Breeds Violence Research Articles

Violence Breeds Violence: Childhood Exposure and Adolescent Conduct Problems.

The relationships between childhood exposure to violence and adolescent conduct problems were investigated in a sample of 88 primiparous adolescent mothers and their children. Regression analyses revealed that witnessing violence and victimization prior to age 10 predicted delinquency and violent behaviors, even after controlling for prenatal maternal and early childhood externalizing problems. Social competency and depression during middle childhood moderated the relationship between victimization and violent behaviors for girls, but not boys: Lower levels of social competency and depression served as risk factors for delinquency among teenage girls who experienced victimization during childhood. These findings have important implications for youth violence prevention programs.

How Violence Breeds Violence: Some Utilitarian Considerations

Recent philosophical writing about war has focused upon just war theory, especially how best to construe the ius ad bellum and ius in bello tenets, and whether the distinction between combatants and non-combatants can be made in the modern world. Historically and politically, calls to war have often appealed to utilitarian considerations. In this article, I discuss important long-range consequences rarely mentioned in utilitarian defences of particular decisions to engage states in war. When consequences are weighed fully not only in the short term but with an eye to the future, bearing the destiny of all people in mind, it emerges that belligerent approaches to international conflict resolution will not maximise utility.

Todliche Prasens/zen. Uber die Philosophie des Literarischen bei Doblin

Dronske, Ulrich. Todliche Prasens/zen: Uber die Philosophie des Literarischen bei Alfred Doblin. Wurzburg. Konigshausen & Neumann,1998. 185 pp. DM 58.00 paperback. Despite its ambivalence, the book's concluding sentence contains a negative judgment when it states that Alexanderplatz lacks the minimal coherence that is shared by Doblin's other works. What Dronske really thinks of Dublin's other works of fiction remains unspoken since he restricts his analysis chiefly to the mentioned novel and to how it relates to a number of Dublin's theoretical works. The latter is where the real strength of this book lies since it gives the reader a view of Dublin's philosophy of nature and of literature, a view that is both informative and comprehensive considering the large body of relevant texts. Central to Donske's discussion of Dublin's philosophy of nature are the notions of the UrIch (Anonymous I of the World) and the beseelte Zeichen (Individual I's), which mutually reflect and condition each other. While the latter is in constant motion and breeds violence, the former is static and reaffirms order, with death being the unifying harmonizer between the two forces. Dublin's views on nature are directly connected to his theory of literature, especially his call for a rebirth of writing and his concurrent disparagement of the psychological novel. Although Dronske sees a certain continuity in what, at different stages of his development, Dublin defined as epic style (including the contemporaneity of events and their concentration on a moment in time as well as the independence of individual narrative parts), he also noted a progression from the writer's proclamation of the Berlin Program (the subtitle to the essay An Romanautoren and ihre Kritiker) of 1913 and his later essay of 1928, Der Bau des epischen Werks. Dublin's steinerner Stil (granite style) of sticking to empirical facts gradually gave way to a playful use of the freie Phantasie (inventive imagination). The common denominator between the two phases of development, as well as their joint link to Dublin's philosophy of nature, is reflected in the title of Dronske's book. Prasens stands for the author's intended immediacy of his narration in time; Prasenz for the element of the writer's representing things in a physically limited space; and todlich (deadly) refers both to the extinction of the individual in death and its simultaneous unification with the Ur-Ich and to the mortal crystallization of the spoken language (from which the emanates) in the literary work (die Verschriftung der Literatur). …

