Don't make war, make elections : Franchise extension and violence in XIXth-century Colombia

This paper studies the effect of strengthening democracy, as captured by an increase in voting rights, on the incidence of violent civil conflict in nineteenth-century Colombia. Empirically studying the relationship between democracy and conflict is challenging, not only because of conceptual problems in defining and measuring democracy, but also because political institutions and violence are jointly determined. We take advantage of an experiment of history to examine the impact of one simple, measurable dimension of democracy (the size of the franchise) on con- flict, while at the same time attempting to overcome the identification problem. In 1853, Colombia established universal male suffrage. Using a simple difference-indifferences specification at the municipal level, we find that municipalities where more voters were enfranchised relative to their population experienced fewer violent political battles while the reform was in effect. The results are robust to including a number of additional controls. Moreover, we investigate the potential mechanisms driving the results. In particular, we look at which components of the proportion of new voters in 1853 explain the results, and we examine if results are stronger in places with more political competition and state capacity. We interpret our findings as suggesting that violence in nineteenth-century Colombia was a technology for political elites to compete for the rents from power, and that democracy constituted an alternative way to compete which substituted violence.

Behavioral differences in violence: the case of intra-group differences of paramilitaries and guerrillas in Colombia

In most studies on civil wars, determinants of conflict have been hitherto explored assuming that actors involved were either unitary or stable. However, if this intra-group homogeneity assumption does not hold, empirical econometric estimates may be biased. We use Fixed Effects Finite Mixture Model (FE-FMM) approach to address this issue that provides a representation of heterogeneity when data originate from different latent classes and the affiliation is unknown. It allows to identify sub-populations within a population as well as the determinants of their behaviors. By combining various data sources for the period 2000-2005, we apply this methodology to the Colombian conflict. Our results highlight a behavioral heterogeneity in guerrilla’s armed groups and their distinct economic correlates. By contrast paramilitaries behave as a rather homogenous group.

Psycological violence against women in Colombia

Although violence against women has gain attention, there is little evidence of studies about phycological violence against a partner. This paper uses data from Encuesta Nacional de Demografíay Salud (ENDS) to assess empirically models of violence against a partner. One of the main findingsis that the higher the economic independence of the women, the lower the phycologicalviolence against a partner. Some other results show that women with higher education level, belongingto a violent or low income family and living in cities different from Bogotá is correlatedwith higher probability of phycological violence.

Projet transnational CONVIVIR ES VIVIR : Prévention de la violence à lïécole 1997-1999.

Recoge una serie de prácticas estudiadas y desarrolladas en el Proyecto Transnacional 'Convivir Vivir, formación del profesorado para la prevención de la violencia escolar'. El objetivo fundamental de este proyecto es la actualización y formación del profesorado para enfrentarse a estos problemas, contando con la colaboración de todos los miembros de la comunidad educativa en el proceso de búsqueda de vías de convivencia armónica.

La violencia en el ??mbito escolar = La violence dans l'??cole = Violence in School

Percepciones y preocupaciones del profesorado con respecto a la violencia en la Educaci??n Secundaria y a las posibilidades de la educaci??n para elaborar estrategias y alternativas v??lidas para educar en favor de la paz, la justicia y el desarrollo. 42 profesores de Educaci??n Secundaria, seleccionados en funci??n de: cobertura geogr??fica, disponibilidad y criterios de tipo pr??ctico. La investigaci??n se distribuy?? en cuatro fases, la primera de car??cter exploratorio y de inmersi??n en la comunidad, en la segunda se realiz?? una din??mica con un grupo de discusi??n formado por educadores con circunstancias personales, profesionales y acad??micas distintas, en la tercera la realizaci??n de entrevistas pretest y selecci??n de la muestra y en la cuarta la interpretaci??n y categorizaci??n de la informaci??n obtenida de las entrevistas. Investigaci??n cualitativa de car??cter cuasi-etnogr??fico. No se puede afirmar que se disponga de un paradigma conceptual capaz de interpretar la naturaleza del problema de la violencia escolar en todas sus dimensiones. Su estudio requiere de una reflexi??n profunda sobre el alcance del problema que ponga las bases para comprender su naturaleza y gu??e el camino de la intervenci??n educativa para prevenirla; para ello es necesario multiplicar los procesos de investigaci??n y de intervenci??n que permitan acceder, de forma democr??tica y no traum??tica a su comprensi??n y erradicaci??n.

Effectiveness of a treatment programme for immigrants who committed gender-based violence against their partners

Resumen tomado de la publicación

Gender-based violence against women with visual and physical disabilities

Resumen tomado de la publicación

Justification beliefs of violence, myths about love and cyber dating abuse

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Gender and cultural effects on perception of psychological violence in the partner

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Sexting, psychological distress and dating violence among adolescents and young adults

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Development and validation of the scale of psychological abuse in intimate partner violence (EAPA-P)

Resumen tomado de la publicaci??n

Predicting violence in schizophrenia: a prospective study

Background: People with schizophrenia are more violent than the general population, but this increased risk is attributable to the actions of a small subgroup. Identifying those at risk has become an essential part of clinical practice. Aims: To estimate the risk factors for assault in patients with schizophrenia. Methods: Two hundred seventy-one patients with schizophrenia were interviewed using an extensive battery of instruments. Assault was measured from multiple data sources over the next 2 years and criminal records were obtained. Multiple sociodemographic and clinical variables measured at baseline were examined as possible predictors of assault during follow-up. Results: Sixty-nine (25%) patients committed assault during the 2-year followup. The model that best predicted assault included a history of recent assault (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.17-4.61), a previous violent conviction (OR 2.02, 95% CI 1.04-3.87), having received special education (OR 2.76, 95% CI 1.22-6.26) and alcohol abuse (OR 3.55, 95% CI 1.24-10.2). Conclusions: Previously established risk factors including a history of violence and alcohol abuse are replicated in this study. Although low premorbid IQ did not predict violence, a need for special education did. (C) 2003 Published by Elsevier B.V.