Violence KW Research Articles

<TITLE>Helping Children Cope With Violence</TITLE>

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The intent of this article by Wallach was to identify the special needs of children who were exposed to violence and to provide suggestions for child care professionals on how to help offset the negative effects of violence in the lives of young children. METHODOLOGY: The author employed a non-experimental design by providing information from her professional experience with issues surrounding children and violence. She described the damaging effects of domestic and neighborhood violence on the development of young children, and identified strategies for child care professionals to assist these children through developmental tasks. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: In a study of more than 1,000 children in Chicago, 74% of them had witnessed a murder, shooting, stabbing, or robbery (Kotulak, 1990; Bell, 1991). With frequent exposure to such violence many families in the United States had difficulty providing support, love, and affection in a consistent, predictable manner. Children therefore had difficulty developing a sense of autonomy and trust which could in turn lead to pathological developments such as violence. The author stated that in addition to these risks, children could develop defenses against their fears which would interfere with their development; with their attention directed toward their defenses, and often with a sense of guilt about the domestic violence they have witnessed, their energies might not have been available for normal developmental tasks. Ultimately this system could lead to a sense of helplessness which would have limited the development of autonomy. Teachers, social workers and human service personnel made a difference in the development of these children, the author argued, through five measures. 1) They provided programs where meaningful relationships were developed with caring and knowledgeable adults, and therefore provided a corrective emotional experience (Alexander, 1948). While children could not be forced into such relationships with adults, the opportunities were provided so children could take advantage of these relationships. 2) They organized schedules which maximized consistent contact with children, one of the most important steps in developing significant relationships with children. 3) They provided structure, clear expectations, and definite limits, although children exposed to violence seemed especially resistant to these limits. 4) They offered children many opportunities to express themselves, including play, expressive art and storytelling. 5) They collaborated with families to make changes in familial relationships and created other alliances through careful referral. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: Although professionals who work with children could not solve all of the children's problems, the author argued that they could be an important part of the healing process by implementing these measures and thereby breaking the cycle of violence. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Witnessing Violence Effects KW - Psychological Victimization Effects KW - Child Witness KW - Witnessing Community Violence KW - Witness Treatment KW - Witness Adjustment KW - Emotional Adjustment KW - Child Adjustment KW - Coping Skills KW - Witness Coping KW - Treatment Recommendations KW - Child Treatment KW - Exposure to Violence

Workplace violence and workplace aggression: Evidence on their relative frequency and potential causes

Recent news reports have focused attention on dramatic instances of workplace violence-extreme acts of aggression in work settings. It is suggested here that such actions, while both tragic and frightening, are only a small part of a much larger problem of workplace aggression-efforts by individuals to harm others with whom they work or the organizations in which they are employed. The present study investigated two major hypotheses with respect to such aggression: 1) contrary to what media reports suggest, most aggression occurring in work settings is verbal, indirect, and passive rather than physical, direct, and active; 2) recent changes in many organizations (e.g., downsizing, increased workforce diversity) have generated conditions that may contribute to the occurrence of workplace aggression. A survey of 178 employed persons provided partial support for both predictions. Verbal and passive forms of aggression were rated as more frequent by participants than physical and active forms of aggression. In addition, the greater the extent to which several changes had occurred recently in participants' organizations, the greater the incidence of workplace aggression they reported. VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study by Baron and Neuman was to examine whether verbal, indirect, and passive forms of aggression are more common in work environments than physical, direct, and active forms of aggression. Additionally, the authors investigated whether changes that occur in work environments lead to increased workplace aggression. METHODOLOGY: A quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study was employed. The sample included 178 full-time workers (92 females and 86 males). These individuals worked for a wide range of organizations in both the public and private sector and had held their positions anywhere from less than one year to more than five years. They ranged in age from their twenties to their sixties. The participants were asked to complete a questionnaire dealing with workplace aggression. Forty items concerned perceived frequency of various forms of aggression. These forms of aggression were based on Buss' three dichotomies: physical-verbal, active-passive, and direct-indirect. For each, participants were asked to rate the extent to which they had witnessed and/or experienced each type of aggression from never to very often. The next thirteen questions asked participants to rate the extent to which the following changes had occurred in their workplace within the previous twelve months: downsizing, layoffs, budget cuts, technological change, increased diversity within the workforce, introduction of new affirmative action policies, use of computers to monitor employee-performance, change in management, restructuring, reengineering, pay cuts, increased use of part-time workers, and job sharing. The final section asked for demographic information such as gender, age, position, years with employers, and the size and nature of the organization. The authors hypothesized that covert forms of aggression (verbal, passive, and indirect) were more frequent in work environments than overt (physical, active, and direct) forms of aggression and that the greater the extent to which various changes have occurred in a work environment, the higher the incidence of aggression in that environment. Analysis included examination of frequencies and means as well as t-tests, correlations, and multiple regression. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: As hypothesized, the findings indicated for both witnessed and experienced aggression that verbal aggression was rated as significantly more frequent in occurrence than physical aggression (p In regards to changes in the workplace, certain changes occurred more frequently than others. Changes in management, organizational restructuring, and downsizing occurred most frequently, while changes in affirmative action and job sharing occurred least frequently. Several types of change were also significantly correlated with reported frequency of aggression. Increased diversity (p Finally, forward selection multiple aggression analyses revealed that increased use of part-time employees and changes in management were significant predictors of perception of witnessed aggression, while use of part-time employees, increased workplace diversity, and pay cuts or freezes were significant predictors of experienced aggression (p The authors concluded by stressing that the results offer partial support for both hypotheses and that although instances of actual workplace violence are important and have serious consequences, it is unwise to focus research attention solely upon them. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Workplace Violence KW - Workplace Aggression KW - Aggression Causes KW - Violence Causes KW - Adult Violence KW - Adult Offender KW - Adult Perceptions KW - Adult Aggression KW - Aggression Incidence and Prevalence KW - Violence Incidence and Prevalence

