Seville Statement on Violence

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The Seville Statement on Violence is a statement on violence that was adopted by an international meeting of scientists, convened by the Spanish National Commission for UNESCO, in Seville, Spain, on 16 May 1986. It was subsequently adopted by UNESCO at the twenty-fifth session of the General Conference on 16 November 1989. The statement, then known as a 'Statement on Violence', was designed to refute "the notion that organized human violence is biologically determined".^[1]

1 Core Ideas
2 Founding scientists
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Core Ideas

The statement contains five core ideas. These ideas are:

"It is scientifically incorrect to say that we have inherited a tendency to make war from our animal ancestors."
"It is scientifically incorrect to say that war or any other violent behaviour is genetically programmed into our human nature."
"It is scientifically incorrect to say that in the course of human evolution there has been a selection for aggressive behaviour more than for other kinds of behaviour."
"It is scientifically incorrect to say that humans have a 'violent brain'."
"It is scientifically incorrect to say that war is caused by 'instinct' or any single motivation."

The statement concludes: "Just as 'wars begin in the minds of men', peace also begins in our minds. The same species who invented war is capable of inventing peace. The responsibility lies with each of us."^[2]

[edit] Founding scientists

The following is a list of the scientists who founded the statement:

Image:Flag of the United States.svg David Adams, Psychology, Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Image:Flag of Australia.svg S.A. Barnett, Ethology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia
Image:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg N.P. Bechtereva, Neurophysiology, Institute for Experimental Medicine of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Leningrad, U.S.S.R.
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Bonnie Frank Carter, Psychology, Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
Image:Flag of Spain.svg José M. Rodriguez Delgado, Neurophysiology, Centro de Estudios Neurobiológicos, Madrid, Spain
Image:Flag of Mexico.svg José Luis Díaz, Ethology, Instituto Mexicano de Psiquiatría, México D.F., Mexico
Image:Flag of Poland.svg Andrzej Eliasz, Individual Differences Psychology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, Poland
Image:Flag of Mexico.svg Santiago Genovés, Biological Anthropology, Instituto de Estudios Antropológicos, México D.F., Mexico
Image:Flag of the United States.svg Benson E. Ginsburg, Behavior Genetics, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, U.S.A.
Image:Flag of Germany.svg Jo Groebel, Social Psychology, Erziehungswissenschaftliche Hochschule, Landau, Federal Republic of Germany
Image:Flag of India.svg Samir-Kumar Ghosh, Sociology, Indian Institute of Human Sciences, Calcutta, India
Image:Flag of the United Kingdom.svg Robert Hinde, Animal Behaviour, Cambridge University, Cambridge, U.K.
Image:Flag of Kenya.svg Richard E. Leakey, Physical Anthropology, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
Image:Flag of Kuwait.svg Taha H. Malasi, Psychiatry, Kuwait University, Kuwait
Image:Flag of Spain.svg J. Martín Ramírez, Psychobiology, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
Image:Flag of Spain.svg Federico Mayor Zaragoza, Biochemistry, Universidad Autónoma, Madrid, Spain
Image:Flag of Spain.svg Diana L. Mendoza, Ethology, Universidad de Sevilla, Spain
Image:Flag of India.svg Ashis Nandy, Political Psychology, Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, India
Image:Flag of the United States.svg John Paul Scott (geneticist), Animal Behaviour, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, Ohio, U.S.A.
Image:Flag of Finland.svg Riitta Wahlstrom, Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, Finland^[2]

[edit] References

^ Suter, Keith (2005). 50 things you want to know about world issues... but were too afraid to ask. Milson's Point, NSW, Australia: Transworld Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86325-503-5.
^ ^a ^b Seville Statement on Violence, Spain, 1986 (HTML) (English). EDUCATION- Non-Violence Education. UNESCO. Retrieved on 2007-03-04.