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ChapterI
Homicideandaggressioninthehistoryofmankind
1.1Homicideandaggressionintheindividual
andsocialexperience
Thehistoryofcivilisationyieldsampleproofthathumanbeingshavealways
killedeachother.Thiswasdonewiththeapprovalofthesociety,forinstance
duringwars,orwithoutit,inwhichcasestrictpunishmentwasmeted.Some
gainedgloryandfamethroughkillingandbecameheroes,whileotherswere
sentencedtoimprisonmentordeath.Asinglekillerseemseasiertounderstand
thanawholecivilisationofdeath.TheexampleofCainspringstomind:the
deathofAbel(Gen.I,4)seemsasimpleconsequenceofhisbrother’sinitial
choice;havingoncechosenthepathofevil,amanisreadytokillevenhisown
brother.YeteventhebiblicalexampleofCainyieldssomeinterestingelements
regardingthekiller’spersonality,hismotivationandattitudetowardsafellow
humanbeing.
Itdoesnotseem,however,thatthestoryofCainandAbelwasastrongenough
deterrent,evenintheperiodofveryintenseandpassionatereceptionoftheBi-
ble,todiscouragehumankindfromkilling.Neitherisitslessonclearandevident
totheearly-21stcenturypeoplewho,althoughenrichedbytheexperienceofthe
earliererasandfortifiedwithtechnologicaladvancesthatfacilitatetheirdomina-
tionovertheuniverseinwhichtheyexist,arestillunabletoensuregeneralsecu-
rity.Thesphereofaggression,initsmanypossibledimensions,isstillwidening
witnessinstancesofviolencetowardsthe“others”,ortheclosestfamily,or
evenhaplesschildren(e.g.streeturchinswhoaresummarilyshotinBrazil,thou-
sandsofchildsoldierswhoareforciblyenlistedinactivemilitaryserviceinthe
Africancountries).Thekillingofafellowhumanbeingisnolongerperceivedas
aatrociousact.Yetcivilizedsocieties,althoughresponsibleforthesafetyof
citizensandnationsgatheredinvariousorganisationssupposedtoguarantee
peace,donotdevotedueattentiontotheissueofhomicide.Theproblemisim-
possibletooverlook;yetofficialcommunicationsseemstrangelysilentonthis
point,perhapsduetotheprincipleofpoliticalcorrectness.