NCJ Number
81109
Date Published
1981
Length
121 pages
Annotation
This 1980 annual report of the California Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention explains how the Commission has organized its work and developed a strategy for discovering and publicizing the root causes of violence.
Abstract
In 1979, the California Legislature created the Commission on Crime Control and Violence Prevention to examine the causes of violence from a comprehensive perspective that encompasses the entire human developmental process, including the biologic, social, and cultural environments. The Commission is composed of 25 persons representing law enforcement, education, mental health, religion, business, and labor, as well as women, ethnic minorities, ex-offenders, crime victims, and persons from varying economic and geographic backgrounds. The first phase of the Commission's investigation involves an examination of theories of violence. Based on the Commission's assumption that violent behavior is a product of conditions that can be prevented, the theoretical review will proceed from an examination of biological factors influencing violent behavior, through the sociopsychological and socioeconomic influences, and culminating in an analysis of biosocial variables. In its second study phase, the Commission will examine specific forms of violence, including the causes and effects of the criminal justice system and culturally sanctioned violence, such as war, capital punishment, and the possession and use of firearms. Two public hearings have been held to date. The first examined the possible relationship between the childbirth process and early infant affectional bonding and subsequent violent behavior. The second hearing featured testimony on the effects of nutrition and other biochemical factors on violent and aggressive behavior. The Commission considers it premature to make recommendations at the end of its first year's work. The Commission has concluded thus far that violence emerges from an interactive matrix of influences and can only be affected through a comprehensive strategy. The appendixes include the text of the bill creating the Commission and review summaries of research data bearing upon the subjects discussed at the public hearings.