Types Of Violent Behavior Research Articles

The Adequacy and Accuracy of Sexually Violent Predator Evaluations: Contextualized Risk Assessment in Clinical Practice

A critical issue for public policy and professional forensic practice is whether Sexually Violent Predator commitment is an empirically-validated determination. Utilizing a mixed factorial design, forensic psychologists and graduate students were asked to make predictions about offenders' likelihood of future sexual violence and their appropriateness for Sexually Violent Predator commitment. Forensic psychologists demonstrated adequate application of the relevant psycholegal standard, but made accurate predictions approximately one half of the time. Surprisingly, graduate students demonstrated a greater ability to discriminate between types of violent behavior (nonsexual versus sexual), but applied the relevant legal standard with less precision than forensic psychologists. Finally, the current results suggest that emotionallyevocative information in the form of victim statements biased psychologists' and students' predictions of future sexual violence and resulted in students' increased support for the offender's involuntary commitment. Implications are discussed in terms of professional practice and admissibility of psychological testimony in Sexually Violent Predator commitment cases.

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.

Partner Violence and Street Violence among Urban Adolescents: Do the Same Family Factors Relate?

Few studies have evaluated how participation in violence that occurs on the streets as part of criminal or delinquent behavior relates to violence that occurs as part of dating or marital relationships (partner violence). Using longitudinal data from 141 African American and Latino male youth (15–19 years old), the relation between family characteristics and participation in one or both types of violent behavior was evaluated. The youth in this study were more likely to report use of violence in relationships if they were also participating in violence as part of other criminal behavior. However, there were distinct groups of offenders. Among those males reporting involvement in a dating or romantic relationship, four groups were identified: (1) those who had not participated in either type of violence, 57%; (2) those who had participated in partner violence only, 14%; (3) those who had participated in street violence only, 12%; and (4) those who had participated in both, 17%. Discriminate function analyses significantly differentiated the group who had participated in both types of violence from the nonviolent group, with the former group having poorer functioning families. These two groups were also differentiated from the partner violence‐only and street violence‐only groups. No differences were found between the partner violence‐only and the street violence‐only groups. Implications for intervention and prevention are discussed.

Analysis of violent behavior in Vietnam combat veteran psychiatric inpatients with posttraumatic stress disorder.

This study tested the hypothesis that male Vietnam veterans seeking inpatient treatment for PTSD (n = 228) exhibit more violent behavior compared with a mixed diagnostic group of male psychiatric inpatients without PTSD (n = 64) and a community sample of Vietnam veterans with PTSD not undergoing inpatient treatment (n = 273). Violent acts assessed included property destruction, threats without a weapon, physical fighting, and threats with a weapon. PTSD inpatients engaged in more types of violent behavior than both comparison conditions. Correlates of violence among PTSD inpatients included PTSD symptom severity and, to a lesser degree, measures of substance abuse. These findings justify routine assessment of violent behavior among inpatient with PTSD, as well as application of specialized interventions for anger dyscontrol and aggression.

Street Youth and Criminal Violence

This research examines the roles of various subcultural, economic, and victimization factors in the violent behavior of 200 homeless male street youths. Findings reveal that factors associated with the street subculture, including long-term homelessness and criminal peers, increase the respondent's risk for violence on the street and provide rules concerning honor, protection, and retribution. However, the heavy use of drugs and alcohol on the street plays only a minor role in explaining violent behavior in this population, and the violence associated with these substances appears to be recreational. Findings also suggest that minimal economic resources and perceptions of a blocked opportunity structure also leave the youths at risk for various violent activities. Results also indicate that victimization on the street and a history of physical abuse in the home are related to the respondents' violent behavior. Results are discussed in terms of different types of violent behavior.

Concurrent risk factors for adolescent violence

To examine the risk and protective factors for different types of violent behavior in a sample of high school age adolescents drawn from the general population, illuminate the multiple and cumulative nature of the different risk factors, and characterize gender differences in explanatory variables that foster involvement in violent activities. Using data from a 6-year longitudinal self-report survey of over 4,500 high school seniors and high school dropouts from California and Oregon, we developed weighted estimates of the proportions of youth exhibiting different risk factors who are also involved in violent activities. We use risk scales to show the cumulative effects of multiple factors within substantive domains, and logistic regression techniques to pinpoint the effects of each risk factor relative to others included in the models. Major risk factors for violence include gender and deviant behaviors, such as using and selling drugs, committing nonviolent felonies, and engaging in other forms of nonviolent delinquency. Low academic orientation, lack of parental affection and support, and perceptions of parents' substance use also show strong links with violent behavior. As the number of risk factors increases, so does the likelihood of engaging in violent behavior. Boys and girls show somewhat different paths to violence, with girls being comparatively more susceptible to the effects of family problems or disruption and impaired relationships with parents. For boys, engaging in other deviant behaviors provides the most information about their propensity to commit violent acts. Weak bonds with school and family also have an impact on serious violence for boys. Risk factors from multiple domains--demographic, environmental, and behavioral--contribute to involvement in various types of violent behavior. The strong links between violence, drug use, and delinquency argue for prevention/intervention programs that take into account the clustering of these behaviors, while the contribution of weak familial and school bonds point to the need for efforts to strengthen these institutions. Research is needed to identify effective ways of achieving these ends.

