According to the University of Pittsburgh's Office of Child Development, these social factors may play as important of a role as the psychological factors. First, educational institutions can have a large impact on violence in children. According to their research, over 80% of children failing school have serious youth violence issues, including arrests for violent crimes. According to one study of 11-year-old males, 20% of the subject population of whom the teachers rated as low achievers were later convicted of violent crime, compared to less than 10% of those rated as higher achievers. According to researchers, social situations within the school system, such as overcrowding, imposed conformity, and peer pressure all contribute to youth violence (Farrington, 1989).
Still further, study after study has shown that poverty greatly increases the odds of violence in youths in the United States. First, poorer areas have a higher turnover rate of residents, which can lead to instability and a lack of responsibility for the neighborhood within a given area. Secondly, lower income neighborhoods are less organized than higher income areas, and since youth require some form of organized structure, this can lead to more violent behavior. Even more troublesome, lower income neighborhoods tend to have higher crime rates, and thus, the children are exposed to more crime and violence. Additionally, social institutions such as the family are generally prone to anti-social behavioral tendencies in lower income areas. These tendencies include drug or alcohol abuse, large, disassociated families, low parental education, and increased likelihood for sexual or verbal abuse (Office of Children, Youth and Family, 1999).
While psychological factors and social institutions definitely play a part in youth violence, there is yet another factor, that of the youth culture in the United States today. In today's fast paced society, research has shown that many children and young adults are often poorly supervised by adults. As such, these youths tend to have access to a range of unsuitable material, such as television, movies, and games that depict high levels of violence. According to McCord and his...
Youth violence is a major problem in the world today that must be continually researched and examined in order to reduce its harmful grasp. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), violent acts were the second leading cause of death for young people in the United States in 2010 (Understanding Youth). Youth violence not only includes children that are victims of violent acts, but also those that commit acts
The popularity of a "bum-fighting" series of DVDs serves as evidence of this culture. The show depicts actually homeless men fighting one another and getting beaten up. A number of the teens involved in violent attacks on the homeless have indicated that they enjoy the series. Even sports seem to play a role in the violent propensities. In the case of the Fort Lauderdale attack, one of the perpetrators
Associations Between Youth Violence and Exposure to Gun Violence The issue of violence in school has drawn increasing attention in recent years. Thus, the study by Forster (et al., 2015) entitled “Associations Between Gun Violence Exposure, Gang Associations, and Youth Aggression: Implications for Prevention and Intervention Programs,” appears to be a timely one, regarding the association of exposure to gun violence to aggressive actions. According to the authors, there is abundant
Media violence and youth violence: a 2-year longitudinal study" which was written by Hopf et al. This study examined the relationship between violence in the media and violent delinquency in juveniles. As the title of this article suggests, the research is based on a two-year longitudinal study. The hypotheses for this study were multifold, and were based in large measure on existent hypothesis. The hypothesis of Hopf et al.
The majority of gangs are governed by norms that support the use of violence to settle disputes and to achieve group goals "associated with member recruitment, defense of one's identity as a gang member, turf protection and expansion, and defense of the gang's honor" (Youth1 pp). Sanctioned violence is also dictated by a code of honor that stresses one's manhood and defines breaches of etiquette, and also demonstrates toughness
Violence Against Children The structure of violence as related to children directly correlates to their perceived socio-demographic risk. Several factors directly relate to the likelihood that a child will be subjected to violence at some point during their lives. Social, economic, demographic and physical factors all have a dramatic impact a child's development, either positive or negative and these factors also influence whether or not a child is more or less
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