Standpoint: Measuring television violence: The importance of context

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: This goal of this article by Kunkel et al. was to present their unique content analysis framework for studying television violence. METHODOLOGY: The authors presented a non-experimental literature review and description of their specialized content analysis method. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Early studies on television violence employed content analysis techniques that did not distinguish between degrees of realism and severity of violence. Industry spokes people have argued that not all violence produced the same effects; in fact, some violence is prosocial. The authors defined violence, explore its primary elements, introduce new levels of analysis, and illustrate the contextual variables with examples. Violence was defined according to the following elements: intention to injure, physical degree of injury and involvement of live beings. Intention to injure referred to the psychological state of the actor and excludes accidental harm. Physical injury or the threat of it referred to harmful consequences. Involvement of live beings as both attacker and victim eliminated harmful acts of nature and vandalism. However, the authors included a spectrum of creatures to encompass the range of fictional live beings that inhabit the world of television violence. The authors introduced their modified content analysis framework for television violence. The unit of analysis was changed from isolated violent acts to violent acts viewed in the context of an ongoing exchange between characters. The PAT framework (Perpetrator, Act, Target) was the name for the method of studying collectively all violence that occurred within a single program sequence. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors planned to improve this framework with additional coding for a variety of characteristics that a perpetrator, act and target could have possessed. In addition, the authors intended to add an assessment of the consequences of violence: reward versus punishment. EVALUATION: In general, this article provides a look at the early stages in the development of a content analysis framework specific to the study of television violence. The success of this framework cannot be fully evaluated until the authors progress with the next stages of development. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Literature Review KW - Media Violence Measurement KW - Content Analysis KW - Reality Program KW - Television Violence KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Program-Film Content

Kids, guns, and killing fields

Kids, guns, and killing fields

Youth Gangs: A 1990s Perspective

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article by Cromwell et al. was to identify and discuss several issues affecting the formation of competent public policy and the implementation of effective gang intervention strategies in the 1990s. METHODOLOGY: The authors employed a non-experimental design in which information was collected from both past research in gang formation and regional statistics on gang activity. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The authors began by outlining the scope of the problem of youth gang activity and the difficulty of gathering reliable and valid information regarding the extent, nature and seriousness of the gang problem. Moreover, almost every academic study as well as law enforcement agency report have utilized varying operational definitions of what constitutes a gang or gang-related incident. Tautological definitions of gang and gang member as well as gang activity have further confused the problem. Consequently, gang research and data on gang activity from different jurisdictions should be interpreted and compared with caution. The classical gang studies of the 1950s and 1960s are now outdated insofar as the nature, organization, motivation and activities of gangs have since changed. While the membership of gangs have historically been male with females playing marginal roles, the authors suggested that increased gang violence committed by female members indicates that gangs are no longer a male phenomenon. The membership of contemporary gangs have a wider of age and are also reporting older members. According to the authors, these findings suggest that gang members are no longer maturing out of gangs into legitimate occupations but rather establishing careers in criminal gang activity. The motivation towards joining a gang has also evolved. The authors found that where gangs of yesteryear fulfilled an expressive function for its membership, the motivation behind joining contemporary gangs is more instrumental. The authors cited early gang studies which argued that the identity, recognition, status, safety and security, power and excitement offered by gangs attracted members who were afflicted by the poverty and alienation of urban immigrant areas. Instrumental gangs, on the other hand, primarily satisfy economic concerns and many times don't display many of the standard features of the expressive gang (eg.,the use of symbols, rituals, oaths and names as well as territorialism). Contemporary gangs' activities range from low level street dealing to sophisticated, highly organized, and heavily armed networks for the distribution of cocaine (p. 29). To conclude, the authors found evidence which suggested that contemporary youth gangs might provide its younger members with the contacts and preparation for later criminal career efforts. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors emphasized the need for reliable and valid data about gangs and gang activity in order to develop informed and effective public policy. Therefore law enforcement agencies, the media and citizens groups must come to an agreement on a standardized definition of gang and gang-related activity. Furthermore, traditional wisdom about the causes, structure and organization of gangs needs to be reevaluated such that it reflects the juvenile gang of the 1990s. EVALUATION: The authors present a thoughtful discussion of the changing nature of gang activity and the difficulties associated with evaluating gang research. They utilize both past and present research to formulate their arguments in an organized and well written paper. It would have been helpful, however, if the authors had addressed the changing ethnic makeup of gangs in order to establish a better understanding of the dynamics of gang involvement. Overall, the authors offer a valuable discussion of contemporary youth gangs with implications for both policy decisions and future research efforts. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Public Policy KW - 1990s KW - Juvenile Crime KW - Juvenile Gang KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Violence Intervention KW - Gang Violence KW - Gang Intervention KW - Intervention Recommendations KW - Research Recommendations KW - Policy Recommendations Language: en

