Category: Youth Violence

Introduction

In the years past, youth violence has increased dramatically and has become a major epidemic in American society. Especially among young people in today’s atmosphere, violence is a daily occurrence. It’s almost impossible to avoid seeing or partaking in what most consider as violent acts. Bullying is the leading cause of youth violence as well as developmental risk factors throughout stages of adolescents’ lives.

Growing up I had a friend that I spent a lot of time with, whether it was at her house, at school, at a park, and honestly anywhere we could find a way to have fun. For many days she would pick what we did, where we would go on the playground, and even where we would sit for lunch, almost like I was a dog following my owner, but I never really saw a problem with it. One day she told me that we were going to play on the swings, but at that time I didn’t want to play on the swings, I wanted to play on the monkey bars. She was furious, she told me that I couldn’t be friends with her if I didn’t go with her to the swings and at 9 years old I didn’t know any better so I shut my mouth and went with her to the swings. This happened for days on end, but it got worse, she would tell me I was nothing without her, or that I was ugly, or that I would never have any other friends. So eventually I mustered the courage to speak my mind, I told her how I did not like how she wanted to control me and tell me what to do, she was so upset with me but I didn’t care I was done with her. After that day, I never hung out with her again, I got some new friends that treated me the right way. This was a very traumatic experience for me and it made it hard for me to trust people into actually being my friend.

As kids grow up they develop opinions that some express more than others. These opinions aren’t always very nice, they are very cruel, harsh, and cause embarrassment for the other person. Adolescents secure themselves by becoming bullies or using bully mentality in order to give themselves power over someone else and hide their weaknesses. Most have bullied others because someone else has done it to them first and use bullying as a protection mechanism. An excerpt from Mental Health Information For Teens: Health Tips about Mental Wellness and Mental Illness by Omnigraphics, Inc. gives the information which discusses that victims more susceptible to this type of violence are usually people with “low self-esteem, poor peer relationships, harsh parenting, or attitudes accepting of violence.” Whether it is physical, mental, or emotional, it can cause victims to become mentally unstable and have long lasting effects on their wellbeing. These children aren’t just bullied at school, they will be bullied in the safety of their home too due to social media. Social media follows them around and psychologically they are not able to pull away and delete the messages or even delete the app. Instead they will try to fire back but it will only make matters worse and mentally they will start to think that they don’t matter or everyone would be better off without them, and even try to harm that person and then themselves in the process. So, as a result of bullying it can cause an increased risk for anxiety, sleep deprivation, depression, and violence, which can affect them all throughout their adult lives. When teens become violent it is often a danger to the community and more often than not, their family members and friends. They will be the ones that end up getting injured as a result from the teens violence.

Over the years teens have displayed behavioral problems that often lead to violence, as a result of the developmental situations they have faced. They have used violence as a way to protect themselves from the threat of getting hurt. In an article about the Effects of Youth Violence from the Teen Violence Statistics website. It focuses on why teens become violent, the effects of their violence, and possibly treatments. In this article it mentions that “teens become violent when they feel threatened acting on pure instinct.” They can feel threatened in social or academic situations as well as at home, by peers or authority figures. (Effects of Youth Violence-Teen Violence Statistics) They commonly result to using violence because risk factors they have endured with their families, their neighborhood, and their peers, such as broken homes, or social disorganization. Some believe that risk factors are personal characteristics that can predict if you are more likely to become violent. These factors also affect the youth differently based on their ages. In an article from the Journal Of Adolescent Health it explains the results of a study that shows the risk factors for violence at different ages. In the study it proved that the amount of risk factors a child is exposed to at different ages increase as the child gets older. It says “youths exposed to more than five risk factors compared to” “youth exposed to fewer than two risk factors” were seven times greater at age 10, 10 times greater at age 14 and 11 times greater at age 16. An example of one of those risk factors would be when a child goes through abuse or are neglected from their parent(s) and live in a neighborhood where there is crime, drug use, and especially violence, they are more likely to have violent behaviors. Another could be when a child goes through a parents divorce, or like discussed earlier would be bullying.

Although this violence makes it seem like it can’t be stopped, there are preventative methods that can be taken to decrease it as well as help the teens that are going through it right now. In a podcast from a TED Conference, Jeffery Brown explains how his team and him cut youth violence in Boston by 79 percent. This proves that the goal of decreasing youth violence can be reached. The first step we need to take is to listen to the kids, don’t just speak at them and tell them what they need to do, help them reduce the violence around their own community, have them inspire the kids around them to do so as well. Sometimes kids are more open to change when its not the adults telling them what to do, but people their own age. Another way to help prevent youth violence was discussed by a panel of scholars from the University Of Chicago who were discussing a public policy forum. They discussed that programs need to be put in place in order to address people at different ages that are at risk for incorporating violence in their lives. It also should be based on the best evidence demonstrating effects on preventing violence, and have the most direct influence on youth at different stages of their lives. Even though programs need to be put in place to help decrease the amount of violence there is, there are also some things that everyone can do little by little to help prevent the violence. For example, teachers can be more aware of the way students are talking to each other, they can be more involved in their conversations instead of ignoring how they treat others. As a community we need to not be afraid to stand up to the bullies or violent people treating others wrongfully, instead we can tell an adult, or contact police and then the police can get those people help. We can also help teens get the counseling they need, have them get involved in sports or clubs at school, and even take them out of a threatening situation if you see it happening. A few steps in the right direction can go a long way in support of reducing the violence that youth experience on a daily basis.

Some people believe that the only reason adolescents become violent is because they learn it from their peers, or parents or role models they have in their lives, but real statistics say that the main cause of violence is because of the abuse, bullying and neglect that the teens endure throughout their lives. The effects of violence are severely detrimental to the youths mental well being and health, and while there are treatments and programs we can put in place to help those kids, we should also focus on being aware of the things going on around us in order to possibly help those kids on our own as well before it’s too late.

Works Cited Page

1. ‘Bullying and Youth Violence.’ Mental Health Information For Teens: Health Tips about Mental Wellness and Mental Illness, edited by Siva Ganesh Maharaja, 5th ed., Omnigraphics, 2017, pp. 215-219. Teen Health Series. Gale Ebooks, https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX7184900051/GVRL?u=j057909010&sid=GVRL&xid=9d64b5de. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.
2. “Developmental Risk Factors for Youth Violence.” Journal of Adolescent Health, Elsevier, 24 July 2000, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1054139X99000658.
3. “Effects of Youth Violence.” Effects of Youth Violence – Teen Violence Statistics, http://www.teenviolencestatistics.com/content/effects-of-youth-violence.html.
4. TED. “Jeffrey Brown: How We Cut Youth Violence in Boston by 79 Percent.” YouTube, YouTube, 26 May 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeVz0rtXCmw.
5. Chicago, The University of. “Preventing Youth Violence in Communities: What Does the Evidence Tell Us? | A Public Policy Forum.” YouTube, YouTube, 21 July 2011, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3Tr9AlOIkI.

Summary

In 2016, the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) released “AOTA’s Societal Statement on Youth Violence” to address the prevalence of youth violence in society today. David-Ferdon and Simon (2014) state that violence is the second leading cause of death among youth. AOTA defines violence to include bullying, verbal threats, physical assault, domestic abuse, use of weapons to harm another person, and gunfire. The Societal Statement highlights a key point, that violence negatively impacts individual perpetrators, victims of violence, and larger societal structures. As a result of the dual nature of this problem, occupational therapists (OTs) can have an influential role in working towards a solution by understanding the lives of individual youth impacted by violence, and also by developing population level strategies to resolve the larger systemic issues. The Societal Statement addresses the general youth population, as well as smaller subsets of youth such as perpetrators of violence, victims of violence, and those at risk for experiencing violence. The distinction between groups is important because each may have different needs as a result of their relationship with violence. Youth violence can ultimately affect all aspects of an individual’s life; therefore, it affects all areas of occupation, including activities of daily living, instrumental activities of daily living, education, work, leisure, play, social participation, and rest and sleep. The statement on youth violence influences traditional practice settings such as inpatient psychiatry, partial hospitalization, long term mental health care, schools, community mental health programs, groups homes, sheltered workshops and vocational training, because youth affected by violence may need special attention in any of these settings (Roberts & Evenson, 2014). Given the negative impact on multiple areas of occupation, response to and prevention of youth violence can be an important emerging area of practice for OTs.

