Iranian Political Science Association Research Letter of Political Science 1735790X 20 3 2025 08 23 The Silent Forms of Violence The Silent Forms of Violence 153 198 550 10.22034/ipsa.2025.550 FA Aliakbar Alikhani Professor, University of Tehran 0000-0003-3014-5086 Journal Article 2025 05 19 Many of the contemporary problems and issues in Iran can be understood and analyzed through the lens of “silent forms of violence”. The author categorizes violence into two general types: Overt violence and Silent violence. The central concern of this article is to identify and conceptualize silent forms of violence, while its main research question asks: What are the definitions and categories of silent violence, and what worldly and spiritual responsibilities do their perpetrators bear? The first and second sections of the article establish the general framework of the discussion, addressing the definition, indicators, and types of violence in terms of agency- namely, the agents and creators of violence. The second section further differentiates between the two overarching categories of violence -Overt violence and Silent violence- offering a definition for each. Silent violence encompasses various forms of physical and psychological harm in which the primary intention of the agents may not be to cause harm to others. Rather, the consequences of their “actions,” “policymaking,” “legislation,” and “decision-making”-whether positive or negative- as well as the incompetence and negligence of managers and decision-makers, give rise to such forms of violence. Silent violence is divided into two main categories: silent physical violence and silent non-physical violence. Within this framework, eight types of silent physical violence and twelve types of silent non-physical violence are classified and defined. The final section of the article turns to the issue of responsibility for silent violence and elaborates on it through three separate discussions. Many of the contemporary problems and issues in Iran can be understood and analyzed through the lens of “silent forms of violence”. The author categorizes violence into two general types: Overt violence and Silent violence. The central concern of this article is to identify and conceptualize silent forms of violence, while its main research question asks: What are the definitions and categories of silent violence, and what worldly and spiritual responsibilities do their perpetrators bear? The first and second sections of the article establish the general framework of the discussion, addressing the definition, indicators, and types of violence in terms of agency- namely, the agents and creators of violence. The second section further differentiates between the two overarching categories of violence -Overt violence and Silent violence- offering a definition for each. Silent violence encompasses various forms of physical and psychological harm in which the primary intention of the agents may not be to cause harm to others. Rather, the consequences of their “actions,” “policymaking,” “legislation,” and “decision-making”-whether positive or negative- as well as the incompetence and negligence of managers and decision-makers, give rise to such forms of violence. Silent violence is divided into two main categories: silent physical violence and silent non-physical violence. Within this framework, eight types of silent physical violence and twelve types of silent non-physical violence are classified and defined. The final section of the article turns to the issue of responsibility for silent violence and elaborates on it through three separate discussions.

http://www.ipsajournal.ir/article_550_01f78be6f7cad02658508fe4616098a9.pdf