Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Recommended article: Respect - an antidote to violence

I've written before about how the prevention of violence is rooted in recognizing and honoring the humanity in other people.  Lucy Duncan has a piece over at the American Friends Service Committee blog which very much resonates with my experience in peace witness and humanitarian work, the research I did as an undergrad, and further research in the field of both political violence and other forms of violence.

Lucy Duncan, "Respect - an antidote to violence"
http://www.afsc.org/friends/respect-antidote-violence

Dr. Joy DeGruy did an extensive study a few years ago focused on the impact of experiences of respect or disrespect for which she developed the African American Male Youth Respect Scale...  She found that “the respect that African American youth feel promotes psychological wellness and social identity; conversely, a lack of respect compromises their identities and is viewed as a threat to safety” and that there was a strong correlation between experiences of being disrespected and later acts of violence.  Dr. DeGruy defines respect as ‘to regard twice, to give a second look.’

Read more... 

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