Purpose

It is likely that AOTA published the Societal Statement about youth violence because they recognized the negative impact that acts of violence have at an individual and population level, and they identified that occupational therapy (OT) can contribute to the solution. The intended audience is widespread. The Societal Statement educates OTs about this emerging need in society, as well as parents, educators, policy makers, health care practitioners, and moreover anyone who interacts with youth. It appears that AOTA hoped the statement would help create an entry point for OTs in this emerging practice area and furthermore, create opportunity for interprofessional collaboration between OTs and other professionals currently working with this population. There are current events and trends that may have compelled AOTA to write this statement, including shootings at schools and at public events. The pervasiveness of school shootings is a frightening reality in the United States, and it sheds light on the need for increased mental health services and prevention to stop the behavior before it occurs.

Evidence

The Societal Statement is evidence based and is supported by secondary sources and empirical evidence. One source titled Preventing Youth Violence: Opportunities for Action, provides data and statistics about the incidence of youth violence in the United States and it speaks to the need for a population level change and proposes evidence-based intervention for targeting violent behavior (David-Ferdon & Simon, 2014). An additional secondary source titled Morbidity and Mortality Among Adolescents and Young Adults in the US, provides further information about the various causes of morbidity in adolescent populations (Blum & Qureshi, 2011). As highlighted in the report by David-Ferdon and Simon, one of the most pivotal ways to address the problem of youth violence in society is through prevention and working towards stopping the violent behavior before the problem magnifies. Hildenbrand and Lamb (2015) also discuss the demand for prevention to make change in society. They state that while OT has always been rooted in maintaining health of individuals and groups, given the current political and healthcare climate, there is a greater shift towards OTs involved in prevention and wellness, in addition to the current established practice of treatment and intervention. This is an opportune time for interprofessional collaboration between OTs and other professionals. For example, the authors discuss how in order to contribute to reducing the incidence of youth violence, collaboration is needed among parents, teachers, afterschool programs, among others, in order to instill in youth positive life habits and to keep them away from exposure to violence. An additional study about bullying during childhood revealed that the act of bullying is a serious risk factor for violent behavior later in life (Nansel, Overpeck, Haynie, Ruan & Scheidt, 2003). The results of the study are relevant to the field of OT because as OTs enter the domain of helping individuals affected by violence, it will be increasingly important to observe and identify bullying behavior and to develop evidence-based interventions. An OT may also address potential mental health challenges, help foster positive social relationships, and connect a child to additional resources to help prevent involvement in violence later in life.

Community Involvement

The Center for Teen Empowerment is a local organization, based in Boston and Somerville, MA, that employs urban teens affected by youth violence. The teens and adults work together to cultivate leadership skills, identify problems in communities, develop strategies, and take action to improve those issues and create peace through dialogue, workshops, and community involvement (Center for Teen Empowerment). One component that contributes to the success of the Center for Teen Empowerment is that they educate youth about problems facing society, engage them in the solution, and as a result help reduce involvement in crime and violence. This model allows teens to be part of the positive change in society by engaging in a meaningful cause, developing healthy life skills, and working to combat violence. This is an example of an organization that is following the call to action made in the Societal Statement. While the organization heavily focuses on leadership, skill development, and social justice education for youth, they do not have an OT on staff. OTs help youth engage in meaningful and purposeful occupations, as well as support individual health and well-being through full participation in their lives. Given that the Center for Teen Empowerment works with teens affected by violence, one should consider the unique needs of this population and the contributions an OT could make. For example, if someone suffered physical or emotional trauma due to violence, he or she may need help reintegrating back into society due to mental health challenges. An OT could then facilitate dialogue about what is important to the individual and create an intervention to develop routines so the individual can return to his or her occupational roles. This could be valuable to the organization so that the teens can fully engage in their responsibilities with the organization and other aspects of their lives. In addition, OTs could also facilitate various life skills groups, decision making and education planning, mindfulness practice, or stress management strategies. The success of the Center for Teen Empowerment is a promising example of a community working to diminish the problem of youth violence through positive engagement and healthy participation in life. In addition to community involvement, AOTA’s Societal Statement and the emerging role of OT to address youth violence offers encouraging prospects to meet the unique needs of the youth population.

References

1. American Occupational Therapy Association. (2018). AOTA’s societal statement on youth violence. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 72, 7212410090p1- 7212410090p2. https://doi.org/10.5014/ajot.2018.72S209
2. Blum, R., & Qureshi, F. (2011). Morbidity and mortality among adolescents and young adults in the US [AstraZeneca fact sheet]. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University, Bloomberg School of Public Health.
3. Center for Teen Empowerment. (n.d.) About Us. Retrieved from https://teenempowerment.org/about-us/
4. David-Ferdon, C., & Simon, T. R. (2014). Preventing youth violence: Opportunities for action. Atlanta: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control.
5. Hildenbrand, W. C., & Lamb, A. J., (2013). Occupational therapy in prevention and wellness: Relevance in a new health care world. The American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 67(3), 266-271. doi:10.5014/ajot.2013.673001
6. Nansel, T., R., Overpeck, M., D., Haynie, D., L., Ruan, W., J., & Peter C. Scheidt, (2003). Relationships between bullying and violence among US youth. Arch Pediatrics Adolescent Medicine, 157, 348-353). www.archpediatrics.com
7. Roberts, P., S., & Evenson, M., E. (2014). Continuum of Care. In B. A. B. Schell, G. Gillen, & M.E. Scaffa (Eds). Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy (12th ed., pp. 896-910).

Violence has become very rampant among the youths especially those in the adolescent stage between the age of 12 and 19. This can be attributed to several factors as this essay will show. It should be remembered that this is the stage in which one is trying to break away from childhood and establish his own identity.

Do parents, school and individuals’ personality have a bearing on an adolescent predisposition to violence or otherwise? Failure to understand these three aspects has led to wrong social interventions that have even being harmful. For purposes of organization, this essay will be divided into several numbered parts.

Title and full citation

This report is informed by the reading of a book called “Youth violence: A report of the Surgeon General”. More specifically, the report will analyze chapter 4 titled “Risk factors for youth violence.”

Summary of the book

The book explains that violence among adolescents increase when they attain the age of 10. It gets worse when they are around 18 and lessens as they approach their early adulthood. Some adolescents carry this violent behavior from their childhood. Out of a hundred adolescents, 50 get involved in violence when they are between the age of 15 and 19.

Several reasons can be given as to why violence begins at this age. In development, several emotional and physical changes occur. This alters the way and pattern in which the young person was relating with others. The adolescent yearns for liberty and aspires to be seen differently.

He also wants competencies that would help him adapt to the wider world. This is when he begins to negotiate rules that he had followed before thereby creating potential conflict with the parents. Similarly, he gets more friends who take over the place of his parents.

Acclimatizing to the changes in status, social contexts, and relationships may generate stress to adolescents. The stress may emanate from feelings of anger, rejection, and despair which may be real or perceived. Failure to live up to the expectations of the society (its norms and rules), parents, teachers, and even peers may lead to feelings of inadequacy.

In order to regain this respect and get attention, the adolescents engage in violence. They may also plunge into violence as a way of rejecting the adult world and its rules. Though not a guarantee, better relations between parents and children will have a positive effect on the often difficult transition to adolescence.

Exposure of adolescents to domestic violence makes them emotionally vulnerable and hence more predisposed to react violently as a preemptive to imminent threats. Such vulnerabilities undermine self-confidence, self-esteem, and lead to feelings of despondency and hopelessness.

Self-believe is very vital in this developmental stage and if it is sloughed off by feelings of fear, depression, anxiety, and guilt, adolescents are likely to be violent in the face of perceived threats. Fagan & Wilkinson (1998) observe that adolescents with violence exposure are more predisposed to perpetrate similar acts.

The individual personality is an equally important factor when it comes to likelihood of being involved in violent acts. Adolescents who are generally aggressive are more likely to commit a violent act than those who are not. Boys have been found to be more aggressive and hence more violent than girls.

This can be attributed to various reasons. To start with, males identify with roles models that are socially aggressive. Moreover, unlike girls, boys have been exposed to more violent acts than boys (Fagan & Wilkinson, 1998). The aggression takes two forms; verbal and physical.

Psychological factors such as short attention span, dare-devil attitude, and being impulsive have an effect on the likelihood of engaging in violence. Individuals who are hyperactive are more predisposed to physical violence as they are restless and generally perform poorly in school.

Similarly, persons with anti-social attitudes such as dishonesty, petty stealing, hostility to authority, and tendency to break the rules commit even bigger and violent acts (Office of the Surgeon General, 2001).

The education system in many countries encourages attainment of better grades and therefore leads to intense competition among students. Those who fail to attain the expected grades feel incompetent. To rebel against standards they can not conform to, they engage in violence.

Strength of the book

The strength of the book lies in it credibility. The writer explains that the data informing the book is from two sources, that is, arrest reports and self reports.

In the first method of data collection, the writer visits law enforcement agencies and asks for information on arrest, the crime leading to arrest and the volumes. In the second method, information is sought from the youths themselves. Though not objective, it indicates that most crimes are unreported.

