Violent Boyhoods, Masculine Honor Ideology, and Political Violence: Survey Findings From Thailand

Abstract

Throughout history, those who have participated in political violence have predominantly been male young adults. At the same time, we know that most young men will not use violence for political protest. So what distinguishes those who do from those who do not? In this article, we link psychological research on the intergenerational effects of violence in the family to violence in the political arena. We ask to what extent experiences of violence as a child are associated with participation in political violence as an adult. Our overarching argument is that family-of-origin violence may not only have serious negative, intergenerational effects on health and well-being but also on future spirals of violence for the individual. Family-of-origin violence may also lead to an increased risk of using violence for political purposes due to the diffusion of violence norms, whereby violence is seen as a just and appropriate response to conflict. We test this claim using micro-level data from the Survey on Gender, Politics, and Violence in Thailand, conducted in 2012-2013. For our analyses, we zoom in on men from a specific cluster sample of the survey: 200 political activist interviewees—100 Red Shirts and 100 Yellow Shirts. The results support our claim. We find that experiences of family violence as a child increase the risk of participating in political violence as an adult among male political activists in Thailand. Our study suggests one imperative policy implication: Violence prevention measures at the individual level—against corporal punishment of children or violence against women—may have critical implications also for decreasing the risk for and prevalence of political violence and armed conflict in society.