Understanding Trends in Personal Violence: Does Cultural Sensitivity Matter?

Sociological theorists have suggested, at least in Western affluent societies, a societal change toward increasing sensitivity to violence. Possible causes include increasing affluence, security, medical victories over infectious diseases, increasing life expectancy, and feminization of society. A trend toward increasing sensitivity could have implications for understanding crime trends. If some conflicts are newly perceived as violence, this can create a false impression of rising crime, or a crime drop can be rendered invisible. Prior research and new analyses suggest that people in the West have become more sensitive toward violence. There are social differences in sensitivity, and these differences are consistent with theories of increasing sensitivity. Increasing sensitivity is expressed in heightened likelihood of reporting offenses to the police and to the crime victim surveyors.