Deficiencies of the reading

The book is wanting in its approach to violence in school. It assumes that only intelligence quotient is responsible for better grades in school. This is in spite of the glaring realities that other factors too immensely affect performances. These factors include motivation and learning readiness. It also fails to give specific and convincing reasons as to why minority races are more predisposed to violence than their majority counterparts.

Suggestions to the author

The challenge to the author of the book will be to carry out a thorough and credible research on the effects of genes on violence. This would lend more credence to his suppositions that sex may have something to do with violence. Secondly, it would be better if the author consider a broad spectrum of issues when tackling schools and violence.

In conclusion, the essay has examined the various predisposing factors to adolescents’ violence including the family, school, and individual personality. It has done so by analyzing a reading titled Youth violence: A report of the Surgeon General. It can be said that the three aspects have a bearing to violence but future studies need to be done holistically so that proper social interventions may be instituted.

References

Fagan, J., & Wilkinson, D(1998). Social contexts and functions of adolescent violence. In D. S. Elliott, B. A. Hamburg, & K. R. Williams (Eds.), Violence in American schools: A new perspective (pp. 55-93). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Office of the Surgeon General (2001). Youth Violence: A Report of the Surgeon General. (DEST no.44300).

The rise of violence among young people is observed within the modern society. Many factors can affect the development of the youth’s negative behaviours and attitudes. The extreme rise of violence among young people today is the controversial point. That is why, in their studies, researchers provide different reasons as the factors provoking the young people’s violent behaviour.

Thus, there is no single idea about the role of the media in increasing violence among young people. Psychologists are inclined to support rather opposite visions on the problem. Researchers state that there is no direct connection between the young people’s violent behavior and the violent media because of the significant role of such factors as mental and social issues.

Their opponents claim that the media is the main cause for increasing violence among young people. Although the question is controversial, it is possible to state that the media promoting violent films, video games, and music is the cause for increasing violent behaviours because the media provokes the young people’s reflection of the perceived images of violence in reality.

Violent films provoke aggressive behaviours among young people. The social cognitive theory supports the idea that children learn behavioral patterns with the help of the media. According to Wilson, children often imitate the violent patterns seen in films (Wilson, 2008, p. 64). The study supports the idea referred to the social cognitive theory. Short-term effects of violent films on the behaviour of children from the primary school were observed.

Those children who watched the episode from Mighty Morphin Power Rangers which included the scenes of choking, kicking, and hinting were inclined to reflect them (Wilson, 2008, p. 66). Aggressive behaviours and attitudes are preserved in the mind, and these patterns and attitudes can be used by children to resolve conflicts (Josephson, 1987, p. 882). Thus, violent films influence young people’s behaviours negatively because of the demonstrated violent images.

Violent video games are the next influential factor causing the development of young people’s violent attitudes. According to the study by Kirsh, a lot of video games presented within the market include to 80% of violent scenes (Kirsh, 2002, p. 380). The period of 1970-1980 is characterised by developing more violent and realistic video games.

From the perspective of social learning theory, those children who prefer violent video games can demonstrate aggressive behaviours in their adulthood (Kirsh, 2002, p. 379). To support the idea and compare behaviours of people from two different groups, the experiment for 9-12 years old children playing video games was conducted by researchers.

Two groups of children played violent and non-violent video games. It was found that those children who played violent video games expressed aggressive behaviours more often the children from the other group. Furthermore, the dependence on gender was also observed (Wilson, 2008, p. 68-69). From this point, the direct connection between playing violent video games and children’s aggressive behaviours is observed with references to the studies.

The adolescents’ aggressive behaviour can be also provoked by violent music. Young people round the world prefer to listen to different music (Council on Communications and Media, 2009, p. 1489). The sounds of music can be heard via radio, television, and the Internet. However, a lot of songs listened to by young people can be violent in their nature and discuss sex, murder, rapes, and drugs.

Thus, these songs can be discussed as inappropriate for children and adolescents because songs’ words create the images of violence in their minds and stimulate aggression (Council on Communications and Media, 2009, p. 1489). Rock, rap, and heavy metal songs support ideals of the deviant way of life because their texts are associated with such social issues as drug addiction, alcohol, pornography, nihilistic ideas, rebellion, anarchy, and beliefs in magic (Council on Communications and Media, 2009, p. 1490).

Music affects young people’s behaviours extremely, and it can stimulate adolescents’ violence, deviant behaviours such as rape, crime, drug abuse, suicide, women and children humiliation, barbarism, and brutality (Council on Communications and Media, 2009, p. 1491). That is why, young people’s interest in aggressive songs’ lyrics and violent music styles can lead to increasing the violent behaviours among young people because of the music effects on their consciousness.

Thus, the media can be considered as the main cause for increasing violence among young people because violent films, video games, and music are broadcast through different devices and affect the youth’s social behaviours and attitudes. The rise of violence among young people can also lead to the increase of the social violence and to the increase of crime and riot rate within the society.

That is why, people should pay attention to the potential impact of the media on the young people’s behaviours and attitudes. Furthermore, it is possible to educate the youth in relation to the effects of the media on their lives and behaviours in order to prevent the increase of violence in the society.

Abstract

Background: The developmental relationships between child maltreatment, youth violence, and intimate partner violence (IPV) are well documented. However, very few studies document the relationship between child abuse/maltreatment and youth violence as separate entities. In the present study, the relationship between child maltreatment and youth violence is examined in the presence of other modifying socio-economic factors.

Method: Using a quasi-experimental design, the present study will examine the conduct/behavior of 14,000 participants drawn from different parts of the United States. Further, the researchers will collect data from three different waves of measurements using three various forms of questionnaires. Subsequently, the data will be analyzed using the STATA SE (Version 9) software application to evaluate the impact of different kinds of child violence on the development and perpetration of youth violence in later stages of lifespan development.

Results: Relative to non-victims, the results of the present study are expected to show a direct link between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of other modifying socio-economic factors. Furthermore, it is expected that the percentage probability that abused victims will perpetrate youth violence in the future is expected to be higher than that recorded in previous studies. Conversely, gender differences are also expected in the way males and females respond to different forms of child maltreatment in perpetrating youth violence in later stages of lifespan development.

Conclusion: From the study findings, it will be apparent that there is a direct link between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of other modifying socio-economic factors.

Introduction & Literature Review

It is certain that many socio-economic risk factors are implicated in the development and progression of youth violence. However, there are relatively few research studies documenting the impact of child maltreatment and abuse on the future perpetuation of youth violence.

As a result, the present study takes a closer look into the relationship between child maltreatment and youth violence as separate entities through evaluating the cycle of violence among a specific group of participants right from preschool stage to adolescence.

In this way, the study aims at providing insights into youth violence across the lifespan development process in order to inform future programs aimed at designing prevention intervention strategies for violent youth.

Accordingly, most preliminary studies have documented the relationship between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of other factors such as domestic violence and intimate partner violence (IPV), and thus, locking out further investigations into the individual contribution of child maltreatment in the development of youth violence.

Here, Fang and Corso (2007, p. 281) examined the development of interrelationships among different forms of child abuse, intimate partner violence (IPV), and youth violence relative to a host other factors such as contextual, family background, and socio-economic factors. The study utilizes data on self-reported incidences among participants drawn from a representative sample at a national level to analyze various developmental relationships between different variables.

The study results suggest that relative to non-victims, victims experiencing child abuse/maltreatment demonstrate a higher probability toward engaging in youth violence as they grow. Further, the study notes that the likelihood that abused female children will become violent youth ranges from 1.2% to about 6.6%, and for abused male children, the probability ranges from 3.7% to about 11.9% with variations occurring relative to different forms of child abuse/maltreatment (Fang & Corso, 2007, pp. 281-290; ScienceDaily, 2007, p. 1 of 1). However, the study is limited in that it fails to account for the gender differences observed in youth violence among the participants.

Further research documents that in the presence of domestic violence and child maltreatment, which are suspected to occur in the same social set up at the same time, there is an increased probability that children raised in violent environments will become violent youth in future (Carter, 2004, para. 1).

Furthermore, Carter (2004, para. 1-10) notes that the socio-economic risk factors observed in youth violence closely resemble those observed in domestic violence and child maltreatment. This then leaves one wondering whether the relationship between child maltreatment and youth violence is unidirectional or multidimensional.

Moreover, very few research studies document the link between child abuse and youth violence in the presence of various socio-economic risk factors and protective factors, which according to Cox, Kotch, and Everson (2003, p. 6) play a significant role in modifying the developmental relationships between child abuse/maltreatment and youth violence.

