Reasons For Violence Research Articles

Legal Reforms Addressing Sexual Harassment in India: Examining the Role of Women’s Dress as a Contributing Factor

Women's clothing choice is mainly used as a reason for violence against them. The socially constructed aggression toward women is made to fit into the role the woman might be perceived to have in an attack. This shifts part of the responsibility for this violation onto the victim and the perpetrator. This paper discusses how the concept of "choice of dress" has emerged as one of the factors contributing to sexual violence against women. This paper discusses public opinion on this issue and attempts to enter into the perception that women's attire is being used as a justification for violating their rights. This paper has proceeded to analyze the role of law in preventing sexual harassment and considers public opinions on the possible introduction of legal regulations concerning women's dress codes, together with the probable impact such regulations may have on women's self-esteem. This research is based on both primary (convenient sampling and analysis through SPSS software) and secondary sources (books, articles, reports, legal commentaries, and case laws) dealing with sexual harassment laws. It attempts to provide reform proposals that shift attention away from women's clothing and instead focus on accountability on the part of the perpetrators in legal frameworks.

‘Obliged in self-defence to retaliate’. Violent sailors in nineteenth-century Bristol

This article is a study of merchant sailors in Bristol between 1850–1914. There is a stereotypical perception of the sailor as being a drunken, promiscuous, violent nuisance on the streets of a port town. This perception has been fashioned through popular imagery and imagination but also through an historiography that has largely investigated sailors in maritime and nautical contexts. Here I take a different approach and investigate one aspect of working-class culture, namely a man’s propensity for violence, in the context of Bristol’s urban, working-class culture. It will be argued that in their use of violence sailors were not the perceived breed apart but were an integrated presence in Bristol’s wider working-class culture. The reasons for violence, the methods used and the chosen victims of it were not the product of any maritime identity but were constructed from an urban one. Naturally, many sailors continued to display the stereotypical behavioural traits of sailors but there were also those who were aligned to a more respectable way of living. Cultural forces towards masculine respectability tempered some of sailors’ violent behaviours, as did the space available for violence, and consequently places sailors firmly within working-class culture.

Psychosocial distress, perceived social support, and coping in women survivors of domestic violence seeking help from a women's helpline in urban India.

Domestic violence against women is a worldwide phenomenon and a major public health concern. The adverse effects on the physical and mental health of the women survivors of domestic violence are influenced by various psychosocial factors. This study aimed to understand psychological distress, perceived social support, and coping strategies among women survivors of domestic violence and its implications. It is a cross-sectional study conducted with 30 women survivors of domestic violence from urban Bengaluru who were registered with a women's helpline. Data were collected using a socio-demographic schedule, a self-reporting questionnaire assessing psychological distress, perceived social support scale, and ways of coping scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. Psychological distress was the highest among participants facing violence due to perpetrator using alcohol (M = 11.6, SD = 3.9) and (M = 11.73, SD = 3.5) dowry harassment. Perceived social support from family (M = 14.76, SD = 4.54) and friends (M = 11.85, SD = 4.7) was the highest among participants who reported that alcohol use was not a reason for violence. It can be noticed that alcohol use, dowry harassment, and poor coping strategies were the main reasons for domestic violence, which has led to severe psychosocial distress among the women survivors.

Patterns of Violence Experienced by Women Victims of Domestic Violence in Bengaluru City: A Cross-sectional Study

Abstract Introduction Domestic violence has negative effects on the physical health and mental health of women. Domestic violence takes various forms physical, psychological, sexual, and emotional abuse. Many organizations are working with women and their families to prevent and reduce instances of violence. The current study aimed to understand the various patterns of violence among women victims of domestic violence. Materials and Methods The sample of 30 women approaching the women’s helpline, in Bengaluru was considered for the study using a cross-sectional design. The interview schedule for assessing patterns of violence was used. Descriptive statistics were used for analyzing the data. Results The majority of the respondents (50%) were in the age group of 20–29 years, more than half (53.3%) were homemaker and the majority (70%) stayed in nuclear family structures. More than one-fourth reported severe physical violence such as pushing, slapping, and punching. Most of the respondents reported husbands to be perpetrators of violence, 60% reported violence as a habit, and the majority reported dowry harassment as the reason for violence. Conclusion Mental health professionals need to work on the root cause of habitual violence and dowry harassment perpetrated by the spouse and empower the victims.