Alcohol and violence

Research indicates a strong relationship between drinking and violent crime. Aggression and heavy drinking may be associated in the same people, therefore it is instructive to see how the development of violence interacts with the development of drinking across the lifespan. A developmental pathway is traced across the lifespan, indicating how certain individual characteristics independently increase the likelihood of both drinking and violence, and how the ways certain individuals interact with their social environment increase the likelihood of both drinking and violence. Attention is paid to the pharmacological and cognitive effects of alcohol in relation to aggressive behaviour. In tracing a developmental pathway, the risk factors for alcohol-related violence are identified, indicating appropriate targets for prevention and intervention. Since generally violent men form one subgroup of perpetrators of domestic violence, this subgroup being more severely violent and characterized by being themselves abused as children, having witnessed parental violence and having high rates of substance use, and because witnessing or experiencing violence breeds the next generation of perpetrators of domestic violence, it is important to break the cycle by recognizing and changing violent individuals, as well as preventing further damage to their offspring. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Alcohol and violence

Research indicates a strong relationship between drinking and violent crime. Aggression and heavy drinking may be associated in the same people, therefore it is instructive to see how the development of violence interacts with the development of drinking across the lifespan. A developmental pathway is traced across the lifespan, indicating how certain individual characteristics independently increase the likelihood of both drinking and violence, and how the ways certain individuals interact with their social environment increase the likelihood of both drinking and violence. Attention is paid to the pharmacological and cognitive effects of alcohol in relation to aggressive behaviour. In tracing a developmental pathway, the risk factors for alcohol-related violence are identified, indicating appropriate targets for prevention and intervention. Since generally violent men form one subgroup of perpetrators of domestic violence, this subgroup being more severely violent and characterized by being themselves abused as children, having witnessed parental violence and having high rates of substance use, and because witnessing or experiencing violence breeds the next generation of perpetrators of domestic violence, it is important to break the cycle by recognizing and changing violent individuals, as well as preventing further damage to their offspring. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

System memory in violent incidents: evidence from patterns of reoccurrence.

For 20% of a sample of 1,078 violent incidents reported in British bars and pubs, another incident was reported at the same premises within 6 months. Log-survival analysis revealed nonrandom sequences that demonstrate a system memory effect separate from any biases involving particular venues. The rate of reoccurrence was not constant during the 6 months following incidents but was significantly higher for Weeks 1-4, approximated to the mean value for Weeks 5-12, and declined for Weeks 13-26. Reoccurrence was particularly likely in the first 3-4 days after an incident. Risk of reoccurrence was further increased for incidents that involved either threats or the exit and return of the assailants within that original incident. Results support the view that "violence breeds violence" and demonstrate the need for increased staff vigilance for up to 12 weeks following a violent incident, and particularly during the first few days and weeks.

Child-rearing and child abuse antecedents of criminality

A number of studies reviewed here show that those who are exposed to negative child-rearing practices varying from punitive and lax parenting to severe punishment and abuse in childhood tend to be antisocial, aggressive and commit violent crimes later in life. Both the record approach (Widom) studying later outcomes among abused children and the retrospective approach (Lewis) studying violent childhood experiences among offenders provide support for the violence breeds violence hypothesis. It appears clear that punishment in child-rearing increases the risk for maladaptive developmental outcomes but that the mechanism explaining the link between negative parenting and later maladjustment is still an unresolved issue. The review argues that a trauma model is the most interesting theoretical approach in explaining the mechanism.

Matricide: A Paradigmatic Case in Family Violence

Violence in the family is multifactorial, requiring a multidisciplinary approach. As a relatively new subject of scientific inquiry, theory and testing are at an early stage of development. However, there is strong evidence that victims of violence have often been exposed to violence in their families of origin. Experts agree that violence breeds violence. After a brief introduction, the author explains the psychodynamics at the basis of this unconscionable type of murder. He touches on projective identification and the symbioticfolie a' deuxfrom which the child tries to escape to achieve an autonomous self He presents a case study of matricide in which the victim is viewed as a maddening, pathologically abusive, domineering person, who, throughout the victimizer's life, had fostered his dependency on her.

