Why Does Interpersonal Violence Persist?

Why Does Interpersonal Violence Persist? | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article Why Does Interpersonal Violence Persist? Gabriel Lenz, Anna Mikkelborg, Martin Vinæs Larsen This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-4139199/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Why do high rates of interpersonal violence sometimes persist despite the presence of a strong state? We argue that this is because individuals who grow up in unsafe places learn to distrust criminal justice institutions, such as police, and to rely on themselves and their family for protection. Even if institutions improve, they persist in these self-defense habits. To examine the empirical viability of this argument, we study millions of internal white US migrants. We find that migrants from historically unsafe states carry much of their risk of violent death with them, including the risk of police violence. They do so even when compared to similar migrants living in the same region. In a large-scale national survey, we find that they distrust law enforcement and are more likely to rely on themselves for protection in dangerous situations. Our results have implications for which strategies governments could adopt to reduce violence. Social science/Politics and international relations Social science/Sociology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-4139199","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":289655439,"identity":"abcf13e8-32a0-4a7c-b445-be1b6f3c7031","order_by":0,"name":"Gabriel Lenz","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4UlEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACdhBRcYCBgYeB8QBY5AAhLcwg4gxYCwMJWhjbSNEi78x87OHPeXfkzHsOHzjwsY1Bju9GAn4thofZ0g0ktz0zljnblnBwZhuDsSRBLc08ZhKG2w4nzuDnMTjM28aQuIGwFv5vEolzDtfP4Of/cPhvG0M9QS3yzDxsEgcbDidI8PYwHGZsY0gwIKTFgJnNTLLh2DPDGTzHDA72nJMwnHnmAQFb2pufSf6ouSMvwZP88MGPMht5vuOEbDmAzGNkk8CvHGxLAwr3D2Edo2AUjIJRMPIAAFPPSgg8jyHaAAAAAElFTkSuQmCC","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7844-6027","institution":"UC Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Gabriel","middleName":"","lastName":"Lenz","suffix":""},{"id":289655440,"identity":"1ac11808-a708-46b9-bf0a-66cfafde388d","order_by":1,"name":"Anna Mikkelborg","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"UC Berkeley","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Anna","middleName":"","lastName":"Mikkelborg","suffix":""},{"id":289655441,"identity":"86abd0fb-4be3-42c8-b5ac-3532fe24904d","order_by":2,"name":"Martin Vinæs Larsen","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Aarhus University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Martin","middleName":"Vinæs","lastName":"Larsen","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2024-03-20 19:21:12","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4139199/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4139199/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":57715272,"identity":"182646b8-a417-4119-b4e7-f8a591e91408","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2024-06-04 16:58:21","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1146144,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"whitemighompaperv8.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-4139199/v1_covered_0d90d26f-1cb5-4181-be08-255ba7e3d1d3.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"There is \u003cb\u003eNO\u003c/b\u003e Competing Interest.","formattedTitle":"Why Does Interpersonal Violence Persist?","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-4139199/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-4139199/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"Why do high rates of interpersonal violence sometimes persist despite the presence of a strong state? 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