Exploration of Violent Attitudes in Adolescent Males: Personal, Family, and Environmental Factors

• NCJ Number: 221576
• Journal: Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment and Trauma Volume: 15 Issue: 2 Dated: 2007 Pages: 59-77
• Author(s): Glen Stone; Angela Dover
• Date Published: 2007
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study explored the various factors that influence the development of pro-violence attitudes in male adolescents.

Abstract

The results suggest that familial and environmental influences factor significantly into the development of attitudes about violence. Of all the factors considered for this model (attachment, empathy, violent peer relationships, exposure to community violence, being a victim of parent-to-child violence, viewing parent-to-parent violence, both parents living in the home, and socioeconomic status), only three variables had direct influence on pro-violence attitudes: the ability to experience empathy, viewing parent-to-parent violence, and living with both biological parents. Exposure to community violence had an indirect effect on pro-violence attitudes through the variable empathy. The other factors in the model did not significantly impact violent attitudes. The ability to experience empathy was the largest contributor to explaining the variance in adolescent pro-violence attitudes. Adolescents living with both of their biological parents reported lower levels of pro-violence attitudes as well as higher levels of empathy. Teenagers who conveyed lower levels of empathy were more likely to have positive attitudes toward violence. This variable seems of vital importance in understanding pro-violence attitudes as it had the most significant influence on violent attitudes in the study, as well as a mediating role for community exposure to violence and living with both biological parents; the presence of fathers may have an impact on empathy development. Adolescents who viewed parent-to-parent violence were more likely to hold pro-violence attitudes. The sample consisted of 73 males between the ages of 12 and 17, who were residents of 2 separate detention/rehabilitation centers in a Midwestern State, and who had demonstrated violent behaviors in the past 6 months. Data were collected through an administered questionnaire. Figures, tables, references