The Status of Violence of Health Workers and Reasons of Violence from the Perspective of Health Workers

Amaç: Çalışmamızın amacı sağlık çalışanlarının şiddetle karşılaşma durumları ve sağlık çalışanları bakış açısıyla şiddetin nedenlerini belirlemektir. Yöntem: Çalışmanın örneklemini, araştırmaya katılmayı kabul eden 244 sağlık çalışanı oluşturmuştur. Araştırmacılar tarafından literatür taranarak oluşturulan kişisel bilgilerin ve şiddete ilişkin görüşlerin yer aldığı veri toplama formu kullanılmıştır. İstatistiksel analizler SPSS 21 paket programı ile yapılmıştır. Bulgular: Araştırmaya katılanların çalışma yaşamı boyunca şiddete uğrama oranı %77.9’dur. Sağlık çalışanlarının %91.5’i sözlü şiddet ile karşılaştıkları görülmektedir. Araştırmada elde edilen sonuçlara göre, sağlık çalışanları bakış açısıyla sağlık çalışanına şiddet nedenleri sırasıyla hasta/hasta yakınlarının sabırsız olması, hastanelerin kalabalıklığı, hasta/hasta yakınlarının iletişime kapalı olması yer almıştır. Yaş, medeni durum ve meslekteki çalışma süresi ile şiddete maruz kalma arasında anlamlı bir ilişki olduğu görülmüştür. Sonuç: Araştırmaya katılan sağlık çalışanlarının büyük bir kısmının şiddetle karşılaştığı bulunmuştur. Bu nedenle sağlıkla ilgili iş yerlerinde şiddeti önlemeye yönelik gerekli önlemlerin alınması önemlidir. Ayrıca sağlıkta şiddete daha kalıcı çözümler bulunabilmesi için hasta gözünden de olaylar araştırılmalıdır.

Study on the Current Status and Influencing Factors of Workplace Violence to Medical Staff in Intensive Care Units.

Objective To explore the current status and influencing factors of workplace violence to medical staff in intensive care unit (ICU). Methods A total of 230 medical staff in the ICU of Hengyang city were enrolled as the research subjects between October 2021 and January 2022. The situations and characteristics of workplace violence were collected with questionnaires. The influencing factors of workplace violence were analyzed by univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses. Results The incidence of workplace violence to ICU medical staff was 40.43%. There were 18.70% of them threatened, 13.48% with verbal violence, 10.00% with physical violence, and 7.39% with sexual harassment. Of the 114 workplace violence incidents, there were 69 (59.65%) during the day, 101 (88.60%) only with medical staff on the spot, and 91 (79.82%) with male perpetrators (mainly on patients and their families). The main reasons for violence were verbal miscommunication (15.79%), too long waiting time for treatment (27.19%), and unsatisfactory treatment effect (38.60%). The main coping style of medical staff after suffering violence was patient explanation (64.04%). Multivariate regression analysis showed that working years ≤5 years (OR = 2.093, P=0.009) and weekly working time >45 h (OR = 2.127, P=0.022) were independent risk factors of workplace violence to ICU medical staff. Conclusion The working years ≤5 years and weekly working time >45 h are high-risk factors of workplace violence to ICU medical staff. The hospital can prevent and control workplace violence based on the high-risk factors to reduce the incidence of workplace violence.

Experience of Workplace Violence from the Patients among Mental Health Nurses in Indonesia: A Mixed Method Study

Background: Workplace violence by patients and visitors (PVV) against nurses is regarded a devastating occupational issue around the world. The most frequent perpetrators of violence against nurses were patients, followed by their families and other healthcare professionals. Aim:This study aimed to use a mixed method to analyze violence by patients and visitors against nurses in mental health hospital in Indonesia. Methods: The 250 mental health nurses at two general public hospitals in Bandung were recruited with stratified convenience sampling by years of working experience. Result: All nurses experienced workplace violence from both patients and their families. At least nurses experienced more than 3 types of violence with the most frequent type of violence were verbal and physical violence. The six themes were emerged including variation of violence in nurse, traumatic impact of violence, impacts of violence on profession, violence not only come form patients but also family, reason of violence, and spiritual coping. Conclussion: It is necessary to prioritize more efficient and approachable methods for nurses to deal with patients’ aggresive behavior, and to establish constant training program.

