Violent Land: Single Men & Social Disorder from the Frontier to the Inner City

by David T. Courtwright

This book offers an explosive look at violence in America―why it is so prevalent, and what and who are responsible. David Courtwright takes the long view of his subject, developing the historical pattern of violence and disorder in this country. Where there is violent and disorderly behavior, he shows, there are plenty of men, largely young and single. What began in the mining camp and bunkhouse has simply continued in the urban world of today, where many young, armed, intoxicated, honor-conscious bachelors have reverted to frontier conditions.

Violent Land combines social science with an engrossing narrative that spans and reinterprets the history of violence and social disorder in America. Courtwright focuses on the origins, consequences, and eventual decline of frontier brutality. Though these rough days have passed, he points out that the frontier experience still looms large in our national self-image―and continues to influence the extent and type of violence in America as well as our collective response to it.

Broadly interdisciplinary, looking at the interplay of biological, social, and historical forces behind the dark side of American life, this book offers a disturbing diagnosis of violence in our society.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Sociology, American History, Economics, Psychology, Cultural

372 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1996

About the author

David Courtwright is known for his books on drug use and drug policy in American and world history (Dark Paradise, Addicts Who Survived, and Forces of Habit) and for his books on the special problems of frontier environments (Violent Land and Sky as Frontier). His most recent book, No Right Turn, chronicles the tumultuous politics and surprising outcome of the culture war that engulfed America in the four decades after Nixon's 1968 election.

Courtwright lives in Jacksonville, Florida, and teaches history at the University of North Florida, where he is Presidential Professor. He was educated at the University of Kansas and at Rice University.

Photo credit: David Wilson

Reviews

[Keith Kelley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly great piece of non-fiction. It manages to be informative from multiple perspectives and angles, includes plenty of charming and downright funny anecdotes, all while being quite approachable. You should read it.

Non-fiction tends to struggle with aging poorly over time, and I am sure much of the latter sections of the book are out of date. At the same time, the subject matter is as relevant as ever, but approached in a way I find more sober and honest than the vast majority of discourse on men and masculinity circling around in general today. You will not find social or biological determinism here, nor references to a strawman "traditional masculinity". By grounding itself in describing history, Violent Land manages to by and large stay above the modern (increasingly explicitly red vs blue) fray.

Courtwright doesn't just describe who does commit violent acts, but also who doesn't, highlighting the tension in society between the connected wealthier man and the loner poorer man, the way that women promote moralizing behavior towards loners, and the material and cultural influences underneath all of it. It is nuanced and multi-factorial, but ultimately seems to boil down to violence coming, not from entitlement to the other, but from a felt lack of value as a person, enabling a willingness to throw your life away for a scrap of recognition.

[Jason · Rating 4 out of 5]

Violent Land makes an intriguing case for the author’s factors that lead to a prevalence of violent crime in society. He makes much of the gender imbalance in the West during the American westward expansion, effectively tying it to violence among a group of perpetual bachelors as the root of the issue. When it comes to modern crime, he turns the equation around to prove that an imbalance in the other direction also leads to problems.

M/F ratio > Men = < domestication = more crime.

M/F ratio < Men within the urban black population = > pressure on black females to accede to male demands and compete amongst each other for the dregs in an upside-down social hierarchy dominated by the worst-behaved and least-civilized.

This is because male children are growing up in unstable homes, with a contempt for education, without proper nutrition or guidance from absent fathers and overburdened/uneducated mothers, resulting in a contempt for authority, legitimate work, and good behavior. Negative street culture views authority figures as ‘m-f@#%ers,’ working as ‘slaving,’ casual exploitation of ‘b!*^es’ as well and good, gangs as ‘my people,’ good behavior as ‘acting white,’ education as ‘talking white.’

This exacerbates low unemployment with low education, no connection to mainstream society, and nothing to lose. Prospects for females are decreased by black males marrying white, with most of the rest dying or being incarcerated for illicit activity. Their offspring is then illegitimate, under-socialized, and undereducated in their own right, continuing the spiral begun shortly after desegregation by the sexual and media revolutions, the cocaine epidemic, and declining efficiency in the criminal justice system.

The author paints a bleak picture, to which no answers are offered. The situation is portrayed as too complicated for any particular plan, and when people have tried to address the problems, they were attacked by the media and the very advocacy groups that claim to protect the interests of the victims themselves.

Violent Land is an informative, if often depressing look at where America has been and where we are headed for the foreseeable future.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

I begin with a simple argument, an argument that can be stated in the form of a statistical syllogism. Young men are prone to violence and disorder; America attracted unusually large numbers of young men; therefore America, or at any rate that part of it to which the surplus young men gravitated, was a more violent and disorderly place.

This book examines violence in America throughout history, focusing on frontier towns, cowboy culture, Chinatowns, migrant laborers, and the inner city. Courtwright addresses two main questions -- why are men "prone to violence", and what factors can explain differences in violence, social disorder, etc. in place and time? A high [male to female] gender ratio is the main ingredient, but Courtwright also looks at other factors, including unemployment, substance abuse, religious observance, class, culture, racism.

Fascinating stuff, and ultimately a devastating indictment of masculinity, but the key question, why are men prone to violence, is never adequately addressed. Chalking this up to evolution seems way too easy.

[Kaitrin · Rating 3 out of 5]

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