Violence is a general term to describe behavior, usually deliberate, that causes or intends to cause physical injury to people, animals, or non-living objects. Violence is often associated with aggression. There are essentially two kinds of violence: random violence, which describes small-scale acts of random or targeted violence, and coordinated violence, which describes actions carried out by sanctioned or unsanctioned violent groups, such as war and terrorism.
Certain forms of violence are socially and legally sanctioned, others consists of crimes within a society. Different societies apply different standards relating to approved and non-approved forms of violence. Sometimes violence that is not accepted by a society's norms is called cruel.
Violence can be unilateral, while fighting implies a reaction, at least a defensive one.
