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Abstract
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This study explored violent behavior of high school students toward their parents, using a self-report questionnaire. The families of the students were characterized as having high, moderate, or low levels of family functioning, and these levels were correlated with the amount of violent behavior manifested by the youths. It was found that violence by young people toward their parents tended to be concentrated in households with strong manifestations of intra-family violence or aggression between the parents, between parents and children, and between siblings. Low levels of family functioning, characterized by disagreements over money matters, inappropriate disciplining of children, few share activities, and alcohol abuse, also correlated strongly with youth violence toward parents. It was also found that youths involved in deviant peer group activity had higher levels of violence toward parents than youths who were not involved in this way.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
This study by Kratcoski explored the specific circumstances of juvenile violence when it is directed at the adolescents' parents.
METHODOLOGY:
The sample for this study involved 305 youths from four high school classes and a juvenile justice center within a small city which consisted of rural, suburban and urban areas. The subjects were about equally divided between high school students and adolescents referred from the justice center. Each student completed a questionnaire within a supervised setting which included such data as demographics, family functioning, parental aggressive behavior, peer relations, violence committed with peers, school functioning, and also included a modified scale developed by Gelles and Strauss measuring family violence. After removing the questionnaires with obvious inconsistencies and exaggerations, 295 subjects remained. Demographics revealed that: 75% were males; 74% were white; the average age was 16.7 years; 49% had parents who were still living together; 5% reported their fathers were unemployed; of those who reported having employed fathers, 28% were unskilled to semi-skilled, 41% were blue-collar skilled, and 31% were white collar; 30% of the juveniles reported that their mothers were either unemployed or housewives, 52% were unskilled to semi-skilled, 9% were blue-collar skilled, 39% were white collar skilled; 9% of the families received welfare benefits; 34% of the youths' fathers had not finished high school, 37% completed high school, and 29% had attended at least some college; 30% of the youths' mothers did not complete high school, 46% were high school graduates, and 24% had at least some college. Percentages were used to statistically analyze the data.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
This study hypothesized that involvement in delinquent peer groups and in families which were frequently hostile are linked to violent behavior. Further, this study assumed that those youths with delinquent peers would be more likely to engage in violence toward strangers or acquaintances while those with violent families would be more likely to become violent towards parents, caretakers or siblings. A family functioning index, a deviant peer index, and a violence index were developed from the questionnaire items. Seventy-five percent of the sample's families were functioning at a moderate level, 17% were at a high functioning level, and only 8% were at a low functioning level. The finding that 84% of the sample reported moderate to high deviant peer group involvement was explained by the fact that half of the subjects had been to juvenile court. The violence index indicated that only 21% of the subjects directed violence towards their parents while 75% had engaged in violence towards strangers or acquaintances. When comparing this to family integration, it was found that 43% of the subjects who committed violence against parents had low family integration; and only 4% of the subjects who had high family integration committed violence against their parents. When compared to other forms of family violence, it was found that the subjects who had been violent towards their parents had also experienced violence from siblings and parents. It was concluded that youths who had been violent towards their parents were more likely to have low family integration and to have experienced violent, aggressive behavior from other family members. When connecting these findings about the family with those from the deviant peer index, it was found that 26% of those with moderate deviant peer involvement and 22% of those with high deviant peer involvement had been violent towards their parents. A similar pattern was found for violence towards siblings. overall, it was concluded that both low family integration and high involvement in deviant peer groups were linked to higher levels of youth violence towards their parents.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author stressed the need for further research and programs which would focus on the specific details of juvenile violence towards parents. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-429, AB-429
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Domestic Violence Offender
KW - Domestic Violence Causes
KW - Family Functioning
KW - Family Relations
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Parent Abuse Causes
KW - Parent Abuse Offender
KW - Parent Abuse Victim
KW - Adult Parent
KW - Adult Victim
KW - Parent Victim
Language: en |