Let's be clear. Violence is a public health problem.

Let's be clear. Violence is a public health problem.

Firearm Availability and Homicide Rates in Detroit, 1951-1986

Firearm Availability and Homicide Rates in Detroit, 1951-1986

Treating adolescent sexual offenders.

Treating adolescent sexual offenders.

Children's Exposure to Violence and Traumatic Death

Children's Exposure to Violence and Traumatic Death

Study group report on the impact of television violence on adolescents

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study by Hoberman was to show a general view of what consequences TV violence has on adolescent anti-social behavior. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental intensive review of the literature was done followed by a study group consisting of seven experts in the field of media and violence. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: TV and other media did not provide an accurate mirror of society, especially in regard to conflict resolution. Media portrayals of violent behavior were problematic. Adolescents were both the perpetrators and the victims of a disproportionate number of antisocial acts relative the their proportion of the population. Since the media can be a powerful socializing force, it should strive to be health promoting. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author concluded that studies were needed to determine if and how media portrayals of violence have changed over the last 30 years. The author also argued that more content analyses were needed and that studies should be done that determine high risk groups. More research was needed on the cultivation effect. The author concluded that these efforts were needed: 1) evaluation and identification of possible alternatives to violent portrayals in the media, 2) development and refining of programs that mediate media experiences, 3) creation of opportunities for media personnel, advertising agencies, corporate sponsors, and researchers in the area of adolescent health to exchange information and concerns, 4) encouragement for the communications industry to incorporate role models to portray constructive conflict resolution techniques, 5) scheduling of violent or sexual programs at times when adolescents are unlikely to be watching, 6) increasing of supervision of adolescents renting videos, and 7) telling kids that what they see on TV is not reality. The family was seen as the best medium in which to teach this. Education of teachers and other professionals who deal with adolescents about the effects of the media was also suggested. EVALUATION: This article is somewhat unique in that it focuses on adolescents rather than, as many have, on young children. The article expresses many ideas on how the effect that violence in the media can be lessened. An educational approach within the school, directed toward adolescents, is an interesting approachoone which needs more research. However, some of what this article advocates would be difficult to implement. There are several suggestions about what the television executives and planners should do, but these have been the most resistant to change because violence sells, and it sells big. It's going to take a great deal to change their minds. Also, while the adolescent poses a greater risk and need for intervention than younger children, the nature of adolescents and the ingraining of learned aggression will be very difficult to overcome. Nevertheless, this article has given both the research and applied fields something to think about. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) N1 - Call Number: F-296, AB-296 KW - Exposure to Violence KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Television Viewing KW - Television Violence KW - Juvenile Antisocial Behavior KW - Juvenile Behavior KW - Behavior Causes Language: en

