A similar correlation between poverty and violence exists and has been demonstrated in various studies across a variety of situations. This article from The Economist is an enlightening look at the relationship between conflict and poverty and how these forces contribute to the cyclical nature of this association. Not only is poverty itself a form of violence, but violence is exacerbated by the circumstances of poverty. This relationship has been demonstrated in many environments across different nations, and it has been recently been brought to the spotlight regarding Nigeria. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton said that the income gap and overwhelming poverty of the country has contributed to the violence and despair. Poverty is the fuel to the fire that creates a breeding ground for violence.

The deprived community were not given adequate amounts of water access and suffered through violent struggles. The link between poverty and violence is continually seen throughout history. In the case of the Chicago residents during the 1995 heat wave, poverty-stricken civilians rebelled by leaning towards violence, but the results ended without any positive gain. The United Nations website provides a document that highlights the issues upper developing countries face. One of its passages mentions the following:

“Low income leads to low savings; low savings lead to low investment; low investment leads to low productivity and low incomes. Poverty leads to environmental degradation, which in turn undermines the assets of the poor and exacerbates poverty. Poverty can lead to violence and conflict, and the associated destruction of physical, human, social and organizational capital in turn causes poverty to intensify”.

Also, for more information as to how the media covered news on the 1995 Chicagoheat wave, see below.

Klinenberg notes that deaths were generally concentrated in the most neglected urban environments, and the “literally socially isolated made up a significant number of the people it killed” (260). Because of high rates of crime (including homicide and robbery) in these neglected urban communities, the “literally socially isolated” were reluctant to open their windows, leave their apartments, or take the necessary precautionary measures in response to the extreme heat. Because these groups of elderly people were fearful of being attacked, many remained isolated within their apartments, leading to drastically higher rates of death.

What’s interesting is that studies have also demonstrated that higher temperatures are correlated with aggression. It would make sense that with the Chicago heat wave, violence would become more prevalent, only perpetuating the problem of social isolation out of fear.

(Boston.com)

Sources:

Fox, James A. “Heat Wave Has Chilling Effect on Violent Crime.” Boston.com. The Boston Globe, 6 July 2010. Web. 19 Feb. 2012. <http://boston.com/community/blogs/crime_punishment/2010/07/heat_wave_has_chilling_effect.html>.

Chicago’s struggle in 1995 is not the only example of Chicago enduring struggle, trauma and violence.  Gang war, drug violence and poverty, specifically, among youth makes Chicago king of homicides in the United States.  Since 2008, more than 530 youth have been killed in Chicago with 80 percent of the homicides occurring in twenty-two of the minority community areas of the South and West sides. In 2008, 509 died in Chicago due to homicide while in Iraq 314 died.  Such statistics have made Chicago known as three times as deadly as NYC and twice as violent as Los Angeles. This shows that one does not need to go that far to see the war zones of communities that are tainted from the poverty and economic injustices of their situations. Possible causes for violence in the community can be attributed to poverty, the continued rivalry between enforcement, the lack of funding in public works, from schools to community centers.  Modern impoverishment and struggle is causing people to move into the drug business, in order to get by.  However, the true cause of such problem is in the lack of opportunity.  If government officials were to take notice of the struggle of these communities of people, we would be acknowledging social situations that could eradicate or at least drop levels of crime and homicide.

Below I have provided a Kanye West and Jay Z song that strictly depicts the struggle of living in Chicago as well as the current homicide count map.

One passage from the article that stood out to me was how “sexuality is intertwined with power and militarized masculinity” (90). Sexualized power should be brought to the attention of many. Economic and political structures are at the root of why women, like the Congolese, were raped in high numbers. The essence of rape is about power, not sexual desire. I encountered a blog that provided statistics on rape in Africa alone. The blog’s first sentence reads: It is estimated that a woman born in South Africa has a greater chance of being raped than learning how to read. This sentence speaks a lot for itself. I hope that through media, more attention is brought to countries suffering from poverty and despair since “human rights are given more attention in developing countries than in some developed countries” (79).

