A threat is a communication of intent to inflict harm or loss on another person. Intimidation is a tactic used between conflicting parties to make the other timid or psychologically insecure for coercion or control. The act of intimidation for coercion is considered a threat.
26-414: Coercion involves compelling a party to act in an involuntary manner by the use of threats , including threats to use force against that party. It involves a set of forceful actions which violate the free will of an individual in order to induce a desired response. These actions may include extortion , blackmail , or even torture and sexual assault . Common-law systems codify the act of violating
52-490: A law while under coercion as a duress crime . Coercion used as leverage may force victims to act in a way contrary to their own interests. Coercion can involve not only the infliction of bodily harm, but also psychological abuse (the latter intended to enhance the perceived credibility of the threat). The threat of further harm may also lead to the acquiescence of the person being coerced. The concepts of coercion and persuasion are similar, but various factors distinguish
78-410: A low-cost punishment for failed cooperation. Mental rejection is a more individual action, where a person subconsciously or willfully ignores an idea, or a set of information related to a particular viewpoint. Some groups are made up of people who shun the same ideas. Social rejection was and is a punishment in many customary legal systems . Such sanctions include the ostracism of ancient Athens and
104-431: A monetary advantage or to compel a person to act against their will . In most U.S. states, it is an offense to threaten to (1) use a deadly weapon on another person; (2) injure another's person or property; or (3) injure another's reputation. In Brazil , the crime of threatening someone, defined as a threat to cause unjust and grave harm, is punishable by a fine or three months to one year in prison , as described in
130-420: A monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force". Morris argues that the state can operate through incentives rather than coercion. Healthcare systems may use informal coercion to make a patient adhere to a doctor's treatment plan. Under certain circumstances, medical staff may use physical coercion to treat a patient involuntarily. The purpose of coercion is to substitute one's aims with weaker ones that
156-424: A peer-group, or creating feelings of guilt/obligation via a display of anger or hurt by someone whom the victim loves or respects. Threat Threatening or threatening behavior (or criminal threatening behavior) is the crime of intentionally or knowingly putting another person in fear of bodily injury . Some of the more common types of threats forbidden by law are those made with an intent to obtain
182-410: A serious sin and is unrepentant. Elders may meet with the individual a number of times to encourage repentance before deciding to remove the person from the congregation. For many years, members were instructed to not even greet shunned individuals. As of March 2024, members are permitted to invite shunned individuals to congregation meetings or offer brief greetings at meetings, unless the individual
208-461: Is a formal decision by a denomination or a congregation to cease interaction with an individual or a group, and follows a particular set of rules. It differs from, but may be associated with, excommunication . Social rejection occurs when a person or group deliberately avoids association with, and habitually keeps away from an individual or group. This can be a formal decision by a group, or a less formal group action which will spread to all members of
234-464: Is deemed to be an apostate. Sociologist Andrew Holden's research indicates that many Witnesses who would otherwise defect because of disillusionment with the organization and its teachings retain affiliation out of fear of being shunned and losing contact with friends and family members. Cherem is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from
260-420: Is made in jest. The U.S. Supreme Court has held that true threats are not protected under the U.S. Constitution based on three justifications: preventing fear, preventing the disruption that follows from that fear, and diminishing the likelihood that the threatened violence will occur. Shunning Shunning can be the act of social rejection , or emotional distance. In a religious context, shunning
286-522: Is only used as a last resort and only lasts until the antagonism ceases. Failure to disconnect from a suppressive person is itself labelled a suppressive act. In the United States, the Church has tried to argue in court that disconnection is a constitutionally protected religious practice. However, this argument was rejected because the pressure put on individual Scientologists to disconnect means it
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#1732772837258312-410: Is the most commonly considered form of coercion, where the content of the conditional threat is the use of force against a victim, their relatives or property. An often used example is "putting a gun to someone's head" ( at gunpoint ) or putting a "knife under the throat" ( at knifepoint or cut-throat) to compel action under the threat that non-compliance may result in the attacker harming or even killing
338-551: The Brazilian Penal Code , article 147. Brazilian does not treat as a crime a threat that was proffered in a heated discussion. The German Strafgesetzbuch § 241 punishes the crime of threat with a prison term for up to three years or a fine. In the United States , federal law criminalizes certain true threats transmitted via the U.S. mail or in interstate commerce . It also criminalizes threatening