Deceptive appearances: Television violence and aggressive behavior

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The intent of this article by Constock and Strasburger was to identify the effects of televised violence on adolescents. METHODOLOGY: The authors employed a non-experimental design by reviewing research on the effects of televised violence; they also identified an intervention strategy from this research which reduced the negative effects of watching televised violence. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Although some research on adolescents from the 1960's identified a greater degree of aggressive behavior among those who watched violent programming, the dilemma of causality remained; were violent people predisposed to watching violent programs or was the content of the programs effecting the viewers? Subsequent research, however, identified two general conclusions about the correlation between televised violence and actual aggression: 1) There was a positive relationship between exposure to televised violence and aggressive or antisocial behavior. 2) Exposure to violent programming was associated with a decrease in altruistic behavior. The evidence for these two conclusions emerged from research around four general theories: 1) Social Learning Theory identified the effects of demonstrated behaviors on children, noting their abilities to model healthy as well as unhealthy behaviors. Bandura's (1963) experiment with children who watched a filmed sequence on a television set was reflective of this theory and Bandura's experiment also indicated that 6-8 months after viewing the material, the children could reproduce the aggressive behavior when asked to recall it. Various other field studies and laboratory studies echoed Bandura's findings (Singer & Singer 1980). 2) Instigation and Cue Theory suggested that behavior was not only a function of observation, but also of perceived efficacy. Bandura (1963) provided another experiment to support this theory when he had several children watch a film where one child aggressively dominated the other in a play room, while other children watched a similar film where the aggressive child was punished for his behavior; 60% of the children watching the first film said they wanted to be like aggressive child, while only 20% of the children watching the second film identified the aggressive child as worth emulating. Berkowitz (1963, 1973), Gerbner (1980), and Singer & Singer (1980) also supported the findings that after observing a successfully aggressive television character, children were more likely to exhibit aggressive behavior when dealing with dilemmas. 3) Arousal Theory (Tannenbaum & Zillmann 1975) posited that a general emotional arousal among adolescents, as a result of viewing certain types of programming, would drive children beyond their normal thresholds of behaviors; the frenzied pace and loud music of commercials, game shows and other types of programming were linked with aggressive behavior, possibly because children could not process some of this information as rapidly as adults. 4) Catharsis Theory suggested that the viewing of aggressive films could actually purge negative feelings and therefore act as a therapeutic mechanism, but more recent studies suggested that the Catharsis Theory did not hold up to careful evaluation (Ellis 1972; Williams 1986). Tests of these 4 theories were conducted through lab experiments, field experiments, correlational studies and longitudinal studies. The vast majority of this research indicated that the effects of viewing violent television depended on whether the violence was rewarded or punished, whether it was justified or consequenceless, whether it was pertinent to the viewer and whether the viewer was susceptible to it. One study identified 169 first and third graders for a two-year study in which half were taught about the unreality of television violence and were required to reflect on the issue and write papers about it; these children demonstrated significant improvements in their attitudes and peer-rated aggressiveness. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors argued that by making television less relevant to adolescents and by making adolescents less susceptible to the effects of televised violence, significant improvements could be made in the aggressive tendencies of young adults. Because federal agencies showed no signs of initiating any type of regulation on televised violence, according to the authors, intervention strategies on the part of families and schools should be implemented whenever possible. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Television Viewing KW - Television Violence KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Aggression Causes KW - Juvenile Aggression KW - Social Development KW - Problem Behavior KW - Intervention Recommendations KW - Literature Review Language: en

Poverty, Subculture of Violence, and Type of Homicide

Poverty, Subculture of Violence, and Type of Homicide

Teacher consultation and cognitive-behavioral interventions with aggressive boys

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study by Lochman et al. was to assess the effectiveness of an Anger Coping intervention program in reducing the incidence of disruptive and aggressive behavior in the classroom. The program was based upon a social-cognitive model of anger arousal, whereby aggressive children tend to over-perceive hostility from others, underestimate their own aggression, mislabel emotional arousal as anger, solve problems primarily via nonverbal action, and do not expect to solve problems through nonaggressive means. METHODOLOGY: The researchers employed a quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design, using a non-probability sample of 32 boys at six public elementary schools. The boys were in grades four, five and six, and were selected for the study by their teachers, who had been asked to identify the most aggressive and disruptive boys in their classroom. 13 of the boys were assigned in an unreported fashion to the Anger Coping plus Teacher Consultation group (ACTC), 11 to the Anger Coping group (AC) and 8 to the untreated control condition (UC). Boys in the three groups did not differ in age or intelligence. Data were collected during the two weeks before intervention, and during the three weeks after the program. Each of the treatment groups met for 18 sessions of discussion, problem solving and examination of behavior, with the teacher consultation component involving a focus on behavior analysis, management systems and helping the child to evaluate and change aggressive behavior. Breyer's Behavior Observation Schedule for Pupils and Teachers provided a measure for rating subjects' behavior by independent observers. The Disruptive Off-Task and the Aggressive Off-Task components of the Schedule were combined to form a dependent measure of aggressive, disruptive off-task behavior. The 19-item Aggressive subscale of the Missouri Children's Behavior Checklist (MCBC) was used as a measure of teachers' perceptions of the subjects' behavior, and has established reliability and validity. The social competence and general self-esteem subscales of the Perceived Competence Scale for Children were also used, and have previously established reliability and validity. Analyses included the Mann-Whitney U-Test and Kendall Tau coefficients. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The authors found no significant differences in behavioral, perceived competence and self-esteem characteristics between the three groups on pre-test scores. Compared with the control group, the combined treatment groups (AC plus ACTC) showed a significant reduction in Disruptive-Aggressive Off-Task behavior over the period of the study, as well an increase in Perceived Social Competence and a mild decrease in teacher Aggression ratings on the MCBC (p AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors suggested that teacher training could be enhanced and therefore could be more effective by gaining the support of school administrators, and by enlisting only those teachers who seemed highly motivated. They stressed the need for research into the effects of teacher training, as well as assessment of the actual behavioral influence that the training had upon the teachers. EVALUATION: This research presents an interesting examination of the effectiveness of behavioral intervention programs in reducing the aggressive patterns of behavior exhibited by some children. The study seemed to have good internal validity, but the method of selection of subjects should be viewed with some trepidation. Also, the small sample size and simple methodologies preclude generalization to many other populations. The offer of alternative explanations of findings was very useful, but a more thorough discussion of results and implications of the findings would have been helpful. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Elementary School Student KW - Student Aggression KW - Student Violence KW - School Violence KW - Male Aggression KW - Male Anger KW - Male Violence KW - Child Aggression KW - Child Anger KW - Child Male KW - Child Violence KW - Intervention Program KW - Anger Management KW - Program Effectiveness KW - Program Evaluation KW - Aggression Intervention KW - Violence Intervention KW - Social Cognitive KW - Model KW - Late Childhood KW - Middle Childhood Language: en

