Based on the book by Dr. Sears, the article about the Sasha Fleischman assault, the research article you locate via SFSU/Google Scholar, as well as other assigned course readings (including Roughgarden), develop a plausible social-scientific explanation accounting for violence against sexual and gender minorities. The essay should provide a plausible explanation explaining the character, extent and reasons why these forms of violence persist in human populations based on the scientific evidence. The essay should consider the following kinds of questions: v What factors seem most important in encouraging and/or legitimating violence against gender and sexual minorities? v Based on the evidence, are there historical, psychological, sociological or ecological factors that trigger and/or perpetuate such violence? v Why did some societies develop extensive prohibitions and laws against gender variation and others did not? v Identify the sociological and psychological characteristics of people who support and/or enact such violence. v Have these forms of violence increased or decreased over time in American culture? Why and what evidence exists that supports your answer? v Based on your analysis of why these forms of violence persist and the factors that trigger and/or perpetuate them, are there factors that diminish this kind of violence? Are there differences between different societies or different social groups or different social institutions that appear important to diminishing these forms of violence? What evidence supports your answer?