen...

The present study examines the moderating effects of the anger characteristics of violent husbands on the relationships between a set of predictors and both psychological and physical husband violence. Based on data from 76 married violent men recruited through community organizations that work with abusive males, a series of moderated multiple regression analyses showed that anger repression a...

Foster children are at high risk for perpetrating and for being victims of sibling aggression and violence. This article proposes an integrative, multidimensional model for studying risk and protective factors of sibling violence. In the model, exposure to sibling violence (perpetration and victimization), child mental disorder, and placement characteristics are risk factors for impaired psycho...

Dating violence among college students represents a prevalent and serious problem. An abundance of research has examined risk and protective factors for dating violence, although only recently has research begun to focus on risk and protective factors that could be amenable to change in intervention programs. One potential risk factor for dating violence may be experiential avoidance. Using the...