Violence - Typology of Violence

Typology of Violence

In the typology of violence in the figure below, the horizontal array shows who is affected and the vertical array describes how they are affected. The typology divides violence into three broad categories according to characteristics of those committing the violent act:

• self-directed violence
• interpersonal violence
• collective violence

The nature of violent acts, on the vertical axis, can be:

• physical
• sexual
• psychological
• involving deprivation or neglect

This initial categorization differentiates between violence a person inflicts upon himself or herself, violence inflicted by another individual or by a small group of individuals, and violence inflicted by larger groups such as states, organized political groups, militia groups and terrorist organizations. These three broad categories are each divided further to reflect more specific types of violence.