Frequency Of Violent Behavior Research Articles

Child‐to‐Parent Violence: Examining the Frequency and Reasons in Spanish Youth

ObjectiveThe structure, reliability, and validity of the Child‐to‐Parent Violence Questionnaire (CPV‐Q) for youth is analyzed. Additionally, the frequency of child‐to‐parent violence and the reasons for carrying it out are analyzed.BackgroundChild violence toward parents is a type of violence that has recently garnered great social and scientific interest. The frequency rates found vary considerably (psychological violence between 8.5% and 27% and physical violence between 1.8% and 6.1%), in part due to the type of assessment instruments used.MethodA total of 1,543 young Spanish people between 18 and 25 years of age (50.2% male; Mage = 19.2 years; SD = 1.9) participated in this study and reported on the frequency of violent behavior toward parents when they were 12 and 17 years old.ResultsThe results confirm a factorial structure of the CPV‐Q, with four factors: psychological, physical, financial, and control/domain. The reasons for child‐to‐parent violence were grouped into instrumental and reactive.ConclusionsThe CPV‐Q for young people presents adequate psychometric properties. The high frequency rates of child‐to‐parent violence justify the need to continue advancing the study of this phenomenon.ImplicationsThe CPV‐Q is a useful instrument for assessing child‐to‐parent violence for both research and professional practice. It allows evaluating the frequency of a wide range of violent behaviors and the underlying reasons motivating this type of violence, which is of great help for interventions.

Gender and violence risk assessment in prisons.

Our study examines the association between Historical, Clinical, Risk Management-20: Version 2; Psychopathy Checklist-Revised; and Violence Risk Assessment Guide scores and violence perpetrated during incarceration by male and female inmates. Using a sample of 288 men and 183 women selected from prisons in 2 states, we used receiver operating characteristics analyses to assess the potential of these 3 measures to predict threatened, physical, or sexual prison violence measured in 2 ways: inmate self-report and formal institutional infractions. We found all 3 instruments to demonstrate moderate to good levels of predictive accuracy for both the male and female inmates, a finding that suggests that actuarial, structured professional judgment and personality measures perform in a broadly comparable manner in assessing institutional violence for both men and women. Our findings did vary on the basis of the way violence was measured: Women self-reported significantly higher levels of prison violence than was suggested by their institutional infractions, and the associative power of the instruments diminished substantially, particularly among the men, when institutional infractions alone were used in the analyses. These findings suggest that the 3 risk measures are likely to be gender neutral in their association with prison violence, albeit with gender-related differences in the frequency of violent behavior and the relevance of particular subscales. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved).

Jealousy and violence in dating relationships: gender-related differences among a Spanish sample.

The present study analyzes violent behavior (psychological, physical, and sexual violence) that may occur in dating relationships. Data was collected from couples of adolescents and young adults in a sample of 579 students from the region of Madrid, consisting of 319 females and 260 males aged between 12 and 22 years. A novel aspect of this study compared with the great majority of published studies is analysis of a) the frequency of violent behaviors (and not only their presence or absence) to study significant mean differences and b) potential gender and age related differences in the patterns of violence. Results indicate the high prevalence of violence in Spanish dating relationships. Specifically, females carry out more mild physical (p < .001) and psychological violence (p < .05), whereas males perpetrate more sexual violence (p < .001). However, with regard to victimization, no significant gender related differences in frequency were found between boys and girls in any type of violence. With regard to age, young adolescents perform (p < .05) and suffer (p < .01) significantly more jealous behavior, whereas the young adults of our sample commit and suffer more sexual violence (p < .05). Directions for future research are outlined, mainly concerning instruments used that ought to be more sensitive to the reality being measured.

Violence among high school students in Thailand: Cultural perspectives

The objectives of this study were to explore the prevalence and severity of violent behavior among high school students in Thailand, in relation to their family, peers, school and neighborhoods. The sample consisted of 2897 youths. Seven scales were used to measure violence. Males were found to be more violent than females, and the strongest predictor of own violence was violence in the youth's environment, followed by peer effects and personal characteristics. The results indicate that besides some unique influences, which could explain emphasis or differences in type, range and frequency of violent behaviors among Thai youth, compared with youth from other cultures, risk factors for youth violence reported in Western studies are applicable also to Thai youths. The results were interpreted in light of the cultural characteristics of Thailand.

School Violence: Evaluation and Proposal of Teaching Staff

The aim of this work was to evaluate the frequency of violent behaviors in educational centers, according to self-report of the teaching staff. To that end, a questionnaire about school violence was administered to a sample of 616 teachers working in primary and secondary schools in Galicia, Spain. Disruptive and antisocial behaviors in the student population were reported to affect the teaching effort negatively. The compiled data indicate verbal aggression is the most common form of violence used by the student population and reveal the dissatisfaction of teaching staff not prepared for this challenge. Teachers felt the need to devise new effective responses to promote concord in educational communities.