Violence against women in West Bengal: its extent and causes

Violence against women (VAW) is a common phenomenon in orthodox Indian society. Women are here trained to tolerate violence since their childhood. Although it is an age-old problem, it has come into the spotlight after the Beijing world conference. Since then, the Indian government and NGOs have started to take numerous steps to eradicate this crime, but it not only continues to persist in the society but is also increasing over time. Based on the project data of West Bengal State in India, chi square test and logistic regression are carried out to locate the factors associated with VAW in West Bengal. In addition, women are asked to specify the reasons of violence against them to unveil the important factors. Addressing the factors detected from the study and the factors from the perception of women may help the policymakers to take right and effective measures to tackle this social crime. This study confirms that most of the Bengali women face some sort of violence in their married life; sometimes, they experience multiple types of violence. They also experience neglect, isolation or restriction in their married life and among several factors; dowry is emerging as an important factor in West Bengal.

Письма во власть российских революционных террористов и боевиков начала ХХ века

The research is devoted to analysis of an original and peculiar source, written appeals of revolutionary terrorists and militants to tsarist authorities and institutions. This type of documents is known in source studies as “letters to power” and has been subject of numerous studies and publications, mostly in form of collective peasants’ appeals to authorities at various crisis points in the Russian history of the early 20th century. However, appeals of revolutionary terrorists and militants to population and administration have not yet been subject to analysis and research due to their sparsity, location in local archives, and unwillingness of party committees and police to make them known to general public. Terrorists’ appeals to the authorities were essential to terrorism: this was their way to proclaim and make public their demands and reasons for violence. However, party committees always strongly resisted individual militants entering into communication, as they considered terrorist attacks as party activity, were wary of police provocations and concerned about secrecy. Therefore, we can assume that the militants’ appeals to the administration are indirect evidence of their autonomy or independence from parties and committees. Such appeals were mostly made in the following two instances: when militants actively participated in action and when they were hiding from police persecution for a long time. Appeals could be verbose or concise, addressed directly to the authorities, or to a certain official, or distributed via media, or left as a note on the crime scene. They mocked police for their incapability to arrest the author, emphasized disinterested or party nature of their combat activity, announced future crimes. Detailed letters often proclaimed that the author had to resort to criminal action due to errors of prior administration. The authors implicitly or explicitly indicated their willingness to end their struggle, if they were to be granted pardon, or if the persecution were to be ceased. Numerous appeals of militants and terrorists to the authorities strongly suggest that social and political crisis of the Russian society was quite deep; they are an important sign of systematically organized party terrorism, as well as a vivid source for studying social and psychological atmosphere in the crisis of the early 20th century in Russia.

ПРОБЛЕМА ДОМАШНЬОГО НАСИЛЬСТВА ЩОДО МОЛОДІ, ЯКА НАЛЕЖИТЬ ДО ЛГБТ-СПІЛЬНОТИ

The article highlights two issues relevant to Ukraine – domestic violence and protection of the rights and freedoms of the LGBT community. The emphasis in the article is on highlighting the results of a study devoted to the study of domestic violence cases among LGBT youth. Although today, there is already a sufficient number of works revealing the content of prevention of domestic violence, the child's belonging to the LGBT community as a possible reason for violence by parents has been studied relatively little. The main tool of empirical research was an electronic survey in the form of a questionnaire, which respondents filled out online. The research found that domestic violence may exist due to a person's membership in the LGBT community. 48% of the study participants answered that they experienced domestic violence from their parents or close relatives because they are a member of the LGBT community or, for example, because they do not meet their parents' expectations. Most often it is psychological violence (97.8%), which is carried out by the mother (78% of cases), father (56%) or grandmother (22%). Also found that another problem faced by LGBT youth and in which the issue of violence is often present is the process of coming out to the family about their belonging to the LGBT community. In this light, a significant area of work for psychologists and social workers is the issue of parents' acceptance of their children's belonging to the LGBT community, which can be a significant step in preventing domestic violence. The article also emphasizes the low awareness of young people about organizations and specialists who work with LGBT youth. 51.5% of the study participants do not know who they can turn to for help. This prompts the search for new strategies to overcome and prevent this phenomenon.