Exposure to television as a risk factor for violence.

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study by Centerwall was to evaluate television as a risk factor for violence by examining homicide rates in South Africa, Canada and United States. METHODOLOGY: The author followed a quasi-experimental design in which homicide rates in Canada and United States were compared retrospectively with those of South Africa. From an epidemiological orientation, author sought to determine effect of an intervention, introduction of television, on homicide rates by using as a control group a population which was not subjected to intervention. In Canada and United States television was introduced in 1945 while in South Africa, television was not introduced until 1974. South Africa was selected as control population since it did not receive intervention, television, until almost thirty years after Canada and United States. The author compared only homicide rates of white populations of each country. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The author found that between 1945 and 1974 annual incidence of white homicide deaths in United States and Canada increased 93 per cent and 92 per cent, respectively. In United States, there were 3.0 homicides per 100,000 whites in 1945 compared with 5.8 homicides per 100,000 in 1974. In Canada, there were 1.3 homicides per 100,000 in 1945 compared with 2.5 homicides per 100,000 whites in 1974. The incidence of white homicide deaths in South Africa during this same time period decreased by 7 per cent; there were 2.7 homicides per 100,000 whites in 1943-1948 compared with 2.5 homicides per 100,000 in 1974. Since violence is a multifactor phenomenon involving many variables, author suggested that attained rate of violence reflects exposure to television, particular country's baseline rate of violence, as well as effect of changes in other risk factors, such as socioeconomic conditions. The author further argued that this type of population intervention study is free of ecological fallacy. The ecological fallacy occurs when investigator infers that unobserved effect of one variable on another at level is same as observed effect at group level. In present study, author suggested that issue of ecological fallacy is rendered moot insofar as the link between risk factor and outcome variable has already been established at level of individual (p. 646). Each white South African was equally without television in same way as each white Canadian and American was with television between 1945 and 1974. The author also acknowledged that in conducting this type of comparative study there are rough edges insofar as prior to 1975 there could have been South African whites who were exposed to television outside of South Africa. Specification bias was reduced by choosing a control population, South Africa, with a similar social and historical background to Canada and United States. The author examined potentially confounding third variables, but found none adequately explained observed homicide trends. Potential confounding third variables were controlled through use of multiple control groups. However, author was unable to control for effect of local inaccessible confounders since there were no other television-free countries similar to South Africa. The author found that two major etiologic hypotheses were substantiated by data. One hypothesis stated that exposure to television is followed by an increase in rates of violence. Another hypothesis stated that timing of introduction of television predicts timing of subsequent increase in rates of violence. In conclusion, author calculated that exposure to television is etiologically related to about one half of homicides committed in United States. EVALUATION: The author presents an interesting comparison of homicide rates in United States, Canada and South Africa as a function of each countries' relative exposure to television. However, task of explaining an entire country's rate of homicide by exposure to television alone seems problematic for several reasons. The author does not convincingly justify exclusion of effects from other confounding variables from relationship. For example, relative effects of exposure to other mediums in each country is not discussed. Finally, author assumes that backgrounds of all three countries are comparable and that there was similar television programming both in Canada and United States during period studied. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by Center for Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of University of Colorado) N1 - Call Number: F-433, AB-433 KW - South Africa KW - Canada KW - US Foreign Comparison KW - Countries Other Than USA KW - Homicide Rates KW - Television Viewing KW - Television Violence KW - Comparative Analysis KW - Violence Risk Factors KW - Violence Causes KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Caucasian Adult KW - Caucasian Victim KW - Adult Victim KW - Cross National Comparison KW - Cross National Differences KW - 1940s KW - 1950s KW - 1960s KW - 1970s