Relationship between solvent inhalation and antisocial behavior: special emphasis on two types of violence seen in solvent abusers.

Organic solvent inhalation is a serious problem among youths in Japan. It induces physical and mental disorders, and is related closely to crime and delinquency. The relationship between solvent inhalation and antisocial behavior was investigated in 75 youths. The subjects were divided into three groups according to the level of violent behavior and the time of appearance: a non-violent group, a late-onset group (violence occurred after the start of inhalation) and an early-onset group (violence had occurred before the start of inhalation). Various parameters were compared among the groups. The late-onset group showed the following characteristics; (i) the frequency of inhalation was high, and many subjects experienced hallucinations and mood changes caused by inhalation; (ii) the family environment was characterized by conflict; and (iii) the subjects had strong psychological conflicts and showed dissociative coping with frustration. The violence, psychological conflict and dissociation in this group were found to be related to the inhalation, with familial conflict as a background. The violence in the early-onset group was considered to be the manifestation of a violent personality as the frequency of inhalation and the incidence of mental symptoms were both low. The subjects in this group showed weak psychological conflict and tended to be demanding of others when attempting to cope with frustration. Two types of violent behaviors in the teenagers who inhaled solvents were identified. The violence of solvent inhalers should be managed according to the type.

Physical abuse among high school students. Prevalence and correlation with other health behaviors.

To better understand the epidemiology of physical abuse among adolescents. School-based survey of students in grades 9 through 12. Twenty-five schools throughout Oregon in 1993. Prevalence of ever being physically abused, prevalence of most recent occurrence of physical abuse, and correlation of physical abuse with high-risk health behaviors. Of the 1957 respondents, 31.5% reported having ever been physically abused, with female subjects (34.6%) more likely than male subjects (28.0%) to have ever been abused. Overall, 3.7% of students had been physically abused in the past week, 7.8% in the past month, and 16.3% in the past year. Based on multivariate models, students physically abused in the past year were more likely than students who had never been physically abused to engage in a variety of high-risk behaviors; these included weapon carrying (odds ratio, 1.9), suicidal ideation (odds ratio, 2.1), cigarette smoking (odds ratio, 1.8), cocaine use (odds ratio, 3.2), or multiple sexual partners (odds ratio, 1.9). Physical abuse, an important problem among high school students, is correlated with many high-risk behaviors. Using consistent definitions, periodic surveys of children about physical abuse and other types of violent behavior are needed to provide better estimates of the extent of these problems.

Family violence: impact on children.

Violence within the family is increasingly being recognized as a serious societal problem in the United States. Four types of family violence are discussed: violence toward children, siblings, women, and the elderly. This paper explores the development of violent relationships in the family from both biological and psychological perspectives, with the latter encompassing four frameworks--the psychopathological model, the social learning model, the aversively stimulated aggression concept, and systems theory. The authors also examine the risk factors for and the effects of violence as well as the characteristics of the aggressor and the victim. Available intervention strategies for various types of violent behavior are then discussed.

A Study of Violent Behaviors Associated with Cocaine Use: Theoretical and Pharmacological Implications

AbstractViolent behavior associated with cocaine use are characterized in this study. The types of violent behavior ranged from minor psychological aggressions to major physical acts that included murder. Aspects of such violent behavior associated with cocaine use were studied. During 1 month, 452 males who made inquiries for themselves or others to obtain information about the effects, diagnosis, and treatment of cocaine dependence were interviewed in phone conversations.

Homicide, suicide, other violence gain increasing medical attention

In our contemporary US society, interpersonal violence is perhaps the most dangerous and rapidly increasing form of death and injury that we know, suggests Louis J. West, MD, chair, Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, School of Medicine. For several years, West has been studying the epidemiologic aspects of violence. Violent deaths are the largest cause of mortality in the United States for more than half of the normal life span (childhood and early adulthood), according to the Centers for Disease Control, Atlanta. And violent deaths account for the greatest number of years of expected life lost among Americans. The last few years have witnessed an increasing number of scientific studies of suicide, homicide, rape, and other types of violent behavior, including the increasingly recognized problem of traumatization of children who witness violence. Many such studies were presented at the American Psychiatric Association meeting this

Values and Violence: A Test of the Subculture of Violence Thesis

This research examines the hypothesis that violent behavior results from a commitment to a subcultural value and attitude pattern. Special attention is given to Wolfgang and Ferracutti's subculture of violence thesis. Two types of violent behavior are considered - interpersonal violence and violent crime. Findings are drawn from two independent studies: one on the values and attitudes associated with interpersonal violence in a national area probability sample of 1,429 adult Americans, and the other on value differences among 363 men incarcerated in a Michigan prison for various violent and non-violent felonious offenses. The data do not support the subculture of violence explanation of violent behavior. Additional findings are presented which indicate, in the national sample, that neither socioeconomic status nor social class values are associated with violence.