Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue, we are interested in interpersonal violence, including aggression that occurs in intimate relationships and those actions perpetrated by strangers or acquaintances outside of family ties.

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines “violence” as follows: “The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, mal-development, or deprivation” (www.who.int/violenceprevention/approach/definition/en/).

This definition emphasized that violence may take different forms: It can be interpersonal, self-directed, or collective.

Interpersonal violence refers to the intentional use of direct or indirect aggression and it can involve two or more people. It may be perpetrated by physical or verbal attacks, sexual assault, and it may also include withdrawal and isolation.

Interpersonal violence can concern intimate relationships (with a partner or within a family) or it can refer to community violence, which takes place among people who know each other more or less deeply outside of a family context. Violence can occur also among unknown people. This form of violence includes bullying, stalking, sexual harassment, and more in general the violence that takes place in institutional contexts such as schools or workplaces or in sport contexts, such as stadiums. 

This Special Issue aims to document the nature of the phenomenon, its consequences (at an individual, social, and economical levels), interventions, and prevention programs in different contexts. Contributions from across the globe, including non-western countries, are welcome. Learning from the failures, as well as successes, of prevention and intervention programs is important too. The listed keywords suggest only a few of many possibilities.

Dr. Daniela Acquadro Maran
Dr. Tatiana Begotti
Guest Editors

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• Bullying
• Bullying at work
• Cyberbullying
• Stalking
• Cyberstalking
• Incivility at work
• Mobbing
• Harassment
• Sexual harassment
• Workplace violence
• Discrimination
• Racial/ethnic harassment