Here, Cox et al. (2003, pp. 5-16) posit that various socio-economic factors such as young maternal age, low income, lack of religious intervention, low education, divorce, and separation from caregivers are implicated in child maltreatment and subsequently in youth violence among the victims rather than the non-victims.

Conversely, additional studies note that in predicting youth violence, various factors such as the bonds between the family and children, involvement in school activities, bonds with antisocial/violent peers, and one’s perspective of the use violence provide clear insights into the link between child abuse and youth violence.

Here, the study employs 457 children who are examined right from preschool stage through adolescence, and the results suggest that child abuse/maltreatment is highly mediated by different socio-economic factors, which will also influence the impact of child abuse in youth violence in later stages of lifespan development (Herrenkohl et al., 2003, pp. 1189-1208).

This study employs the correct approach in examining the link between child abuse and youth violence. However, it is limited in terms of sample size since the number of participants does not reflect the status at the national level. As a result, the present study will utilize the same approach through conducting a longitudinal study involving a national representative sample of children in order to investigate the link between child maltreatment and youth violence right from preschool stage through adolescence.

This study it is hypothesized that there is a direct link between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of various socio-economic risk factors. Further, gender differences are expected in terms of how males and females are impacted by child maltreatment as they develop into violent youth.

Methodology

Participants

The study entails 14,000 participants (7,000 males and 7,000 females) drawn randomly from different states/schools in the United States. The eligibility of the participants depends on whether an informed consent of the parents/guardians/caregivers/teachers will be obtained since the study involves investigating/examining the conduct/behavior of the participants right from preschool level through adolescence.

Design & Materials

The research design used in the current study is the quasi-experimental design considering that the study entails about three waves of measurements. In wave I measurements, respondents will be interviewed on the basis of a 45-item questionnaire designed to gather information regarding the individuals, their families, schools, and their communities, which will also form the basis of sampling.

Subsequently, wave II measurements will entail gathering self-reported information regarding youth violence victimization relative to a 30-item questionnaire applicable to young adults. Further, in wave III measurements, researchers will embark on gathering self-reports on youth violence perpetration relative to a 30-item questionnaire applicable to young adults (Note: The questionnaires described herein are available elsewhere).

Procedure

As a noted earlier, using the questionnaires described in the foregoing discussions, researchers will conduct wave I measurements after obtaining informed consents from the participants and their caregivers who will also take part in answering questions regarding the socio-economic environments available to the participants. For instance, the researchers may wish to inquire from the respondents whether they have been slapped, kicked or left home alone when the presence of an adult is highly valued in order to rule out cases of child abuse/maltreatment.

After a significant amount of time (7-8 years) has passed, the researchers will embark on interviewing the same number of respondents (14,000) from wave I in order to inquire whether they are victims or perpetrators of youth violence relative to wave II and III questionnaires.

Here, it is worth noting that the researchers may wish to inquire whether the respondents have ever been involved in shooting or wounding other persons, and maybe whether they have ever pointed a gun or knife to another person.

Subsequently, the statistical analyses will entail applying bivariate regression methods to investigate the link between child maltreatment and various forms of youth violence (victimization and perpetration). Additionally, the maximum likelihood methods will inform the estimation of different recursive simultaneous equations.

Furthermore, the sample means will be used in determining the direct or indirect impact of a particular variable on others. Conversely, estimates of standard errors will be determined through bootstrapping techniques, especially in case one intends to determine the indirect impact of a given variable. Additionally, it is paramount to note that all the statistical analyses will be conducted using the STATA SE (Version 9) software application.

Results

After successful statistical analyses as described under the methodology section, it is expected that the results will coincide with other documented evidence, which shows a direct link between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of other socio-economic factors.

Here, relative to non-victims, the likelihood that abused children will become violent in later stages of development is expected to be higher for both males and females compared to the one documented in previous studies considering that the current research entails a larger representative sample.

Furthermore, it is expected that gender differences in perpetration and victimization of youth violence will be more apparent, with the males expected to demonstrate more effects relative to there female counterparts. Here, the study results are expected to show that males are more likely to perpetrate violence in case at any one point in their lifespan development process, they encountered child abuse/maltreatment in the presence of other modifying socio-economic factors such as domestic violence and low income.

Discussions

Using the experimental design described in the foregoing discussions, and comparing the data collected with other research studies, the present study results are expected to show a clear link between child maltreatment and youth violence in the presence of other modifying socio-economic factors.

However, it should be noted that this is a general view regarding victims of child maltreatment as opposed to their non-victim counterparts. Further, considering that the study entails a representative sample drawing participants from different parts of the United States, the present study is more likely to reinforce the results documented by various researchers who are of the idea that the interventions aimed at preventing child maltreatment will go a long way in preventing youth violence perpetration and the subsequent IPV cases reported among different young families.

On the other hand, it is essential to note that despite the study showing a direct link between child maltreatment and youth violence, there is the risk that the present study is limited in terms of addressing the direct and indirect impact of different forms of child maltreatment on the subsequent perpetration of youth violence.

Here, child neglect during the early childhood stage and the subsequent physical maltreatment of victims are part of several factors implicated in youth violence perpetration in later stages of lifespan development, the gender factor not-withstanding.

Therefore, the present study may fail to answer the question whether the link between childhood neglect and physical maltreatment is stronger among the males or females. As a result, future research studies should be designed in such a way that the link between the two factors is clearly examined to bring out the underlying gender factor.

On the other hand, it is apparent from the discussions above that sexual abuse has not been treated as a separate entity in child maltreatment. According to Fang and Corso (2007, p. 279), the link between child sexual abuse and the subsequent perpetration of youth violence appears to differ with the one observed in child neglect and physical maltreatment.

As a result, it is expected that gender differences will arise relative to the way males and females are bound to perpetrate future youth violence in case they are sexually abused in childhood. However, the present study fails to consider this paramount factor, which leaves room for future studies aimed at examining the impact of sexual abuse on the development of youth violence as a separate entity.

Overall, by looking at the individual contribution of child maltreatment in youth violence, the present study offers an in-depth insight into the significance of developing interventional strategies aimed at combating child maltreatment and youth violence in cases whereby the two appear as separate entities. In this way, the study aims at saving the community-based health professionals the additional resources channeled toward combating socio-economic factors that do not have any significant impact in some cases of child maltreatment and the subsequent youth violence.

References

Carter, J. (2004). Domestic violence, child abuse, and youth violence: Strategies for prevention and early intervention. San Francisco, CA: Family Violence Prevention Fund.

Cox, C. E., Kotch, J. B., & Everson, M. D. (2003). A longitudinal study of modifying influences in the relationship between domestic violence and child maltreatment. Journal of Family Violence, 18 (1), 5-16.

Fang, X., & Corso, P. S. (2007). Child maltreatment, youth violence, and intimate partner violence: Developmental relationships. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 33 (4), 281-290.

Herrenkohl, T. I., Huang, B., Tajima, E. A., & Whitney, S. D. (2003). Examining the link between child abuse and youth violence: An analysis of mediating mechanisms. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 18 (10), 1189-1208.

Science Daily. (2007). Victims of child maltreatment more likely to perpetrate youth violence, intimate partner violence. Science News. Web.

Abstract

Youth violence has become particularly challenging to law enforcement agencies and healthcare organizations due to the range of individual, social, and legal implications. After being subjected to violence from his or her peers, a young person may develop physical or mental issues that may subsequently harm their relationships with parents or cause tensions within their communities. This paper will focus on identifying implications of youth violence as well as their connections to possible risk factors that cause young people to develop aggression and become violent.

Introduction

Youth violence is associated with harmful actions and behaviors that may appear in children in the early stages of their development and continue exasperating into young adulthood. When discussing the implications of youth violence, a young person may be a victim, a witness, or an offender who committed a violent act. Whenever the role is, the outcomes of violence can be traumatic for anyone, with individual, community, social, and legal consequences having a tremendous impact on the young person.

According to the fact sheet prepared by World Health Organization (2016), youth violence presents a challenge to the global health and legal organizations because it encompasses a variety of acts that range from verbal abuse to homicide; thus, there is a challenge as to how the problem should be addressed with regards to all types of violent behaviors instead of dealing with some and disregarding others. World Health Organization (2016) reported that there are 200 000 homicides (43% of the total number of homicides) that occur worldwide each year among the youth aged 10-29. 83% of youth homicide victims are male (World Health Organization, 2016).

Youth violence is one of the main reasons for victims sustaining physical injuries. Apart from compromised physical functioning, youth violence may make a lifelong impact on the psychological and social functioning of an individual. Sexual assault is another category of youth violence that leads to such damages – from 3 to 24% of women participating in the WHO Multi-country study on women’s health and domestic violence indicated that their first experience of sexual relationships was forced by the partner (World Health Organization, 2016). Therefore, youth violence is an issue encompassing a range of behavioral aspects that should be studied in great detail to come up with solutions to how the identified problems can be addressed.

