Could there be a link between being violent to Herdsmen? According to research there could be, and based on what I found out, men who demonstrate violent tendency, especially toward their wives, may have been descendants of herdsmen by inference of correlation. My thought is based on the theory of hereditary. According to research, some of our behavioral trait is environmental as well as biology- behavioral trait that is then passed down through our genes to our offspring even as we evolved from one generation to another and scattered through out the world.

 According to some theory, some men who have violent tendency do so because of hereditary factors that is latent in them to be predisposed to violent outburst- especially where there is a childhood trauma like child abuse. According to this research, where herdsmen used violence to protect their herds against thieves, men who violently abuse their wives do so, when they feel the need to control their wives or assert a strongly held opinion of themselves,”1.

 According to the study by Jacobson & Gottam, (1998), in Anatomy of a Violent Relationship, the husbands in this study, when challenged by their wives, felt their persons and integrity was threatened, as such, resulted to violence to control, dominate and silence their wives.  It could then be inferred that when men who have the tendency to be violent feels threatened either to their person or property, they result to aggression in order to control- as do the herdsmen depicted in Richard Nisbett & Dov Cohen’s study on Violence and Honor in the Southern United States, (1996).  Richard E. Nisbett & Dov Cohen’s report on Herding Economies, inferred that, “if there is one economy that is associated worldwide with honor and readiness to commit violence to conserve it- is the herdsmen economy.”(p. 158) They further stated that ‘there are some interesting natural experiments that show that people who occupy the same general region but differ in occupation also differ in their predilections toward toughness, violence, and warfare. (Nisbett & Cohen, p. 156). 

How is this correlated to men with violence tendency towards their wives? Well, according the study performed by anthropologist, Robert Edgerton, (Richard & Cohen, p. 156), on two neighboring tribes in East Africa, a group of herders and a group of farmers- Edgerton reported that in both tribes, the herders exhibited a behavioral syndrome described as machismo,” that is, “a strong sense of masculinity, usually entailing aggressiveness or physical domination of women,”2, whereas the farmers manifested the insistent need to get alone with their neighbors. (Nisbett & Cohen, pp.158)  What this means is that based on documented facts dating back to slavery and warfare in Europe as well as in Africa, and in America, men who were herders, are more likely to use violence in order to protect their animals, than farmers. And based on studies conducted on different parts of the world, the same result was derived from herders tendency to perpetuate violence where there is a need to protect their property or their honor. The trait underlying violent behavior in some men could also be explained by the theory of Freud in personality development, which states that, ‘the ego is an aspect of the subject that emerges from the id, the biological, inherited, unconscious source of instincts, and irrational impulses, (Hall& Lindzey, p. 37). 

The instinct in order to act is prompted by an external variants- in this aspect, where a man feels threatened or insulted, the acts becomes automatic- and when this applies to husband and wife, the husband, when provoked or challenged by his wife, feels that he must uphold his honor by trying to control his wife either through the act of violence or verbal abuse (Jacobson, & Gottman, 1998). Just recently Mr. John Onwuka, in Hampton, VA, stabbed his wife, Mrs. Gloria Onwuka fourteen times. Why would a man stab his wife to death? What would prompt a man to become so animalistic, if not to dominate the one thing that seems to threaten his ego? Perhaps the challenge that his wife is doing fare better than him, provoked Mr. Onwuka to act, and to secure his honor, Mr. John Onwuka may have acted out a trait that dates back to the time when his fore, forefathers were herders. 

• Violence and Honor in the Southern United States, by Richard, E. Nisbett & Dov Cohen, 1996. 
  

• 2: Self- Esteem, Narcissism, and Aggression: Does Violence Result from Low Self-Esteem or From Threatened Egotism? By Roy F. Baumeister, Brad J. Bushman, and W. Keith Campbell, 2000.
  

•  Anatomy of a Violent Relationship; by Neil S. Jacobson, Ph.D., & John M. Gottman, PhD, 1998.
  

• Theories of Personality; by Calvin S. Hall, & Gardner Lindzey, third edition, 1978

•  1: Definition of Machismo; Taken from ‘The American Heritage Dictionary; Third Edition, 1993.