Adolescents and Violence

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article by Brunsletter et al. was to research the violence literature as well as assess the clinical significance of violence for individual patients and its treatment and management in a hospital atmosphere. METHODOLOGY: The authors followed a non-experimental design in which past research on adolescent violence was reviewed and clinical case studies of four violent adolescents were examined. The four adolescent patients were selected for discussion based on their participation in group violence. The discussion was presented in the form of a roundtable in which the three authors discussed different aspects of their study. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Initially, the authors noted that given the backgrounds of most of their adolescent patients, it was surprising that violent behavior was not more common amongst them. Nonetheless, patients inflicted pain upon themselves and others. Yet it was an incident of group violence involving the four adolescents which led the authors to reexamine the treatment milieu. The authors described each of the patient case histories in order to determine common characteristics which might have led each to violence. Besides their all being male, some of the patients had neurological abnormalities, seizure disorders, and childhood head injuries. In addition, some of the patients had come from neglectful or abusive homes, had experienced the loss of a major object before the age of ten and was blamed for it, and finally, one of the patients was a heavy drug user. The authors discussed several antecedents to adolescent violence drawing on the backgrounds of the four sample youths. Early childhood traumas or losses were said to be precursors to later anger and its associated actions. The correlation between violence and gender was discussed but findings have been inconclusive. The authors also evaluated the somewhat more controversial association between temporal lobe epilepsy and excessive violence. Family violence as a predictor of later violence and delinquency was said to be consistently shown in the research. Finally, the authors emphasized the importance of discovering whether there was an abusive role model in a violent child's past in order to determine future behavior. Next, the authors discussed the therapeutic environment in which the adolescent patients were being treated. One of the five functions of the therapeutic environment was said to be containment (the others being support, structure, involvement and validation) of violence. The authors argued that patients sometimes get caught up in a conflict which isn't necessarily theirs because of an inability to differentiate their own personality structure. Traumatically overstimulating a patient with intense nurturing feelings was also said to increase the likelihood of violence in some situations. Likewise, violence in the units normally escalates from verbal violence to damage to property to physical assault on another person. The authors concluded by observing that hospital riots are often proceeded by periods of tension between staff and patients. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: In light of the authors' findings regarding the progression of violence from verbal violence to physical assault, the authors made several recommendations. First, unit staff skills should be developed such that they permit the early recognition of impending breakdowns and loss of control before the patient actually becomes violent. Staff training and expertise are therefore very important for effective intervention. The aim of violence intervention in a therapeutic environment should be not simply to control the patient but also to aid the adolescent in regaining and utilizing his/her own self-control. Various interventions were suggested from talking with the patient to using restraints or seclusion. Finally, the authors described a treatment strategy entitled dynamic homeostasis in which open communication between patients and staff is encouraged to produce an atmosphere of optimism and security. EVALUATION: The authors present an insightful discussion of precursors to adolescent aggression and the dynamics of violence in hospital therapeutic units. The presentation is both clearly written and well organized. Future research and intervention strategies would be well informed by the present study. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Treatment Program KW - Violence Treatment KW - Mental Health Institution KW - Mental Health Treatment KW - Mental Illness KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Offender Treatment KW - Group Violence KW - Offender Characteristics KW - Violence Causes KW - Case Studies KW - Male Offender KW - Male Violence KW - Juvenile Male KW - Hospital Violence

