Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-jn8rn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T05:57:22.177Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Sociocultural discourse in science: Flawed assumptions and bias in the CLASH model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 May 2017

Elizabeth E. Van Voorhees
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705Elizabeth.VanVoorhees@va.govSarah.M.Wilson@va.govPatrick.Calhoun2@va.govEric.Elbogen@va.govJean.Beckham@va.govNathan.Kimbrel@va.govhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Voorheeshttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Wilsonhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Calhounhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean_Beckhamhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Kimbrel Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
Sarah M. Wilson
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705Elizabeth.VanVoorhees@va.govSarah.M.Wilson@va.govPatrick.Calhoun2@va.govEric.Elbogen@va.govJean.Beckham@va.govNathan.Kimbrel@va.govhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Voorheeshttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Wilsonhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Calhounhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean_Beckhamhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Kimbrel Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
Patrick S. Calhoun
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705Elizabeth.VanVoorhees@va.govSarah.M.Wilson@va.govPatrick.Calhoun2@va.govEric.Elbogen@va.govJean.Beckham@va.govNathan.Kimbrel@va.govhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Voorheeshttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Wilsonhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Calhounhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean_Beckhamhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Kimbrel Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710 Center for Health Services Research in Primary Care, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705
Eric B. Elbogen
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705Elizabeth.VanVoorhees@va.govSarah.M.Wilson@va.govPatrick.Calhoun2@va.govEric.Elbogen@va.govJean.Beckham@va.govNathan.Kimbrel@va.govhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Voorheeshttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Wilsonhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Calhounhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean_Beckhamhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Kimbrel Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
Jean C. Beckham
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705Elizabeth.VanVoorhees@va.govSarah.M.Wilson@va.govPatrick.Calhoun2@va.govEric.Elbogen@va.govJean.Beckham@va.govNathan.Kimbrel@va.govhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Voorheeshttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Wilsonhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Calhounhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean_Beckhamhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Kimbrel Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710
Nathan A. Kimbrel
Affiliation:
Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705 VA Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research, Education, and Clinical Center, Durham Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Durham, NC 27705Elizabeth.VanVoorhees@va.govSarah.M.Wilson@va.govPatrick.Calhoun2@va.govEric.Elbogen@va.govJean.Beckham@va.govNathan.Kimbrel@va.govhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elizabeth_Voorheeshttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sarah_Wilsonhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Patrick_Calhounhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jean_Beckhamhttps://www.researchgate.net/profile/Nathan_Kimbrel Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710

Abstract

In this commentary, we contest Van Lange and colleagues' central claim that “countries closer to the equator are generally more violent.” We point to the lack of credible empirical evidence for this assertion and suggest that the CLASH model uses the language of science to lend false credibility to a problematic sociocultural discourse.

Type
Open Peer Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Burke, M., Hsiang, S. M. & Miguel, E. (2015) Climate and conflict. Annual Review of Economics 7:577617.Google Scholar
Cohen, W. B. (2003) The French encounter with Africans: White responses to blacks, 1530–1880. Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Dodge, K. A. & Coie, J. D. (1987) Social-information-processing factors in reactive and proactive aggression in children's peer groups. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 53(6):1146–58.Google Scholar
Easterly, W. & Levine, R. (2003) Tropics, germs, and crops: How endowments influence economic development. Journal of Monetary Economics 50(1):339. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0304-3932(02)00200-3.Google Scholar
Fienberg, S. E. & Resnick, D. P. (1997) Reexamining the bell curve. In: Intelligence, genes, and success: Scientists respond to the bell curve, ed. Devlin, B., Fienberg, S. E., Resnick, D. P. & Roeder, K., pp. 318. Springer Science+Business Media.Google Scholar
Ghandi, L. (1998) Postcolonial theory: An introduction. Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Glass, D. C., Snyder, M. L. & Hollis, J. F. (1974) Time urgency and the type A coronary-prone behavior pattern. Journal of Applied Social Psychology 4(2):125–40. doi: 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1974.tb00663.x.Google Scholar
Harrison, F. V. (1995) The persistent power of “race” in the culture and political economy of racism. Annual Review of Anthropology 24:4774.Google Scholar
Karlberg, L., Krakau, I. & Undén, A.-L. (1998) Type A behavior intervention in primary health care reduces hostility and time pressure: A study in Sweden. Social Science & Medicine 46(3):397402. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0277-9536(97)00169-X.Google Scholar
Krug, E. G., Mercy, J. A., Dahlberg, L. L. & Zwi, A. B. (2002) The world report on violence and health. The Lancet 360(9339):1083–88. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(02)11133-0.Google Scholar
Montesquieu, Charles de Secondat, baron de (1989). The spirit of the laws. In: Montesquieu: The spirit of the laws, part of Cambridge texts in the history of political thought ed. and trans. Cohler, A. M., Basia, C., Miller, B. C. & Stone, H., pp. 233234. Cambridge University Press. (Original work published 1748.)Google Scholar
Sachs, J. D. (2001) Tropical underdevelopment. National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series, Paper No. 8119. National Bureau of Economic Research. doi: 10.3386/w8119.Google Scholar
Walker, J., Wilson, P. R., Chappell, D. & Weatherburn, D. (1990) A comparison of crime in Australia and other countries. Trends and Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice 23:18. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.Google Scholar