Boys Against Girls: The Structural and Interpersonal Dimensions of Violent Patriarchal Culture in the Lives of Young Men

• NCJ Number: 185228
• Journal: Violence Against Women Volume: 6 Issue: 9 Dated: September 2000 Pages: 960-986
• Author(s): Bernard Schissel
• Date Published: September 2000
• Length: 27 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

A descriptive analysis of several contexts and an empirically based causal analysis of youth in Canada formed the basis of this study of how personal and interpersonal experiences influence aggression toward young women and how these experiences often arise in contexts that are both ideological and profit-driven.

Abstract

The analysis contends that male youth violence against female youth is a formidable social problem. Many factors that cause young males to be aggressive and abusive toward young females originate within cultures of achievement such as sports, where aggression is equated with success and that relegate females literally and figuratively to exploited or denigrated positions. Other contexts that appear to foster a masculinist paradigm include war and conscription, entertainment, and rural communities. The empirical data came from the Saskatchewan Youth Attitudes 1997 survey. The survey gathered information from 1,179 male students and 1,317 female students in 35 schools in 18 communities. The survey gathered information on hitting, kicking, or biting; throwing something; slapping; pushing or shoving; and swearing at a female in the contexts of dating, athletics, and other social settings. Results suggested that verbal aggression is common and the more serious forms of physical violence are persistent for a small but significant proportion of male youth. Abusive young men appeared to have relatively high alcohol and drug use and were damaged as children by their parents’ unpremeditated violence toward them. They also were involved in a criminal lifestyle, expressed themselves as being in loving relationships with their victims, and were psychically disposed to depression and powerlessness. The analysis concluded that young male violence rests partly on the psychosocial domain and that programs addressing violence must account for the historical import of family violence, drug abuse, and psychic trauma. Appended tables and 43 references (Author abstract modified)