Why are men so violent?

I have been engaging in an ongoing conversation with a friend about violence and men and he flat out asked, “Why are men so violent?” The question became a springboard for a greater dialogue with my friend and others and I thought it would be an interesting post to our Blog. So, with his permission, we are putting this question out here and creating space for some open dialogue. We would be interested in hearing what you think or how you would respond to such a question and ask that you would participate in our dialogue by posting in the comments section.

If you think this is an unfair question, consider a small sample of the overwhelming stats that validate the need to ask this question…

*Nearly one-third of American women (31 percent) report being physically or sexually abused by a husband or boyfriend at some point in their lives, according to a 1998 Commonwealth Fund survey.[The Commonwealth Fund, Health Concerns Across a Woman’s Lifespan: 1998 Survey of Women’s Health, May 1999]

*99.8% of the people in prison convicted of rape are men.
[National Crime Statistics]

*The majority of victims of men's violence are other men (76% Males, 24% Females).
[U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justic Statistics]

*Forty percent of girls age 14 to 17 report knowing someone their age who has been hit or beaten by a boyfriend.[Children Now/Kaiser Permanente poll, December 1995]

*A nationwide survey found male students more likely to have been involved in a physical fight than female students in the 12 months preceding the survey.[http://www.4woman.gov/mens/violence/]

*In 2003 men 15-19 years of age were more than four times as likely to die from suicides as girls their same age.
[http://www.4woman.gov/mens/violence]

*Of all the homicides reported in the 18 to 24 age group in 2004, 86 percent of the victims were males.[http://www.4woman.gov/mens/violence]

It begs the question, "Why are men so violent?"