Introduction
p. 1-2
Texte intégral
1Violence has become a common phenomenon in the cities of the world. Renvoize1 has described it as a ‘gigantic web in which countless generations of people are caught up.’ Domenach2 presented three dimensions of violence :
2i. psychological – involving the irradonal and murderous use of force
3ii. ethical – involving the vandalization of a neighbour’s property or the abuse of his liberty
4iii. political – involving the forceful seizure or the illegitimate use of political power
5Mackenzie3, defined violence as,
... the exercise of physical force so as to inflict injury on or cause damage to persons or property; action or conduct characterised by this; and treatment or usage tending to cause bodily harm or forcibly interfering with personal freedom.
6In addition, violence can occur as a mass reaction to demonstrations and public protests.4 Interestingly, Albert5 aptly sums up these acts of urban violence. He posits that urban violence constitutes one of the negative responses of individuals to the frustrations produced by urbanization.
Urban violence, empirically, can be defined as those acts of violence produced by characteristics of, or attaining their watermarks in the cities, as a result of their social, political and economic importance.
7The ’Yan Daba, ’Yan Banga and ’Yan Daukar Amarya are urban gangs whose violent activities are inextricably entwined within the socio-political milieu in which they thrive. Before we begin our analysis of these gangs, however, some background information is in order.
Notes de bas de page
1 J. Renvoize, Web of Violence: A study of family violence. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1978, 6.
2 J. M. Domenach, The ubiquity of violence. International Social Science Journal 30 (4): 722.
3 W. J. M. Mackenzie, Power, Violence, Decision. Penguin Books, Harmondsworth, 1975, 39.
4 See G. Balandier, An anthropology of violence and war. International Social Science Journal 110 (1986): 499-510; I. Kendfe, Terrorism, wars, nuclear holocaust. International Social Science Journal 110 (1986): 529-538; J. D. Halloran, Mass Communication: Symptom of cause of violence. International Social Science Journal 30 (4).
5 I. O. Albert, Violence in contemporary Africa. Some theoretical explorations. Urban Management and Urban Violence in Africa. I. O. Albert, J. Adisa, T. Agbola, G. Hdrault, eds. Volume 1. Institut Fran?ais de Recherche en Afrique, Ibadan, 1994, 2.
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