Prevalence and correlates of adolescent dating violence: Baseline study of a cohort of 7960 male and female Mexican public school students

Introduction. Factors correlated with adolescent dating violence have yet to be documented in most developing countries; this study assesses the prevalence and correlates of victimization with and perpetration of dating violence among Mexican youth. Methods. This was the baseline measurement (1998–1999) of a cohort of 7960 public school students (11–24 years) developed to explore various health behaviors in Mexican youth. Multinomial logistic regression models were constructed with adolescent dating violence as the dependent variable. Results. Prevalence of dating violence victimization was 9.37% (female) and 8.57% (male) for psychological violence; 9.88% (female) and 22.71% (male) for physical violence, and 8.63% (female) and 15.15% (male) for both psychological and physical violence. Prevalence of perpetration was 4.21% (female) and 4.33% (male) for psychological violence; 20.99% (female) and 19.54% (male) for physical violence; and 7.48% (female) and 5.51% (male) for both types of violence. Factors associated with dating violence victimization for both genders included: two or more lifetime sexual partners and intra-familial violence. Higher age, alcohol use and illegal drug use were significantly associated with victimization only among girls. The following were significantly associated with perpetration of dating violence in both genders: gang membership, illegal drug use, two or more lifetime sexual partners and intra-familial violence. Higher age and alcohol use were significantly associated with perpetration only among girls. High or middle socio-economic status was associated with perpetration only in boys. Conclusions. Future research on adolescent dating violence in Mexico should further explore severity and frequency of violent behaviors, include a focus on severe dating violence and take into account the context and meaning of dating violence. A longitudinal design that allows determination of causality will also be needed in order to develop prevention strategies.

Findings from the National Comorbidity Survey on the frequency of violent behavior in individuals with psychiatric disorders

Previous studies using probability samples have found a noticeable, but small association between violence and psychiatric disorder. In this article, we analyze data from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) to further examine this question. Psychiatric diagnosis of survey responses was based on a modified version of the Composite International Diagnostic Interview. The NCS study also included items that permitted self-report of violent behaviors in the past year. People with 12-month diagnoses of anxiety disorders, dysthymia and major depression were three to four times more likely to admit violent behaviors than those with no disorders. People with bipolar disorder or drug and alcohol abuse were eight times more likely to report violent behaviors. People with co-occurring non-substance and substance abuse disorders were more likely to report violence than those with only non-abuse disorders. Adjusting violence rates by population base rates shows demographics including ethnicity and gender to be a better predictor of violent behavior than psychiatric diagnosis. The NCS findings approximate those in other probability studies and echo the conclusions of the 1996 Consensus Statement by Advocates and Researchers on violence and mental illness; namely, mental illness is only a weak predictor of violent behavior.

School functioning and violent behavior among young adolescents: a contextual analysis.

This paper examines associations between overall school functioning and frequency of violent behaviors among young adolescents (ages 10-14). The sample included 16 middle schools participating in an unrelated intervention study (on nutrition) in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A School Functioning Index, developed to characterize schools' overall stability, performance and demographics, was constructed using data from public archives and school administrator surveys. Data on violent behaviors and other variables were collected in student surveys in fall 1998 and spring 1999. We used multilevel modeling to assess the effect of school functioning on violent behavior after adjusting for known individual-level covariates of violent behaviors. We found an interaction between school functioning (group-level variable) and expectations for future education (individual-level variable). Among students who reported expectations of completing a college degree (71% of the sample), positive school functioning was negatively associated with violent behaviors. Among students that reported expectations of completing less than a college degree, no association was found between school functioning and violent behaviors. These results support earlier work suggesting that objectively measured school characteristics are associated with students' violent behaviors even after accounting for individual-level factors and also identify a subgroup of students for whom school detachment may be an issue.

Physically Abused Pregnant Women's Perceptions About the Quality of Their Relationships with Their Male Partners

SUMMARY Objectives. Most studies of pregnant victims of intimate partner violence have focused on the violent behaviors, without examining other potentially important dimensions of the relationships. This research studies pregnant abuse victims to examine the frequency of violent behaviors occurring during pregnancy, how women characterize the quality of their relationships, and the association between violence frequency and women's perceptions concerning the overall quality of their relationships. Methods. Eighty-one women who were physically abused by intimate partners during pregnancy were interviewed. Information was collected concerning the women's: experiences of partner violence during pregnancy; perceptions of other aspects of the quality of their relationships; and sociodemographic characteristics. Results. The most frequent type of violent behavior occurring during pregnancy was verbal aggression, followed by minor violence, and then severe violence. Men perpetrated each type of violent behavior at significantly higher rates than did their female partners. In general, the women were quite negative in their characterizations of many dimensions of their relationships, as well as in their perceptions concerning the overall quality of their relationships, with women who had been victims of more frequent violence being significantly more likely to characterize their relationships as being of lower overall quality (OR = 3.5, 95% CI = 1.4–8.7). Conclusions. Prenatal care providers are encouraged to screen their patients for intimate partner violence, and to work with others in their community to assure that women in abusive situations are offered appropriate services/interventions including safe and feasible alternatives to staying in unsatisfactory relationships with abusive partners.

