The concept of symbolic violence was first introduced by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu to account for the tacit almost unconscious modes of cultural/social domination occurring within the every-day social habits maintained over conscious subjects. Symbolic violence maintains its effect through the mis-recognition of power relations situated in the social matrix of a given field.

One scholar calls the verdict in Payne v. Tennessee, , an example of symbolic violence, complete with its rituals of the jury.

See also

• Victimology

References