Not fear, nor quarantine, but science: Preparation for a decade of research to advance knowledge about causes and control of violence in youths

Both the single case I encountered in the Boston Globe and several sources of national data give a picture of young Black males as a group at extraordinarily high risk for injury and premature death. It is a consequence of violent behavior most often directed toward them by individuals of the same race and of similar age. I do not believe, however, that focusing on the behavioral characteristics of this subgroup will gain us much in controlling the very high costs in life and well-being they incur. Rather, we need to concentrate our attention on the social contexts in which these young men grow up, on the quality of housing and public schools available to them, on their access to firearms, and on opportunities for legitimate employment available to them. This is an urgent, pressing need for which there exists no formula for success. Many communities across the country are making an effort to find ways of coordinating such needs into a common and sustained strategy. We are clearly at the beginning stage of a campaign. In morally isolating ourselves from this segment of the population, we confer on it the status of being quarantined. Public fear and distrust assume the appearance of a rational response. Gradually these young men and their would-be families become functionally obsolete in society. As a matter of policy, the environments they inhabit are neglected, and, predictably, they deteriorate. It is in this sense that our science policy in regard to violence may be ahead of public policies that regulate (or fail to regulate) the environments in which violence breeds most extensively. The fact that public health, bolstered by the basic developmental and sociological sciences, is poised to take on a leadership role in combating this modern epidemic is welcome news. Recalling the successes of public health campaigns to control infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis, may only be relevant in providing us with a sense of what constitutes a campaign to combat violence. The key actors in this important endeavor appear to be ready for a period of intense cooperation and forging of new knowledge. Now that we have failed in our effort to meet the 1990 objective for a reduction in violent death, the challenge is indeed a weighty one.

Does violence beget violence? A critical examination of the literature.

Critically examines the "violence breeds violence" hypothesis broadly defined. Organized into seven sections, the literature review includes (a) the abuse breeds abuse hypothesis; (b) reports of small numbers of violent/homicidal offenders; (c) studies examining the relationship of abuse and neglect to delinquency, (d) to violent behavior, and (e) to aggressive behavior in infants and young children; (f) abuse, withdrawal, and self-destructive behavior; and (g) studies of the impact of witnessing or observing violent behavior. A detailed discussion of methodological considerations and shortcomings precedes the review. The author concludes that existing knowledge of the long-term consequences of abusive home environments is limited and suggests that conclusions about the strength of the cycle of violence be tempered by the dearth of convincing empirical evidence. Recommendations are made for further research.

Parental Power Breeds Violence against Children

Abstract Sociological theories of child abuse are criticized for their inability to explain the utility of violence for parents. A theory is presented to show that necessary conditions are the nearly total power of parents over children, the lack of institutionalized alternatives for conflict resolution, and the low social status of children. This structure of parent-child relations in American society, paralleled by the structure of legal and educational institutions for children, makes child abuse possible.

The plight of the battered wife†

The results and deductions are given from a Survey of 100 Battered Wives, seen at a Womens’ Aid Crisis Refuge and in psychiatric practice. The patterns and life history and the psycho‐social implications are discussed and deductions drawn. The pattern of how violence breeds and nurtures violence is shown, but results also postulate that it is possible for women to be drawn into a violent marital relationship, either by deprivation or by misdirected well‐meaning intent. Many of the relationships were of a precipitous type with the traditional values of courtship and engagement being replaced by pre‐marital sexual intercourse with consequent pregnancy.

The plight of the battered wife†

The results and deductions are given from a Survey of 100 Battered Wives, seen at a Womens’ Aid Crisis Refuge and in psychiatric practice. The patterns and life history and the psycho‐social implications are discussed and deductions drawn. The pattern of how violence breeds and nurtures violence is shown, but results also postulate that it is possible for women to be drawn into a violent marital relationship, either by deprivation or by misdirected well‐meaning intent. Many of the relationships were of a precipitous type with the traditional values of courtship and engagement being replaced by pre‐marital sexual intercourse with consequent pregnancy.

Does violence breed violence? Contributions from a study of the child abuse syndrome.

A study covering three generations of families of abused children supports the themes that violence breeds violence and that a child who experiences violence as a child has the potential of becoming a violent member of society in the future. The authors believe that the physician has a critical role and responsibility in interrupting this cycle of violence.