The International Handbook of Violence Research: *brings together 62 articles written by famous authors from ten different countries; *describes the long term development of relevant research and addresses current tendencies; *pays special attention to sociological research, i.e. to violence as a social phenomenon; *deals with various socio-structural relations and their impact on violence, socialization and the learning of violence, experiences of violence and violent activities, results of victimology, violence in the public space, and the use of violence by political groups or by state institutions; *covers the whole dynamic process of violent activities: discourses, justifications, and interpretations of violence; *provides analyses based on socio-psychological, historical, political and legal research or with a background in socio-biology or cultural studies;*paints a complex picture that displays an area of complicated research on questions of order, destruction and power.