Threatening a teacher

Abstract
 Background: Threatening teachers increases teacher stress and impairs emotional well-being. There are many reasons for violence against teachers. There are communication errors and conceptual differences in applying the rules that emphasizes corporal punishment rather than persuasive punishment. Also, it is related to a parent complaint that expresses Parents' belief in the education their child received in school is getting weaker. In addition to the incompetence that teachers must implement, like personal, social and professional aspects that make students offend teachers. Threatening someone considered as physical aggression. Aggression is any behavior intended to harm another person that wishes to avoid such harm High rates of aggression were reported recently in Iraq, especially after wars.
 Some studies have shown that students, whose friends engage in negative activities such as dropping out of school and have lower academic performance, may engage in aggressive activities toward teachers and/or other students.
 Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of students’ aggressive act towards teachers.
 Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried out in Al-Sadr city in Baghdad. A total of 720 adolescent secondary schools students from both genders were included in the study. They were selected by multistage random sampling. Their age was ranged from 13-21 years. Data was collected from 1st of February 2019 to 30 of April 2019 through a self-reported questionnaire (Aggression-Problem Behavior Frequency Scale).
 Results: The mean age of participants was 16.2±2.04 years. Of all participants, 84.3% were assessed to be aggressive.
 There was a significant difference between aggressive act (threatening a teacher) and sex, school type, grade, history of absence from school and employed mother,(P=0.038, 0.009, 0.0001,p= 0.02 and p=0.018, respectively). 10% of male threatening a teacher.
 
 Conclusion: A high prevalence of aggression among students was found. Threatening a teacher was dominant among male students, intermediate schools, 4th grade, students with history of absence from school, and not employed mother.

أنمــاط العنف السیاسی فی الشعر المعاصر نمـــاذج مخـــتارة

يمثل العنف ظاهرة سلبية داخل المجتمعات الإنسانية بصفة عامة، والمجتمع العربي بکل أطيافه وترکيباته الدينية بصفة خاصة والشاعر جزء من هذا المجتمع، يؤثر فيه ويتأثر به، يبرز همومه ومشاکله، والشعر مرآة عصره ومجتمعه، ومن هذا المنطلق کان موضوع البحث أنماط العنف السياسي في الشعر العربي المعاصر نماذج مختارة وسيقتصر هذا البحث على إبراز القصائد الشعرية المتعلقة بالقضية الفلسطينية، نظرا لأنها شغلت حيزا في النص الشعري المعاصر، وما کانت هذه النصوص إلا شکلا من التعبير عن المعاناة الإنسانية التى فرضتها القيود الاستعمارية مما ولد عنفا أظهرته أقلام الشعراء، وعبرت عنه شعرا ، وعليه فقد قسم البحث إلي ما يلي - العنف لغة واصطلاحا – أسباب العنف ونتائجه - أنماط العنف. فالعنف داخل ذات الفرد يخرج للتعبير عن ظروف سياسية أو اجتماعية محيطة بالفرد ويعمل الجانب النفسي على تحريک أسباب وجودها من خلال سلوکيات معينة. Types of Political Violence in Modern Poetry Selected models Hoda Othman Hassan Department of literary Studies Dept Dar al- Ulum College - Minia University. E-mail: Hoda.hassanI@mu.ed.eg Abstract : Violence is considered as a negative inside the human societies in general, and the arab society with all its classes and religious layers in particular. The poet is a part of this society, affecting and affected by his society. The poet shows its cares and problems. Poetry is the mirror of his age and society. Consequently, the subject of this research Types of Political Violence in Modern Poetry. Selected models This research is limited to highlight the poetical poems concerned with the Palestinian Case because they took up space in the poetical modern text. These texts are forms of human suffering obliged by the colonial forces resulting in violence showed by the poets in their poetry. Thus the research is divided into - Violence in language and in idiom - Reasons for violence and results - Types of violence Violence inside the individual is expressed as political and social circumstsnces surrounding him. The psychological factors seek to move the reasons for their existence through particular behaviors.

Violence toward emergency physicians: A prospective-descriptive study.

The highest rate of workplace violence occurs in the health sector, although most cases remain unreported. Emergency services face the majority of these incidents for many reasons, such as the patient profile, long waiting time, and overcrowding. We aimed to determine the characteristics and causes of violence toward emergency physicians. The acts of violence toward emergency physicians over a one-year period were prospectively recorded. After a violent incident took place, a third party separately interviewed the physician exposed to the violent behavior and the perpetrator who displayed this behavior. We examined the perpetrator's reasons for violence, their demographic characteristics, and the medical complaints of patients involved in such events to determine the characteristics and causes of violence. Of the violent acts investigated, 85.1% were verbal, and most were directed toward male doctors by the young male relatives of the patients. More than half of the violent acts occurred within the 15 minutes of presentation to emergency service (60.5%) and at off-hours (69.4%). Concerning the health insurance, 20.4% of the cases were covered by the free green card system, and a small number of the perpetrators of violence lived in rural areas (38.2%). The most common reason for violent behavior was the patients' or their relatives' dissatisfaction with the examination or treatment method (38.2%). Appropriate communication should be established with the patients, and they should be adequately informed about the treatments and interventions to be performed in order to prevent possible acts of violence.