Moon cycles and violent behaviours: myth or fact?

We formulated the hypothesis that lunar phases, identified by the fraction of the illuminated visible surface of the moon, have a relationship with the frequency of victims of aggression seen in an emergency department. If such a relationship exists, an increase in the frequency of incidents with the phases of full moon or new moon would be expected. In order to test this hypothesis, the daily frequency of victims of violent behaviour seen in the emergency department was used to create a temporal series of data. This was then correlated with a temporal series of lunar luminosity data from the same time period. Crossed correlations in the delay range -7 to +7 days showed coefficient values ranging between -0.102 and +0.034, demonstrating weak correlations without statistical significance. Despite the attractiveness of the popular belief that the moon influences human behaviour, the analysis of our data does not support an association between lunar phases and frequency of violent behaviour. That is, we cannot predict the frequency of cases from a knowledge of lunar luminosity, at least in the period over which our study was performed.

Impact of exposure to community violence on violent behavior and emotional distress among urban adolescents

Examined the effects of witnessing community violence on emotional distress and frequency of violent behavior across three time points within a predominantly African American sample of 436 sixth-grade students in an urban public school system. A high percentage of students, particularly boys, reported witnessing a variety of violent incidents (e.g., shootings, beatings, and stabbings). Comparison of structural equation models revealed a number of significant gender differences in the effects of exposure to violence and in the measurement of violent behavior. Exposure to violence was related to subsequent changes in the frequency of violent behavior among girls, but not among boys. Exposure to violence was not related to subsequent changes in emotional distress for either boys or girls. Cross-sectional results replicated previous studies that have found relations between exposure to violence and frequency of violent behavior; however neither variable was related to emotional distress.

Risk factors related to suicidal behavior among male and female adolescents

This study examined gender differences in self-reported suicidal behavior in relation to the risk factors of tobacco use, alcohol use, drug use, school misconduct, academic difficulties, home environment, sexual activity, and violence among seventh-through twelfth grade students (N=3461)in a northern Midwest school district. Data were gathered from the Survey Instrument of Attitude/Behavior administered in the school district during the spring of 1993. The dependent variables were suicidal activity and suicidal tendency. Stepwise forward regression ordered the independent factors in predicting suicidal activity and suicidal tendency for the male and female samples. The comparison of regression results revealed the following: (1) the independent factors accounted for more variance in male suicidal activity and tendency than in female suicidal activity and tendency; (2) as the level of suicidality increased, so did the frequency of violent behaviors among both genders; (3) leading predictors for suicidal activity were similar between gender; and (4) gender differences were displayed in predictors of suicidal tendency.

Hormonal, anthropometrical, and behavioral correlates of physical aggression in !Kung San men of Namibia

Differences in physical aggression among 114 male !Kung San (bushmen) from Namibia were investigated with regard to sex hormone levels, body dimensions, consumption of alcohol, and degree of acculturation. Subjects were classified from injuries resulting from prior conflicts with mutual physical aggression between the opponents as either violent or nonviolent. The comparison of mean sex hormone values (total serum testosterone, Tser; serum 5α-dihydrotestosterone, DHT; serum estradiol 17β, E2; “free,” non-SHBG-bound salivary testosterone, Tsal) and hormone ratios (Tsal/Tser; DHT/Tser) did not yield any significant differences between the violent and nonviolent group. However, correlation coefficients of sex hormone levels with the frequency of violent behavior within the group of physically aggressive San men were significantly positive for DHT, Tsal, and Tsal/Tser (P < .05) while Tser, E2, and DHT/Tser showed only weak positive correlations. Moreover, the violent men exhibit higher mean values in certain measures of physical robustness which may point to a possible pathway of indirect androgen action on human aggression. When the probands were classified according to their drinking habits, usually abstinent men had shown significantly less violent behavior in the past than men who habitually consume alcohol.

Violence, civil commitment, and hospitalization.

The frequency of violent behavior and civil commitment leading to hospitalization of psychiatric patients was examined comparing the years 1973 and 1983. For each year, 150 patients were randomly selected among admissions to a locked acute psychiatric unit in a university setting. Medical charts were reviewed for descriptions of violent behavior, demographic information, and legal status. While the rate of preadmission violence did not change significantly between 1973 and 1983, there was a threefold increase in the proportion of patients admitted involuntarily as a danger to others. Possible explanations of the inconsistent application of civil commitment statutes are discussed.