Individual Implications of Youth Violence

According to the study conducted by Rappaport and Thomas (2004), violent behavior rarely occurs spontaneously; it usually has a long pathway of development. In some cases, aggression and exhibition of violence show up in response to stress that occurred in the vulnerable for the individual period of development. Nevertheless, aggressive behavior that occurs in childhood is likely to continue in the adolescence and adulthood. Conduct issues, antisocial behavior, and aggression make up from third to a half of all referrals of children and adolescents to psychiatric clinics. While the evaluation of individual risk factors is crucial to understanding the implications of youth violence, there is always a certain level of complexity that requires further research to get a better understanding of poor behaviors to create effective interventions.

Individual Risk and Immediate Relationships Risk Factors

Regarding the individual characteristics of a person, youth violence is associated with personal risk factors that influence the likelihood of a young individual being involved in violent behavior. These risk factors include behavioral disorders, early involvement with abusing harmful substances such as drugs and alcohol, lack of educational proficiency and low intelligence, lack of commitment to school, exposure to violent behaviors within the family, prior involvement in a crime, as well as unemployment (World Health Organization, 2016).

The risk factors within close relationships include low family income and unemployment, lack of child supervision and inadequate disciplinary practices, no attachment between children and their parents, lack of family involvement in school or extra-curriculum activities, abuse of harmful substances within the family, gang membership, and association with criminal peers (World Health Organization, 2016).

Impact of Violence on Youth

If a child or a young person has become a victim of youth violence, there is a high probability that the event will not go unnoticed. Apart from physical injuries, victimization leaves emotional scars in young people, especially when they are at a vulnerable age when they cannot fully control their feelings yet. Among the emotional consequences, the most prominent one is the loss of feeling of safety and security, which triggers defense mechanisms in children, so they become more likely to become violent themselves. As found by the Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development (2011), violence begets violence, and young people who were previously victimized can potentially become involved in the cycle of aggression, delinquency, abuse, and violent crime.

Exposure to violence has been proven to have a direct impact on the development of mental health problems. Anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder have been found as the most prevalent implications of youth violence. Furthermore, many young people can experience these symptoms in combination. According to the findings of the study conducted by Kilpatrick, Smith, and Saunders (2007), nearly half of responding males that were diagnosed with PTSD also had comorbid depression while a third reported comorbid use disorder. Among the responding girls, a third of respondents had substance use disorder accompanying PTSD while two-thirds were dealing with comorbid depression (Kilpatrick et al., 2007).

Symptoms of Posttraumatic stress disorder have been found to have connections to violence where a higher intensity of exposure is associated with increased expression of the symptoms. In adolescence, symptoms of PTSD can reveal themselves as behaviors of young people that react with hyper-arousal and aggression to possible threats. On the other hand, the symptoms can manifest themselves as internalizing behaviors where young people appear sad or withdrawn. Furthermore, studies on youth psychology found that after being exposed to violence, young boys and men tend to resort to violence and aggression while girls tend to become introverted and depressed.

Community Implications of Youth Violence

As individual implications and risk factors of youth violence were discussed, it is important to examine community factors that can hurt a young person’s behavior. The risk factors of youth violence within the community include easy access to alcohol and firearms, poverty, income inequality between the lowest and highest-earning layers of the society, poor quality of a country’s governance (for example, inadequate policies for social and educational protection of the “at-risk” youth) (World Health Organization, 2016).

Gangs and Peers

Association with delinquent peers can hurt the level of aggression of young people. On the other hand, association with peers that do not approve antisocial behaviors can potentially decrease the levels of aggression. Therefore, there is a direct relationship between the nature and the quality of the social environment that surrounds a young person and the development of the either high or low level of aggression. As mentioned by Rappaport and Thomas (2004), there is a strong association between gang involvement of young people and their increased violence.

Youth involvement in gangs implies some adverse consequences that vary in severity and longevity. Namely, young people involved in gangs are at risk of becoming school dropouts, teenage parents, unemployed, drug or alcohol addicts. Moreover, there is a high chance that they will commit petty crimes and more violent offenses, become victims of crimes, or be convicted and incarcerated in correctional facilities.

Impact on Communities

Studies focusing on the connections between individual behavior and environmental factors showed that young people are much more prone to exhibiting violent behavior in poverty-stricken neighborhoods. While the analysis of the family system is one of the primary components of predicting an individual’s behavior, the review of the neighborhood characteristics can also bring insightful knowledge as to how environmental factors impact youth violence. As mentioned by Rappaport and Thomas (2004), the residential stability of neighborhoods along with parents’ engagement in supervising the youth and maintaining order in the area significantly decreases the likelihood of violence within the small community. Based on this statement, it can be hypothesized that the exposure to violence and the lack of parents’ supervision increase the possibility of youth violence in a neighborhood.

Community residents usually have a fear of violent youth that exhibits troublesome behavior due to the risk of victimization (Weisel, 2002). Therefore, youth violence negatively influences the community, often resorting to intimidation of non-violent youth and children residing in the area. This, in turn, can cause tensions between parents whose children conflict with each other, contributing to the overall instability in the community. Tensions between parents in a community are especially true for adults that do not pay enough attention to their violent children and let them do whatever they desire.

Legal Implications of Youth Violence

Profiling

Predicting possible misconduct of the youth in a particular setting or area can be a useful tool for identifying potentially violent students before they cause any harm to the community. Therefore, profiling is used to identify individuals that are likely to commit a criminal act. Predicting violent behaviors among youth presents several ethical concerns, especially in the school context. Such concerns are associated with validity, the usage of a profile as evidence in social sciences, the possibility of bias or discrimination, search and seizure, as well as implications for privacy (Bailey, n.d.).

As opposed to the context of an investigation, in the majority of cases, profile evidence is not considered admissible in court for establishing a person’s guilt because the profile evidence serves as a type of character evidence, which is not favored in courts, except in specific situations characteristic of certain cases. As a rule, a profile is composed of factors that work in combination with one another; if these factors are analyzed separately, it is possible to select almost any individual in a given context who will be innocent of any wrongful acts. It is important to mention that successful profiling depends on factors such as accuracy, profile sensitivity, and the connection between these factors.

Sentencing

Juvenile courts deal with cases of criminal defendants aged 18 and younger. These defendants are not tried in the presence of a jury; instead, the judge is provided with the necessary information and evidence presented by a prosecutor and make a decision whether a defendant was guilty of a crime. When a young individual is found or pleads guilty of a criminal act, the youth court proceeds with determining a suitable sentence. Specific provisions on sentencing were outlined by the Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act; such requirements differ from those related to sentencing adults. The key principle associated with youth sentencing is that the given sentence must be suitable (proportionate) to the severity of the act and the extent to which the young person was responsible. Juvenile courts in the United States offer juvenile offenders a variety of sentencing options (disposition orders) that are differentiated into two key categories of incarceration and non-incarceration, and there are many punishment options for each category.

About the incarceration of juvenile offenders, the severity and impact of the committed crime usually dictate the level of punishment. For instance, in house arrest or home confinement, a judge makes an order for the minor to stay within the territorial boundaries of his or her home with exceptions for visiting an educational facility and counseling. On the other hand, a convicted offender can be ordered to stay in a juvenile detention center, secured juvenile facility, or adult jail; each type of incarceration depends on the seriousness of the case. For example, if a young person was convicted of second-degree murder, he or she is more likely to be sentenced to stay in state prison.

Non-incarceration methods of punishment are used in less severe cases when there is a possibility that an offender could benefit from rehabilitation. The options for non-incarceration include counseling, probation, electronic monitoring, community service, fine, or a verbal warning.

Role of Saint Leo University’s Core Values to Victimization

The core values of Saint Leo University include excellence, community, respect, personal development, responsible stewardship, and integrity. These values are targeted at ensuring that students acquire new skills, develop a strong sense of community, value and respect the dignity of others, developmentally, adopt the practice of serving the community, as well as exercise honesty and consistency. It can be concluded that the values expressed by the University are targeted at creating a student-centered environment with a strong sense of community and mutual support. While such an approach can be considered beneficial in terms of promoting a positive environment in an educational facility, there is a lack of understanding that victimization is a significant problem for any environment that implies everyday interactions among young people. Promoting the sense of community and respect for the dignity of other people is a noble endeavor; however, the core values do not acknowledge issues that can exist in the University, which can result in tensions between students or even violence.

