The Subculture of Violence Thesis

"In the study of adult interpersonal violence (which may be defined as acts of physical aggression directed at persons, excluding acts under the aegsis, or directed against, political, parental, or other authority), on of the most important and most often cited theoretical statements has been the "subculture of violence" thesis (Wolfgang, 1958; Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967). According to Wolfgang and Ferracuti, violence results from adherence to a set of values which supports and encourages its expression. These values are seen as being in conflict with but not totally in opposition to those of the dominant culture. It is said that within the subculture, various stimuli such as a jostle, a slight deragatory remark, or the appearance of a weapon in the hands of an adversary are perceived differently than in the dominant culture; in the subculture they evoke a combative reaction."
-Howard S. Erlanger, The Empirical Status of the Subculture of Violence Thesis