The following clip provides account of personal stories and information about sexual violence in Haiti. Perhaps by taking a look at more images and listening to more stories, the international community will more likely try to put a stop to the harms people suffer from.

Chiwengo offers Rwanda as an example of the “international community’s disinterest in Africa,” which is now being manifested in the Darfur genocide. The ways in which these stories are presented through the Westernized media are usually not conducive to eliciting a response capable of significant change. In our interview, the activists talked about how the refugees are aware of their basic human rights and they know they are being denied many of them. They wonder why the world hasn’t intervened to help them and they are losing hope because they think they are considered second-class human beings. This article explains how people in Darfur wonder why President Obama intervened in Libya, but he has not helped Darfur. This newspaper article wonders if President Obama has forgotten about Darfur. And the following movie gives an look at President Obama’s view on Darfur before he was elected by saying he did not want to “abandon people or turn a blind eye to slaughter”. Despite his original ambitions, however, the violence continues and people are still dying.

“the pattern of sexual violence in Rwanda shows that acts of rape and sexual mutilation were not accessory to the killings, nor, for the most part, opportunistic assaults. Rather, according to the actions and statements of the perpetrators, as recalled by survivors, these acts were carried out with the aim of eradicating the Tutsi. Taken as a whole, the evidence indicates that many rapists expected, consequent to their attacks, that the psychological and physical assault on each Tutsi woman would advance the cause of the destruction of the Tutsi people” (Human Rights Watch).

(National Portrait Gallery)

The sexual violence that occurred during the Rwandan genocide was clearly devastating. The trauma experienced by these women often prevented them from accomplishing normal tasks and motherly obligations (88). Yet, the international response was less than adequate. Many reports about the genocide included various ethnological dialogue, seemingly stereotyping the Congolese people, rather than focusing on the individuals affected by sexual violence. In many ways rape was normalized, as cultural explanations were given for these acts of violence and the Congolese female condition was homogenized and oversimplified (90). The response to the conflict is frustrating, and my hope is that we would take a greater stand against these acts of violence, especially because they are a present problem in many countries including Sudan and the DRC.

Sources:

Chiwengo, N. “When Wounds and Corpses Fail to Speak: Narratives of Violence and Rape in Congo (DRC).” Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East 28.1 (2008): 78-92. Print.

“Shattered Lives: Sexual Violence during the Rwandan Genocide and Its Aftermath.”Human Rights Watch (1996). Print.

In applying my own personal experience to the article, my knowledge of Rwanda and the violence between the Hutu and Tutsi was based on the movie Hotel Rwanda. Before watching the film I had no idea there was such Genocide going on throughout the world. In America we are so accustomed to national news and to what media coverage is, “sexy,” that we forget there are conflicts throughout the world, or we do not get the knowledge of the world around us. The moment you read this passage, someone is fleeing from their home because of racial injustice, radical governments and terrorist. Current conflict areas are Sudan, Libya, Burma and Congo. While we mind our business in the states worry about Adele’s mighty 6 GRAMMY’s (mighty amazing), people are dying for the color of their skin. These people are not being provided food nor medicine, all for the purpose of eradicating the Nuba culture known as “ethnic cleansing.” Much of the Genocide that occurs throughout the world is driven by the notion of ethnocentricity of race, and which such notions are being the force of violence and trauma on people, the first world countries are taking no action, and its citizen are not obtaining the knowledge unless they seek to find it. Thus, we are blinded by our inabilities to seek knowledge from not just our own world, and thus like the article this week, narratives for a world without the important events being addressed are necessary in order to open people’s eyes.

Mild traumatic brain injury can lead to changes in personality, as this page describes. The effects of PTSD can also lead to an increase in violent tendencies. This change in behavior is frequently seen in domestic violence, and studies have shown that PTSD in veterans and higher incidences of domestic violence are closely correlated. This is becoming a widespread problem, as veterans return home with invisible wounds that may not be recognized and treated. This enlightening ethnography shows the individual experience of one woman dealing with her veteran husband’s domestic violence. The following video offers some interesting facts about the long term consequences of mild traumatic brain injury as well.

This link presents statistics from a study on child soldiers whom have undergone the effect of psychological trauma.