Incestuous victimization by Juvenile Sex offenders

Most research and clinical data dealing with child sexual abuse have focused on adult offenders (usually a parent or relative) and their child victims. More recently, however, the data are beginning to show that a sizeable number of these sexual encounters are being committed by juvenile offenders. Thus, parents and members of the helping professions are beginning to see that what had previously been labeled sexual experimentation may be more serious. Using 37 cases drawn from the files of a local Children and Family Service agency that met the study definition of a juvenile sexual offense, data are reported on the following variables: the age difference between the victim and the offender, the relationship between victim and offender, the act involved, the context in which the act occurred, the pattern of the sexual contact, problems the offender exhibited that may have resulted from the sexual encounter, and general demographic data about the offender's family. VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this research conducted by Pierce and Pierce was to examine incestuous juvenile sexual offenders. METHODOLOGY: The authors used a quasi-experimental design to do an exploratory study of a purposive sample of 37 juvenile offenders. Juvenile sexual offenders were defined for this study as a child under 18, who engaged in sexual activities, including, fondling, attempted intercourse, vaginal intercourse, anal intercourse, oral intercourse, and exposure with a relative or a person who was providing child care, or a person for whom child care was being provided. Protective service workers were provided with this definition and were asked to identify any case record that fit the definition. Data were gathered from reviewing open protective service records. The variables that this study looked at were age difference between victim and offender, how they were socially related, acts involved, context acts occurred in, pattern of sexual contacts, problems offenders were currently exhibiting, and information on offender's family of origin. The authors used descriptive statistics to explore the data. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: Ages of juveniles at the time of the last reported offense ranged from 4-16. While victims ranged in age from 3 years to adult. In 46 percent of the case at least one victim was at least 5 years younger than the offender. Victims that were at least 10 years younger occurred in 13 percent of the cases. 44 percent of the victims were male. Two thirds of the subjects had committed more than one sexual offense. 51 percent of the incidents were fondling which made it the most typical type of abuse. Oral intercourse was the second most common form making up 30 percent of the total incidents. Offenses took place in foster homes 46 percent of the time and in offenders own home 30 percent of the time. 50 percent of offenders engaged in some other form of delinquent behavior and 40 percent had academic problems. Only 3 juveniles had no records of being victims of abuse themselves. Subjects were physically abused in 62 percent of the cases. 43 percent were victims of sexual abuse. 70 percent had been neglected. 45 percent of mothers for whom information was available were described as emotionally ill and 19 percent were substance abusers. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors recommend that since most offenders were victims themselves counseling and therapy should be used after the original victimization. This will help children deal with their emotions surrounding their victimization and may prevent them from becoming offenders. The family of the juvenile offender needs to be focused on also. The family needs help in becoming more functional. If the abuse of the offenders by their family could be prevented they will be less likely to offend. Case workers should draw up a summary sheet to record the description of patterns of sexual offenses, date of occurrences, and the disposition. This will enable an easier assessment of data and a more complete understanding of the situation. The authors recommend a balance of punishment and treatment, citing that many offenders are prosecuted without any treatment. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Child Abuse Offender KW - Child Sexual Abuse Offender KW - Incest Offender KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Sexual Assault Offender KW - Sibling Violence Offender KW - Sibling Incest KW - Domestic Violence Offender KW - Child Sexual Abuse Offender KW - Offender Characteristics KW - Offense Characteristics KW - Victim Offender Relations

Media Accountability for Real-Life Violence: A Case of Negligence or Free Speech?

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article by Dee was to provide a comprehensive review of U.S. Court decisions relating to cases in which a child or young adult was victim of violence that was held to have been caused by mass media presentations to public of material that induced violent acts which had fatal or serious health consequences for plaintiffs in a broad range of court cases. METHODOLOGY: This article was a non-experimental review of literature. Beginning in early 1970s and continuing to present, there has been a periodic filing of suits against broadcasters, movie producers, rock musicians, game designers, and publishers for negligence specified in claims that children or adult plaintiffs (or parents of deceased children) had been killed or injured as a result of material instigated by a movie, an article, a recording, or a particular broadcast. In all, fifteen cases were summarized and each focused on an analysis of legal arguments used in case. The first six cases described situations wherein a party was harmed by a third party whose dangerous conduct was alleged to have been triggered by a media presentation. The subsequent nine cases analyzed cases where children or teenagers injured or killed themselves while acting out something they had purportedly read about, heard, seen on television, or played out during a game. The author provided legal definitions of negligence and incitement. Specifically, negligence was held to be the failure to use such care as a reasonably prudent and careful person would use under similar circumstances. It was noted that tort law governs court decisions on negligence and defendants are negligent if their conduct posed, unreasonable risks to others, as determined by judges or juries. With regard to incitement however, there has been some ambiguity as it was not defined in Constitution or any statute book. Incitement as a definition implied a significant probability of danger being intended by perpetrator. The legal charge of incitement had roots in a series of Supreme Court decisions interpreting First Amendment, and has come to be seen, along with libel, slander, perjury, obscenity, and fighting words, as an exception to First Amendment protections otherwise afforded as free speech and free press. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The overall review suggested that courts hesitate to hold media organizations accountable for inciting violent acts of specific individuals. Increases in number of cases coming to courts in 1980s were considered by author to be partly attributable to development of common law through test cases as well as an increased turning of individuals to courts for redress of grievances against media. Especially noteworthy was that all test cases involved children or young adults. The author noted that cases of media-incited violence among adults have been difficult to prove in aggregate, however children have provided a common grounds for rallying against social fears about harmful effects of media. For future, author concluded that a testing of media accountability may be part of a series of attempts to find direct and remediable solutions to problems of increased violence in our society. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by Center for Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of University of Colorado) KW - Literature Review KW - 1970s KW - 1980s KW - Media Coverage KW - Media Accountability KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Violence Causes KW - Victimization Causes KW - Case Studies KW - Criminal Justice System KW - Correctional Decision Making KW - Child Victim KW - Juvenile Victim KW - Adult Victim KW - Film Violence KW - Music Violence KW - Television Violence KW - Court Response KW - Justice System Response