364-475: The Catholic Church expected adherents to shun an excommunicated member in secular matters. In 1983, the distinction between vitandi and others ( tolerandi ) was abolished, and thus the expectation is not made anymore. Jehovah's Witnesses practice a form of shunning, which was for many years referred to as "disfellowshipping". A tribunal of elders determines whether an individual has committed
390-766: The Church deems antagonistic to Scientology). The practice of shunning in Scientology is termed disconnection . Members can disconnect from any person they already know, including existing family members. Many examples of this policy's application have been established in court. It used to be customary to write a "disconnection letter" to the person being disconnected from, and to write a public disconnection notice, but these practices have not continued. The Church states that typically only people with "false data" about Scientology are antagonistic, so it encourages members to first attempt to provide "true data" to these people. According to official Church statements, disconnection
416-606: The Jewish community. It is still used in the Ultra-Orthodox and Hasidic community. In the 21st century, sexual abuse victims and their families who have reported abuse to civil authorities have experienced shunning in the Orthodox communities of New York and Australia. Orthodox Jewish men who refuse to grant their wives a divorce are sometimes subject to shunning or shaming, as a form of social pressure intended to compel
442-418: The aggressor wants the victim to have. For this reason, many social philosophers have considered coercion as the polar opposite to freedom . Various forms of coercion are distinguished: first on the basis of the kind of injury threatened, second according to its aims and scope , and finally according to its effects , from which its legal, social, and ethical implications mostly depend. Physical coercion
468-408: The government officials of the United States . Some U.S. states criminalize cyberbullying . Threats of bodily harm are considered assault . In the state of Texas , it is not necessary that the person threatened actually perceive a threat for a threat to exist for legal purposes. A true threat is threatening communication that can be prosecuted under the law. It is distinct from a threat that
494-468: The group as a form of solidarity. It is a sanction against association, often associated with religious groups and other tightly knit organizations and communities. Targets of shunning can include persons who have been labeled as apostates , whistleblowers , dissidents , strikebreakers , or anyone the group perceives as a threat or source of conflict. Social rejection has been established to cause psychological damage and has been categorized as torture or
520-453: The husband to allow his wife to leave the marriage. This pressure can take the form of refusing to allow the husband to perform certain religious rituals in the synagogue, refusing his business in commerce, legal solutions such as restraining orders, and public shaming. Members of the Baháʼí Faith are expected to shun those that have been declared Covenant-breakers , and expelled from
546-408: The limited use of actual force to back up the threat, to induce an adversary to behave differently than it otherwise would." Coercion does not in many cases amount to destruction of property or life since compliance is the goal. Pain compliance is the use of painful stimulus to control or direct an organism. The purpose of pain compliance is to direct the actions of the subject, and to this end,
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#1732772837258572-493: The pain is lessened or removed when compliance is achieved. This provides incentive to the subject to carry out the action required. In psychological coercion, the threatened injury regards the victim's relationships with other people. The most obvious example is blackmail , where the threat consists of the dissemination of damaging information. However, many other types are possible e.g. " emotional blackmail ", which typically involves threats of rejection from or disapproval by
598-583: The religion, by the head of their faith . Covenant-breakers are defined as leaders of schismatic groups that resulted from challenges to legitimacy of Baháʼí leadership , as well as those who follow or refuse to shun them. Unity is considered the highest value in the Baháʼí Faith, and any attempt at schism by a Baháʼí is considered a spiritual sickness, and a negation of that for which the religion stands. The Church of Scientology asks its members to quit all communication with suppressive persons (those whom
624-653: The still-used kasepekang in Balinese society. Certain sects of the Amish —an Anabaptist community—practice shunning or meidung . Historically, the Schwarzenau Brethren practiced a form of shunning that they called "avoidance," a refusal to eat with even a family member whom the church had placed in "avoidance." Prior to the Code of Canon Law of 1983 , in rare cases (known as excommunication vitandi )
650-408: The two. These include the intent, the willingness to cause harm, the result of the interaction, and the options available to the coerced party. John Rawls , Thomas Nagel , Ronald Dworkin , and other political authors argue that the state is coercive . In 1919, Max Weber (1864–1920), building on the view of Ihering (1818–1892), defined a state as "a human community that (successfully) claims
676-470: The victim. These are so common that they are also used as metaphors for other forms of coercion. Armed forces in many countries use firing squads to maintain discipline and intimidate the masses, or opposition, into submission or silent compliance . However, there also are nonphysical forms of coercion, where the threatened injury does not immediately imply the use of force. Byman and Waxman (2000) define coercion as "the use of threatened force, including
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