Assessing Child-to-Parent Violence With the Child-to-Parent Violence Questionnaire, Parents' Version (CPV-Q-P): Factor Structure, Prevalence, and Reasons.

Child-to-parent violence has dramatically risen in the last decade, becoming a concerning issue in many countries, so research on this issue has also increased. However, most of the studies on this topic have been conducted with samples of adolescents, and very few with samples of parents. In addition, the variety of assessment instruments does not reflect the elements of this type of violence. Thus, the current study was aimed to examine the factor structure, reliability, and validity of the Child-to-parent Violence Questionnaire, parents’ version (CPV-Q-P), in a sample of Spanish parents of adolescents. Moreover, the prevalence rates of the different types of violence and the reasons for violence were also examined. A total of 1,012 Spanish parents of adolescents aged between 12 and 17 years old (55.1% mothers, 44.9% fathers) were assessed using the CPV-Q-P. Data indicated a matrix of four factors with 14 items, assessing psychological violence, physical violence, financial violence, and control/domain over parents, and two factors with 8 items capturing the reasons for child-to-parent violence (instrumental and reactive), with adequate psychometric properties. The more frequent type of violence was control and domain over parents, followed by psychological, financial, and physical violence, with no significant differences between mothers and fathers. Otherwise, instrumental reasons were more frequent than reactive types, with no differences between mothers and fathers. The CPV-Q-P is a useful instrument to assess child-to-parent violence from the parents’ perspective in both professional and research settings.

Structural Reasons for School Violence and Education Strategies

For the purposes of the research, we developed a concept of structural reasons that we theoretically assume appear as typical structural reasons for violence in schools. With empirical research, we determined how primary school teachers recognise violent behaviour and how they execute moral education in the areas of the specific structural reasons for violence. We found that the majority of teachers have appropriate pedagogical knowledge to recognise the specific structural reasons for violence and are able to identify the appropriate moral education or support strategy to address the identified violent or disruptive behaviour. However, even in cases of repeating acts of violence, teachers only begin to engage with the factors or reasons behind violent incidents in individual cases, and not systematically. We therefore suggest that schools introduce the systematic differentiation of structural reasons for violence and incorporate this approach in the school moral education plan and the work of teachers. Within such frameworks, violence and disruptive behaviour would be eliminated through moral education and/or support strategies appropriate to the specific structural reasons.

Partner Violence Beliefs, Attitudes, and Implications in Israeli Muslim Society

The purpose of the current article was to examine beliefs and attitudes around partner violence within Muslim society in Israel. The study addressed three gender-asymmetrical aspects of such beliefs: reasons for violence (the belief that men hurt their female partners to control them, and the belief that women hurt their male partners to protect themselves); violent behavior (the belief that men, more than women, are violent in intimate relationships); and the outcomes of violence (the belief that women, more than men, are injured as a result of intimate violence). The study also examines the attitude toward the appropriate social response to the problem (the belief that men who use partner violence should be condemned more than women should). First, the study compares men and women's belief levels and relates these to the accumulating empirical knowledge. Then, the study examines the difference between men and women in the relationship between the beliefs, as well as the effects of this on prevailing attitudes. The study was based on a community sample of 420 Muslim students. The research findings indicate that the belief that men, more than women, use physical violence in intimate relationships was the strongest belief of those tested and it was stronger among women than among men. The findings also indicate that among both men and women, the behavioral aspect does not affect the tendency for condemnation. On the other hand, among both, the consequences of violence affect condemnation. Theoretical and empirical implications of gender differences in physically violent behavior, Gender differences in consequences of physical partner violence, gender differences in condemnation of violent behavior and effects of beliefs on the attitude toward its condemnation were discussed.