Robot  Villager

# 1 According to research there co...Read the full article. Posted by Robot| 14.11.2006 20:40

Ednut  Villager

# 2 Just recently Mr. John Onwuka, in Hampton, VA, stabbed his wife, Mrs. Gloria Onwuka fourteen times. Why would a man stab his wife to death? What would prompt a man to become so animalistic, if not to dominate the one thing that seems to threaten his ego? Perhaps the challenge that his wife is doing fare better than him, provoked Mr. Onwuka to act, and to secure his honor, Mr. John Onwuka may have acted out a trait that dates back to the time when his fore, forefathers were herders. Here we go again with another female trying to bash men here. Madam Blessing, can you tell us about the mentality of this lady Karibi Ikiriko who murdered her man in cold blood? She had a perfect 4.0 grade-point average at the Howard University College of Medicine, where she was a fourth-year medical student. She was well on her way to earning a combined medical degree and PhD. On Jan. 15, she was in her Capitol Heights home, preparing for a flight to Austria to attend a Nobel Prize conference. A few hours later, Abere Karibi-Ikiriko was locked up in the Prince George's County Detention Center, accused of fatally shooting her on-again, off-again boyfriend, Okechukwu "Will" Ohiri, 26, a fellow medical student. She had called 911 and reported, "I shot him." During a three-day trial ending Monday, August 8, prosecutors alleged Karibi-Ikiriko, 27, fatally shot Ohiri because she believed that he was seeing prostitutes. Karibi-Ikiriko testified that the gun went off accidentally when Ohiri grabbed it from her. A Prince George's jury convicted Karibi-Ikiriko yesterday of second-degree murder and using a handgun during a felony. The jury, which deliberated for about four hours over two days, acquitted her of premeditated first-degree murder. Karibi-Ikiriko laid her head on the defense table moments after the verdict was announced, a prosecutor said. She faces a possible sentence of 50 years in prison. Circuit Court Judge Richard H. Sothoron Jr. scheduled sentencing for Sept. 9. "It's a waste of two talented lives," said Prince George's Assistant State's Attorney I. DeAndrei Drummond. "Two lives were ruined in a second, in the time it takes to pull a trigger." Simon Ohiri, the father of Will Ohiri, traveled with his wife from their home in Chicago to attend the trial, which ended Friday. "Even though we are happy that she is found guilty, it still doesn't bring my son back," Ohiri said. James N. Papirmeister, one of Karibi-Ikiriko's attorneys, said: "I think she should have been 100 percent acquitted. She doesn't have a violent bone or nerve in her body." Karibi-Ikiriko, born in New York of Nigerian descent, was an unlikely murder defendant. Posted by Ednut| 14.11.2006 21:33

DoubleWahala  Villager

# 3 This essay is a less-than-average attempt at tackling an otherwise interesting topic. The extrapolations which the writer makes from the "studies" she quoted, are tenuous, to say the least. DW Posted by DoubleWahala| 14.11.2006 23:02

planet1899  Villager

# 4 Blessing, you must have thought that this website is the Journal of Psychology or something. Is this a paper you wrote for a class? And what is the relevance of a publication of theories that existed back in 1978 for you to use as a reference in 2006? Aren't there newer bodies of literature you should use to support your thesis? _________________ Planet1899 is the best planet in the universe for all except for men who abuse their wives and women who disobey their husbands. Posted by planet1899| 15.11.2006 00:07

Oluwato  Villager

# 5 Dear Blessing, Theories will never end. A man or woman is prone to violence if they choose to. Life is about choices! That's why living for God is the best way to live. Any other way is bound to fail. Oluwato Posted by Oluwato| 15.11.2006 00:18

Abraxas  Villager

# 6 Hi, Blessing OTOBO! =DoubleWahala;138640>This essay is a less-than-average attempt at tackling an otherwise interesting topic. The extrapolations which the writer makes from the "studies" she quoted, are tenuous, to say the least. DW Please take the criticisms of your so-called research in good faith, that is, if indeed, you seek enlightenment and improvement. From my gut feelings, you seem to be very impressed by what you have done. But in all sincerity, you have quiet a lot of to learn and I hope and pray that your attitude is predisposed to take the few corrections that I will now proceed to bring to your attention. Here we go: For a start, the title of your "research" has a glaring semantic (grammatical) error: i.e. "Why Some Men May Be Predispose To Violence Against Women." Not only are the extrapolations from the various so-called "researches" tenuous, they are rather sweeping and contextually irrelevant in parts, and naively simplistic in others. The general impression one gets from a quick perusal of the article is that it is the product of some sort of kindergarten-level plagiarism of the robotically “cut-and-paste” kind. MORAL: A search engine does not make a good substitute for a properly informed enquiring mind behind the keyboard! The knowledge of the limitations of unenlightened overindulgence in googlism is the beginning of intellectual wisdom in cyberspace. Cheerio! Muchas gracias. Don Juan Carlos ABRAXAS (III) Posted by Abraxas| 15.11.2006 00:30

Palamedes  Villager

# 7 Forget the psychological mumbo jumbo. What psychology does is to wrap in weird phrases what we already know about ourselves. On the issue of violence against women, mind you, a public flogging in Saudi Arabia would be preferred to some women verbal abuse. Skip this paragraph if you are a lady, it is for the men only. Now guys, if any woman starts being disrespectful to you, don't use violence but simply tell her that she has cellulite. She might not have it, but that is not the point. It keeps her on the defence; and then for a few days, in front of the mirror in search of cellulite. Posted by Palamedes| 15.11.2006 14:11

planet1899  Villager

# 8 and cellulite is.... Posted by planet1899| 15.11.2006 16:57