The Effects of Social Class, Gender, and Personality on Physiological Responses to Filmed Violence

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The intent of this study by Frost and Stauffer was to examine the factors affecting emotional arousal in response to media violence. METHODOLOGY: The authors employed a quasi-experimental design by purposively sampling 150 participants between the ages of 17 and 24. One portion of the sample consisted of 72 white, affluent, unpaid, volunteer undergraduate students (36 males and 36 females). The other portion of the sample consisted of 78 racially mixed, paid volunteers who resided in an inner-city housing project and none of whom had attended college (39 males and 39 females). Measurements employed included the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (assessment of extroversion-introversion, instability-stability, and psychoticism-reality), a polygraph (measuring autonomic arousal via skin conductance response), and blood pulse volume (for comparison with skin conductance). Three subjects were chosen randomly for each session and seated in arm chairs two feet apart in a partially darkened room. There were a total of 52 sessions and six subjects were dropped from the study. Subjects watched a 20-minute exposure to dramatized violence, and were instructed to relax, avoid unnecessary movements, watch attentively and not interact with each other. Beginning with two minutes of nonviolent exposure, the tape proceeded through ten excerpts of violence, including accidental death, male-male assault, male-female assault, destruction of property, male kills male, male kills female, female kills male, female kills female, rape, and rape/murder. Three different versions of each type of violence were used and randomly rotated to increase the probability that subject response would be to a specific type of violence and not to the nuances of a particular portrayal of that type. After viewing the videotape, subjects were questioned about their own use of the media and they were tested for their recall of the violent scenes, also indicating the excitement they experienced while watching the scene. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: In the skin conductance response (SCR) analysis, neither gender nor personality regression coefficients reached significance, although the main effect for social class was highly significant. The inner-city group was significantly more aroused than the college sample when viewing the violence, and a pairwise comparison of means found depictions of a female killing a female to be significantly more arousing than five other forms of violence. Rape and rape/murder were significantly more arousing than male-female assault, a male killing a male and destruction of property. The blood pulse measures demonstrated similar results. Although there was a difference in the amount of arousal between the two samples, a similar pattern of arousal emerged in both groups. Four of the five most arousing categories of violence were the same for both groups (female kills female, male kills female, rape/murder, and female kills male). The greatest disparity between groups was in the depiction of rape, with the inner-city sample showing more arousal. The self-reported arousal mirrored the physiological measurements on either extreme (female killing a female as most exciting and male-female assault as least exciting), although the correlation coefficient between self-reported ratings and physiological measurements was only.09 (SCR) and -.04 (blood pressure). In terms of arousal, no significant differences were found between the three different versions of a particular type of violent act. For instance, it made no difference in measurements of arousal when different weapons were used by a male to kill another male. Gender was not found to be a mediating factor in arousal to violence, except in the subjective ratings of approval of violent films, for which college females gave significantly lower ratings than college males or inner-city males or females. The most significant finding of the study was that inner-city subjects were more aroused than the college students, reaffirming the theory that when media content is congruent with real-life experiences, the result is an amplification of the media message. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors did not provide specific recommendations based on their findings, but added the caveat that this measurement of arousal, with specific instruments in specific settings, had little generalizability. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Exposure to Violence KW - Adult KW - Gender Differences KW - Media Violence Effects KW - Television Violence KW - Television Viewing KW - Socioeconomic Factors KW - Sociocultural Factors Language: en

Book Review: Processing the Information

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The objective of this article by Prothrow-Stith et al. was to set forth the public health approach of the Violence Prevention Project, a program of the Health Promotion Program for Urban Youth in the Boston Department of Health and Hospitals. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental design was used to describe the components of the Violence Prevention Project. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: The Violence Prevention Project is a community-based primary prevention program that initiates outreach and education in an effort to change attitudes and behavior to prevent juvenile violence. School-based curriculum, community agency involvement in teaching the curriculum, community networking and support, and media campaigns are the fundamental components of the Violence Prevention Project. AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS: The authors stated that violence intervention and prevention must be sensitive to community contexts and individual behavior within particular social contexts, and therefore, community involvement in planning, implementation, and evaluation is critical. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado) KW - Massachusetts KW - Public Health Approach KW - Curriculum KW - School Based KW - Urban School KW - Urban Youth KW - Juvenile Violence KW - Juvenile Offender KW - Community Based KW - Violence Prevention KW - Prevention Program KW - Program Description Language: en

After the Shooting Stops

Five pupil service personnel in a small, midwestern school system combined their efforts in responding to student, teacher, and parent needs after a 14‐year‐old boy wounded two teachers and a student and killed the principal in a shooting spree. It is suggested that schools develop tactical plans for responding to catastrophic situations.