It is the job of the University’s management to acknowledge the negative aspects of studying in a tight community and educate students on the importance of not overlooking violence and victimization where it exists. The core values provide students with excellent guidelines as to how they can structure their time and social interactions within the educational facility. Although, as with anything in life, there will be conflicts and there will be instances of victimization, so students must be sure that they will be protected by their community as well as that they can protect others who require help and support. Core values of any educational facility should acknowledge both the positive and negative implications of studying in a communal environment for students to be more educated on their rights and duties in situations that require deliberate actions to protect themselves and others from moral or physical harm.

Findings and Conclusions

The issue of youth violence remains a hot topic for further research since there is a large number of factors that influence the likelihood of aggression and violence developing in young people. It is important to assess individual, relationships, societal, and legal implications and outcomes of youth violence to develop effective methods of dealing with the problem. The educational facilities should also play a role in raising awareness of the problem of youth violence and implement best prevention practices for ensuring a safe environment for students to learn, collaborate, and improve.

It can be concluded that youth violence has harmful implications on any level of an individual’s life. Young people can suffer from depression and posttraumatic stress disorder after being exposed to violence. Moreover, it was found that boys and young men were prone to developing aggression and externalizing behavior while girls and young women were prone to becoming depresses and internalizing behaviors. Social implications of youth violence include tension within communities, especially between parents of conflicting children. As any offenses, youth violence can be punished by law, with the type of punishment depending on the severity of an offense; moreover, a convicted youth offender that committed first-degree murder or rape can be tried in adult court and ordered to stay in an adult correctional facility.

References

Bailey, K. (n.d.). Legal implications of profiling students for violence. Web.

Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development. (Ed.). (2011). Encyclopedia on early childhood development (Vol. 1). Toronto, Canada: Centre of Excellence for Early Childhood Development.

Kilpatrick, D., Smith, D., & Saunders, B. (2007). Violence and risk of PTSD, major depression, substance abuse/dependence, and comorbidity: Results from the National Survey of Adolescents. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 71, 692-700.

Montoya, E., Terburg, D., Bos, P., & van Honk, J. (2012). Testosterone, cortisol, and serotonin as key regulators of social aggression: A review and theoretical perspective. Motiv Emot, 36, 65-73.

Rappaport, N., & Thomas, C. (2004). Recent research findings on aggressive and violent behavior in youth: Implications for clinical assessment and intervention. Journal of Adolescent Health, 35, 260-277.

Weisel, D. (2002). The Evolution of Street Gangs: An Examination of Form and Variation. In W. Reed and S. Decker (Eds.), Responding to Gangs: Evaluation and Research (pp. 25-65). Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, National Institute of Justice.

World Health Organization. (2016).Youth violence. Web.

Direct Quotation: Barr and Parrett (2008) state, “The experts agree: today’s media has led to increased desensitization to violence and an increase in aggressive and antisocial behavior. By the time many children arrive at school, they have already seen 8000 murders and 100,000 violent acts, on television. They have spent more time watching television than they will spend in school for the next twelve years.”

Paraphrase of the above quotation: The media desensitizes violence and increases aggressive and antisocial behavior, despite this, most youths are constantly exposed to violence and gore in the virtual world which is where they spend most of their time (Barr and Parrett, 2008).

Direct Quotation: Ruschmann (2010) states, “Violent entertainment sends a message that violence is normal and acceptable behavior. Some experts warn that a society that allows itself to become saturated with violence indirectly contributes to violence among some of its citizens.”

Paraphrase of the above quotation: As society becomes saturated with violence through violent entertainment, citizens (youth) become encouraged to take part in violence as acceptable behavior (Ruschmann, 2010).

Youth violence today is very rampant but has over the recent years evolved from simple playground scuffles and flagpole showdowns to gang violence and more deadly on-campus shootings and even suicide. Widespread research has been carried out to gain insight on the warning signs of such violence and therefore, address the problem. This has contributed to a large pool of data on the causes of youth violence in schools. There are many causes of violence in schools including peer harassment and the home life of the youth. However, media has been identified as having a significant influence on the rupture of violent behavior in schools today. The youth today spend most of their time in the virtual world deriving entertainment from different forms of media such as television, the internet, radios, and other technologies such as cell phones. It is reported that by the time the average child joins the school, they will have spent more time in front of a television than they would have spent in school over the next twelve years. In this respect, the youth will have viewed more than 100,000 violent acts on television, and out of these almost 8,000 are murdered. It has also been shown that as much as 90% of popular video games have a violent theme.

The constant exposure to violence leads to the desensitization of the youth to violence and aggression. In the process, antisocial behavior is encouraged. The youth view violence as normal and acceptable behavior as a result of the media glamorizing it. As a result, they find it easier to carry out these violent acts. They also become more tolerant of violence and violent behavior and become less sympathetic towards victims of violence. The youth who have no other proper direction and influence in their lives will emulate what they see and hear in the media. The formation of gangs and carrying of weapons to schools are just but a few examples of how violence in schools has mutated into more sophisticated and sinister forms. These are all commonly depicted in the various forms of media on a day-to-day basis. The youth being exposed to this day in day out become saturated with violence. This influence contributes to an individual’s beliefs, values, and moral judgments eventually contributing towards their behavior. Because students are continuously exposed to glamorized violence by the media, they are more likely to engage in various types of violence in schools.

References

Barr, R. D. & Parrett, W. (2008). Saving our students, saving our schools: 50 proven strategies for helping underachieving students and improving schools. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.

Ruschmann, P. (2010). Regulating Violence in Entertainment. A. Marzilli, (Ed.). New York, NY: Chelsea House Publishers.

Introduction

Youth violence is not only a widespread social phenomenon but also a significant health problem. Homicide is the fourth most common cause of death among people aged 10-29 (Golshiri et al., 2018). Apart from this, the experience of violence may lead to other severe mental and physical disorders. Young people can also be involved in the process of violence as perpetrators, which raises the question of their psychological health as well.

Youth violence may be viewed as a cruel and harmful behavior “exerted by, or against, children and young people” (Seal and Harris, 2018, p. 23). However, it seems that similar reasons underlie the two sides of youth violence, and thus, their causes and effects may be examined together. This paper attempts to identify the main reasons behind the abuse among young people and its potential consequences for youth and society.

Causes of Youth Violence

The Background

It seems evident that young people are heavily influenced by the community where they have grown up and live. People obtain their values and foundations of the worldview in childhood and adolescence. That is why youth violence can be caused by the background of those who perpetrate or experience abuse. The family has the most substantial impact on the behavior of young people, among other institutions. The family directly relates to youth violence considered as experience. Child abuse is one of the most popular forms of violence against youth. However, it is also clear that family life can lead to acts of violence committed by young people.

Bushman et al. (2016) argue that “interparental violence, chaotic family life,” and “inconsistent discipline” are among crucial risk factors of youth violence (p. 21). In other words, young people who were poorly treated in their family or witnessed some cruelty have a higher chance of becoming perpetrators. The neighborhood plays a similar role in the expansion of violence among people. Youth who live in poor areas with high levels of criminality face cruelty and abuse very often, and thus, may be severely influenced by them.

Personal Characteristics

Although the awareness of a person’s surroundings can help in predicting his or her violent behavior, there are still some other factors that may contribute to youth abuse. It is impossible to omit the fact that the social surrounding does not influence some features of personality. These traits are shared among the perpetrators and include “psychopathy, narcissism, and Machiavellianism” (Bushman et al., 2018). All of them are similar in the sense that people who possess them do not think about the feelings of others, and therefore, can sometimes be very violent. Finally, some people may have a mental disorder or congenital propensity for violence.

Access to Guns and the Influence of the Media

Shooting is one of the most common forms of youth violence, and guns are the primary weapons of perpetrators. Arms allow committing crimes, even those people who are not able to do it in any other way. Thus, even physically weak adolescents have access to a murder weapon. This happens partly due to broad coverage of violence in media. Young people hear about numerous acts of violence daily, and this news may serve as an inspiration for them. This news covers not only particular acts of violence committed by youth but also wars and armed conflicts. It seems that even aggressive sports may be a reason for young people’s vicious behavior. The ideas of dominance and brute force are rather popular with the media these days (Bushman et al., 2018). In this context, the media is also an essential boost to youth violence.

Effects of Youth Violence

Extension of Violence

It is an undeniable fact that violence only leads to more violence. According to Lovegrove and Cornell (2016), those young people who were involved in some act of violence “have a higher likelihood of engaging in other forms of problem behavior” (p. 6). This means that if some person committed a crime during his or her adolescence, there is a probability that they will be involved in more severe crimes in the future.

Moreover, the experience of violence in adolescence can also be a reason for delinquent behavior in adulthood. Those who have been bullied or rejected in their schoolyears have a high chance of becoming perpetrators of abuse when they grow up (Bushman et al., 2016). Thus, both perpetrators and victims disseminate violence across society.

