The Social Context of Violent Behaviour by Emanuel Marx

Author:Emanuel Marx [Marx, Emanuel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Anthropology, General
ISBN: 9781136541650
Google: 3a_5AQAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2013-11-05T05:54:33+00:00

CASE 6 AN ASSAILANT IS TAKEN TO COURT

The incident was recounted to me by the official involved, almost a year after it occurred:

A man came into my office shouting, lifted a chair and would have smashed it on my skull had I not had the presence of mind to talk soothingly to him. At last the man calmed down and even apologized. But then I lodged a complaint with the police. The man sent deputations requesting me to withdraw the complaint. In the end I gave in, but the police had instructions to go on in such cases, as they wished to protect public workers from violence. In court the man was fined IL 100, and the judge warned him that had I not asked for forgiveness for him, he would have sent him to gaol for three months. Now this man is my best friend.

It is very rare for acts of violent coercion to come up in court. This is the only instance reported to me during my two years in Galilah. The salient fact seems to be that, contrary to other assailants, this man regretted his action. By doing so, he clearly showed himself to be in the wrong. The police were not called in at the time of the assault, but only later after the assailant had admitted his guilt. The official refused at first to withdraw his complaint to the police; he was willing for the matter to go to court, apparently with the blessing of his superiors, as it was a foregone conclusion that the case would be won. The official’s objective was not so much to punish the assailant and to deter other potential offenders as to show that he had acted according to regulations. This demonstration was addressed to his superiors, who were to see and confirm his reliability. They apparently concurred with the official, as they allowed the case to take its course. Eventually the official was persuaded to withdraw his complaint. It was probably not too late to halt the legal process, but official instructions were to continue it. Departmental policy was still to seize this opportunity to convict an assailant, in order to deter potential assailants.

The assailant held a relatively secure factory job outside Galilah. He was not involved in local affairs and lacked connections in official circles. Partly perhaps because he had no other means to persuade the official, his direct coercive attempt had gone rather far. When he realized his false position he apologized, and thus conveyed to the official that from then on he would submit, and would be a co-operative victim. The assailant was unable to enlist other officials to his aid, and therefore relied on the combined efforts of his uninfluential friends to halt the prosecution. Their deputations appealed repeatedly to the official, in his capacity as an inhabitant of the town. As the official was likely to remain in their midst (for his prospects of promotion or transfer were very slight) , he personally withdrew the complaint.

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