Descriptive study on socio-demographic profile, pattern of injuries, aetiology and outcome of domestic violence at a tertiary care centre of Batticaloa district

Introduction Domestic violence is common serious health problem in South Asian countries including Sri Lanka which has an immense impact on people's physical, psychological and social health in a community. Objectives To determine the socio-demographic characteristics, thepattern of injuries and outcome among patients with domestic violence injuries at a tertiary care centre in Batticaloa, Sri Lanka. Methods Fifty nine female patients with domestic violence injuries were recruited in our descriptive, cross-sectional study. A predesigned interviewer based questionnaire was used to collect data from the participants and was analysed statistically by simple proportions and percentage using SPSS analytical package (version 21). The Ethical Review Committee, Faculty of Health Care Sciences, Eastern University granted the ethical approval for the study. Results Fifty nine female respondents were recruited. The common demographic characteristic observed were the 21 to 40 years age group was poor socio-economic and educational status. The husbands acted as the perpetrators among most victims (42.4%). Majority of the respondents (71.2%) reported that their husbands abuse them under the influence of alcohol. Most respondents had sustained minor injuries including contusion (64.4%), laceration (15.3%) and fractures (18.6%) among them. The common reasons for violence encountered among them were arguments (67.8%) and financial reasons (16.9%). Even though 45.8% of respondents had been abused on multiple occasions, 86.4 % of them have not reported previous abuse legally. Most people denied seeking medicolegal action due to fear of family separation and poor knowledge of services available for domestic violence. Conclusion Domestic violence commonly affects the young female and is associated with illiteracy and poor socio-economic status of the victims. Arguments and financial issues are the commonest reason for violence. Most people are not aware of the potential of seeking medico-legal action and available services to help them.

Analysis of violence against older adults in police reports

ObjectiveTo analyze a historical series of cases of elder abuse as described in police reports. MethodDescriptive, retrospective and documentary study based on police reports issued at the older adult police department whose information was collected through an instrument developed by the researchers. ResultsFive categories were identified: 1 - physical violence; 2 - violence report; 3 - psychological violence; 4 - habits related to psychoactive substance use; 5 - reasons for violence. ConclusionElder abuse is a complex issue that requires intervention on the part of nurses by the report of incidents and provision of support to the victim.

Physical Violence Against Women Associated with Education in Mansa District of Punjab

Domestic violence is a burning issue of research in studies related to gender and equity, development studies, women’s empowerment and human rights. Violence against women has severe physical and mental consequences, and thus, it is increasingly treated as a threat to human rights. This paper highlighting the education status of respondents, physical violence, reasons of violence and forms of physical violence. This paper is based on primary data which is collected from Mansa district of Punjab. It is clear from analysis that the women from this backward district face severe physical violence at almost all stages of education. No doubt, the rise in educational status results in reduction of violence, but, its persistence fails to regulate the social rules optimally. Drinking alcohol and without any reason are main causes of domestic violence in houses. Slapping, pushing, kicking and hitting with fist are the main forms of physical violence that are the most visible among the women in this district. Thus, the women’s education must hold the foremost place in the agenda of plans. Women empowerment coincided with inclusive growth strategy are the need of the hour for the improvement of the condition of women in the near future.

The Sri Lankan Undergraduate in the Sinhala Press

The problems, protests and politics of the state university system are constantly featured in Sri Lankan media. While researchers have shown systemic reasons for violence in universities (Weeramunda, 2008; Samaranayake, 2015), public perception of undergraduates, as shown in the media, appears to construe students as needlessly rebellious and in perpetual protest. With the understanding that the media representation of a group is an important part of public discourse, this paper aims to conduct a qualitative analysis of the Sri Lankan undergraduate as shown in selected newspapers from the Sinhala press. Editorials, feature articles and news reports in Sinhala newspapers (both state-owned and privately-owned) from an eventful week in January 2012 are studied closely. A secondary aim is to identify linguistic structures used for stance-taking in Sinhala media discourse. The findings show a significant difference in the representation of undergraduates between these two types of newspapers, with the state-controlled newspapers covering undergraduate issues less whilst at the same time portraying them in a polarised manner (as victims or agents of aggression). Privately-owned newspapers provide more coverage of student issues, often incorporating student voices and explicitly showing their support of student causes. In terms of language structures, analysis shows that the discourse of the Sinhala press incorporates linguistic features such as metaphors, focused clauses, double negation, and subject deletion for stance-marking. Overall, this paper illustrates divergent public discourses on undergraduates present in Sinhala media.