Health Problems

It was already mentioned above that youth violence is a significant health problem. It is clear that those people who experienced abuse suffer most of all. For instance, if a person was bullied in school, it can result in him or her experiencing psychological trauma for the rest of their life. Victimization may cause addiction to tobacco, alcohol, and illegal drugs (Lovegrove and Cornell, 2016). Thus, victimized people might become ill both mentally and physically. This example shows the consequences of non-fatal youth violence. The effects of abuse, which leads to someone’s death, are somewhat visible and even worse than in the case of non-fatal victimization.

On the other hand, it seems that young people who acted as perpetrators may also have health and mental problems due to their experience of violence. Some people may never regret harming others, but those who will repent their violent behavior are likely to suffer from it as well. This burden can be especially hard if they committed some severe crime, and nobody knew about it.

One can imagine a person who participated in bullying, which resulted in the death of the victim. If nobody revealed that this person was guilty of this crime, he or she would have to keep it to themselves to the end of days. If this person starts feeling sorry for this crime one day, he or she can, therefore, experience some serious psychological problems. The same as in the previous case, this person might become addicted to alcohol and drugs. Overall, it can be seen that the mental and physical health of both perpetrators and victims can be damaged by youth violence.

Conclusion

Even though youth violence can be viewed differently – as perpetration and as an experience of being victimized – some fundamental causes and effects of this phenomenon still exist. Young people who commit acts of violence are strongly influenced by their background, personal traits, access to guns, and the coverage of abuse in the media. At the same time, these reasons also apply to the youth who experienced violence. The two main effects of youth violence are the dissemination of abuse across social and health problems of perpetrators and victims. As can be seen, youth violence is a serious health and social issue which affects the whole society.

Reference List

Bushman, B.J. et al. (2016) ‘Youth violence: what we know and what we need to know’, American Psychologist, 71(1), pp. 17-39.

Golshiri, P. et al. (2018) ‘Youth violence and related risk factors: a cross-sectional study in 2800 adolescents’, Advanced Biomedical Research 7(138), pp. 1-8. Web.

Lovegrove, P.J. and Cornell, D.G. (2016) ‘Patterns of bullying and victimization associated with other problem behaviors among high school students: a conditional latent class approach’, in Taylor, T. (ed.) Youth violence prevention. London: Routledge, pp. 5-22.

Seal, M. and Harris, P. (2016) Responding to youth violence through youth work. Bristol: Policy Press.

Over fifty years ago, a nuclear physicist named William Higinbotham sought to better the otherwise rigid and non-interactive science exhibits at the time by adding to the list of activities, his creation of the game ‘Tennis for two’ which was an electronic tennis game with separate controllers. Unaware of his contribution, William Higinotham today is acknowledged as the founding father or the fore-runner of video games that only recently accounted for 9.5 billion dollars in sales in 2006 and 2007 in the United States alone (qtd. in Gettler 1).

Just as Higinbotham had imagined, video games were meant to simply entertain and elevate ones mood by offering an alternative fictitious ‘reality’ to the player. However, recent statistics indicate that video games have been used for more than entertainment purposes—with a good number of today’s researchers pointing to the negative issues and events that have risen from these videogames.

A good example of the above assertions is the case of Lamar Roberts, age 17 and Heather Trujillo aged 16 who are alleged to having been imitating the fighting moves of the game ‘Mortal Combat’ when they beat a seven year old girl to death in 2007 (Chalk 1). A similar example is that of Kendall Anderson, a 16 year old who bludgeoned his mother to death in her sleep with a claw hammer after she took away his PlayStation in 2010 (Henry 1).

The violence and aggression that stains the youth of today, as a result of these video games, is unquestionably a cancer that ought to be uprooted or at least contained by parents, school leaders, governments and other opinion leaders mandated with the responsibility of taking care of these children and the forms of entertainments present today—especially with regards to video games. This paper goes to highlight violent video games as a contributing factor to youth violence.

According to the General Aggression Model (as reported by Anderson & Bushman) “the enactment of aggression is largely based on the learning, activation, and application of aggression-related knowledge structures stored in memory.” They go on to simplify this model by categorizing it into two stages, namely the situational input such as exposure to violent video games in this case and priming aggressive cognition which reflects the impact on the person’s present internal state as influenced aggressive behavior.

This model supports the claim that aggression can be stimulated and learned from the exposure of various situational variables. They “teach observers how to aggress by creating an aggressive state.” Experimental studies based on meta-analytical procedures found that across the 33 independent tests focused on the relation between video game violence and aggression, there was a definite association of high video game violence and heightened aggression (Anderson and Bushman 357).

Violent video games teach the youth that violence is an acceptable conflict strategy. Anderson and Bushman stipulate that the long term effects of playing these violent games, involve a learning process. Human beings generally learn from their day to day experiences and involvement with other people whether real or imagined (such as the characters in video games).

The exposure to these violent video games influences how we respond. This response after some time is scripted into our actions (356). Every game stage then becomes a learning trial, rehearsed over and over resulting to impulsive actions thereafter. Violent video games are often designed to have two adversarial opponents who deal with their enmity through fighting and killing each other.

A case illustration of this claim would be Alejandro Gracia, 22 years old from Texas now serving a 15 to 30 years sentence after pleading guilty for murder when he shot dead his cousin after arguing over whose turn it was to play the game ‘Scareface: The World is Yours’ in 2007 (Fahey 1).

In addition, video games desensitize players to real life violence thus making violent acts look normal or pardonable when in reality, it is the exact opposite. These games depict people as targets instead of simply human beings. They paint them to be deserving of death. It is possible for this fantasy universe to spill into reality. To support this claim I quote Lieutenant colonel David Grossman, retired from the U.S Army, who said:

Video games give you the skill and will to kill. They teach you to associate pleasure with human death and suffering. They award you for killing….It is extra ordinary difficult for a human being to kill a member of his own species. They have to be manipulated into it….The marine core uses the game ‘Doom’ as a training device…. The marine core uses it to script killing in their soldiers….. We must think very very (sic) carefully about who we provide this operant conditioning to and if we provide it indiscriminately to children in America it is the moral equivalent of putting a military weapon in the hand of every child in America (Huntenman,film).

According to McCauley and Zillmann (qtd. in Goldstein 276) violence can be socially acceptable as long it has a moral story where good wins over evil. Video games industries claim this requirement with pride perhaps inconspicuously elevating their importance in inculcating socially acceptable morals. In the real world however crimes such as assault are morally looked down upon and unacceptable but in video games, assault may be what will result to a winning round.

These conflicting expectations of reality and video games when imposed on young people may result to confusion and in worst cases the pursuit of the wrong goal (such as assault) out side of the fantasy world. Further more, the perception of evil and good despite its moral implications can be relative to individuals thus rendering the promotion of violence to be harmful than it is morally acceptable.

Playing violent video games, just like listening to soothing music or watching a sad movie bears an effect on people. That much researchers and their critics can agree upon. The disclaimer comes in when creators and marketers of the video games industry typically deny any harmful effects on their consumers. The fact is the video game industry is a business like any other seeking to profit from its products thus it is only natural that they should deny all negative allegations.

However the numerous case scenarios, some already mention earlier in this paper suggest that although video games alone are not enough to cause one to murder or intentionally injure another, they are a significant contributing factor to youth violence (Mc. Carthy). Notably conclusions of ambiguity and inconsistency have been drawn from many violent video game research studies.

For instance the researchers’ measures of aggression have been largely indirect indicators such as hitting a bobo doll (Schutte, Malouff, Post-Gordon and Rodasta, qtd. in Goldstein 4) or listing aggressive thoughts and feelings (Calvert and Tan, qtd. in Goldstein, 4). Admittedly these measures do not bear the complete and definite potential of contributing to the comprehension of the relationship between violent video games and violent behavior.

Other critics have refuted experts idea of violent video games players applying the rules of fictitious worlds to that of reality claiming that “they carry cues to its unreality — music, sound effects, a fantasy story-line, cartoon-like characters” (Goldstein 3). In fact Burke and Burke as cited by Goldstein who wrote about cartoon on television, still in relation to video games characters say:

For us, there has been no greater irritant while researching this book than our repeated encounters with the views of experts…, who argue with great confidence that young children simply cannot understand the fictional rules of conflict in cartoons.

Our contemporaries have insisted repeatedly that as children, they clearly understood that the ‘violence’ involved when Bugs blows up Yosemite Sam or Wile E. Coyote’s latest Acme device launches him off a cliff takes place within a fictional universe with its own very particular rules. Such violence had little or no relationship with what we understood as violence in our own lives (p.206- 207).

In deed there lies some truth in these criticisms; however their claims are not enough to dispel or explain away the numerous tragedies that have involved violent video games as the cause or precursor of the crimes committed. Perhaps violent video games related crimes are not backlogging the courts systems yet. None the less it would be unwise to wait much longer for overwhelming evidence, possibly in form of lost lives, before society starts to pay attention to this growing problem.

Works Cited

Anderson, Craig A., and Bushman, Brad J. “Effects of Violent Video Games on Aggressive Behavior, Aggressive Cognition, Aggressive Affect, Physiological Arousal and Prosocial Behavior: A Meta-Analytical Review of the Scientific Literature.” Psychological Scientific Literature 12.5 (2001): 353-359.

Chalk, Andy. Teenagers Kill Child in “Mortal Kombat” Murder. The Escapist, 20 Dec. 2007. Web.

Fahey, Mike. Man Pleads Guilty to Killing over Sacrifice: the World is Yours. Kotaku Australia, 7 April 2011. Web.

Gettler, Joe. The First Video Game. Brookhaven History. Web.

Goldstein, Jeffery. Does Playing Violent Video Games Cause Aggressive Behavior?. University Of Chicago: Cultural Policy Center, 2001. Web.

Henry, David. Teenager Charged with Killing Mom. 6abc News, 30 Nov. 2010. Web.

Mc. Carthy, Caroline. Murder Conviction for Teen in ‘Halo’ case. CNET News, 13 Jan. 2009. Web.

Introduction

Written by Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce, the book Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50cent is a fiction book that attempts to give an insider view on the situation of gun culture in the American society. The violent gun culture in society has become one of the biggest talking points for leaders at different levels who are either supporting or opposing it.

The book therefore explains why the gun culture has become a runaway problem by trying to link it to the popular hip-hop culture, which is believed to be a catalyst to the present-day gun violence culture in society.

Therefore, the writers of this book give the perspectives of the issue from an insider point of view and hence their choice of the title Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50cent.

With this hint in mind, the paper therefore reviews the book in details based on the link between the authors’ career and content in an attempt to unveil their sole message that the issue of associating gun shootings with hip-hop is not always true.

The Content of the Book and the Authors’ Career

Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce who are the co-authors of the book under review are accomplished journalists and owners of Pound (the hip-hop music and culture magazine). Pound is rated the top most hip-hop culture and music magazine in Canada.

Bascunan and Pearce (2007) therefore have an in-depth and authoritative opinion about the hip-hop world specifically how it operates and its relation with the gun violence culture. They therefore come out to paint an unknown picture about the hip-hop culture and its link with guns by dispelling beliefs that hip-hop escalates gun violence in society.

The authors write this book from a Canadian perspective, which has embraced hip-hop music and culture like the American society. The book is written as a defence for the hip-hop society, which has come under a lot of attack from old members of the society as well as those who do not appreciate the hip-hop culture.

Therefore, the authors are people who mix with hip-hop artistes daily thus having the experience of real situations as they happen on the ground. The writers have done the writing of this book in an honest way in that there are no denials to accusations about hip-hop culture and gun violence. They have put facts on the table for readers to judge for themselves.

Review Based on Content only

The book has been written in defence of the hip-hop culture due to the accusations pointed at it as being the cause of gun violence in society. It has based its story on facts about the gun culture by providing a history of the culture in the American society from the days of Samuel Colt who invented the colt pistol to artiste 50cent who glorified gun and violence in his music in the present society.

The history in this case provides a comparative plane to judge the facts about gun culture and gun violence. From the authors’ perspective, it has shown that the problem with guns is a historical dilemma dating back to the 19^th century.

This information is compared to the history of hip-hop, which is too recent to conclude that the hip-hop culture is the cause of gun violence. The book therefore aims to exonerate hip-hop as the cause of the runaway gun madness.

Recent times have been characterised by an escalation of mass shootings in school as well as in neighbourhoods thus leading to answers for the question of why the gun culture is getting out of hand.

This situation has seen many people in society point a finger to the hip-hop culture as the cause without giving statistical figures to boost their accusations. In fact, as an industry and culture, hip-hop has embraced gun culture in a big way. Because of its visibility, it has come out as the main culprit in the eyes of society.

As Bascunan and Pearce (2007) found, researchers could not give any figures that could conclusively pin down the culture as the main problem. Hip-hop is about expression, bragging, and glorification.

One way of bragging and self-glorification is to be tough. The book strategically brings out guns as the best weapons for self-defence and elimination of perceived enemies. Just as the rest of the gangsters accomplish their missions, hip-hop has been sucked into the ideas of killing for one to be perceived as being tough thus bringing guns into hand.

The writers therefore admit that hip-hop has had its role in this problem. However, their point of departure is that hip-hop is just part of the problem and not the main cause of the problem.

The chapters in the book are short and easy to read because they have been presented in a very simple language. They give a blow-to-blow narration that captivates the reader of the book to reading it to the end. Bascunan and Pearce wrote the book on a basis of credible research that brought together data derived from different fields.

The composition of the book includes stories of hip-hop artistes as reported in the media, the history of the gun, lyrics from hip-hop songs, interviews by hip-hop artistes, and society in general (Bascunan and Pearce 2007). The writers give the story a new bend by delving into the world of guns broadly.

The book explores the manufacture and distribution of guns in society. In the end, it points out that a few who are known to governments and ones who escape without blame from society do the distribution of guns. The book therefore points to a direction where people do not look at.

There are so many guns in society so far that seem to appear from nowhere. The society is bended on blaming proliferation of guns on the hip-hop culture though it does not look further to find out the true sources of guns. The two writers have endeavoured to gather credible information on matters to do with where guns are manufactured, the reason behind the manufacture, and their distribution process.

Besides, they have also sought information on people who engage in this risky venture of gun production in an attempt to disapprove the claim that hip-hop fanatics have a connection with gun ownership and misuse.

The book paints the gun problem in society as an infectious problem that does not just affect the Canadian society but also the whole world. It goes ahead to show how guns are being used in society today by the military, police, and rebels in conflict areas as well as unlicensed criminals ruling the streets.

The authors have made it simple for readers to understand guns by defining the difference in different guns. According to Bascunan and Pearce (2007), the Canadian society lays the blame on America for the proliferation of firearms into the Canadian society besides going ahead to show how the problem is home-grown as much as it has been influenced by the American hip-hop culture.

The book names some of Canada’s own home-grown gun makers who are responsible for supplying guns to society. Though licensed gun owners acquire most guns legally, somehow, guns enter wrong hands in one way or the other.

The authors name the National Rifle Association as one group that does not live to its intentions. They describe the group as people with borderline psychotic intentions due to their ultra campaigns to legalise guns into civilian hands regardless of the misuse of guns.

Bascunan and Pearce have been very meticulous in defining most sources that inspire violence. They direct readers to video games as sources of inspiration that have created some of the worst mass shootings in society. Most video games that are on the market nowadays are based on war games involving virtual guns. A DVD or VCD player offers a variety of choices to make on the type of weapon to display.

In most cases, the weapons used on the game are actually the same make of real weapons found in the market. Therefore, regardless of age, video games tend to expose society indiscriminately to information on a variety of weapons that can be found in the market. The authors tend to point this exposure as the source of most mass shootings in schools. White students who have no links to hip-hop mostly do it.

Whereas shootings happen in neighbourhoods where they are said to be connected to hip-hop, there are more criminal elements to it than the cause being the hip-hop. The writers merge their views by providing real life stories of young men who were shot in the streets. Although the men were hip-hop artistes or fans, their murders were more to do with drugs and gang rivalry than to do with hip-hop.

The authors concede that hip-hop culture has so much embraced the gun culture and violence that it is not easy to separate the two. The difference is only to be found in findings that indicate that only few hip-hop fans worldwide are involved with gun violence.

The writers have therefore gained ground in their pursuit of exonerating hip-hop from all the blame in gun violence. This goal has been achieved by the authors’ effort to interview a whole host of stakeholders who may have a role to play in the whole issue in one way or the other.

Conclusion

Rodrigo Bascunan and Christian Pearce have come out in their best way possible to defend the industry that earns them their daily bread. They have achieved their purpose in pointing to society the direction it should look at when trying to solve the gun problem issue.

By being brutally honest and admitting that hip-hop has played its role in escalating gun violence culture, the authors have been able to capture readers’ trust through this strategy. The authors have done a comprehensive research on the gun problem around the world in a bid to present it as a universal problem that cannot be blamed on the hip-hop culture alone. Otherwise, the book is an informative piece of work.

Reference

Bascunan, R & Pearce, C 2007, Enter the Babylon System: Unpacking Gun Culture from Samuel Colt to 50 Cent, Vintage Canada, Toronto.