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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this study by Felson et al. was to examine the way in which the subculture of violence operates interpersonally, and within and across schools.
METHODOLOGY:
A quasi-experimental design was employed. Secondary data from the Youth in Transition study was used. The data set included two waves of data. The first was conducted on 2,213 male sophomores in 87 randomly selected public high schools. Eighteen months later the second wave was conducted on 85.3% of the initial sample. The data consisted of questionnaires administered to the students and administrators, plus personal interviews with the students.
The questionnaire included three measures of violent and delinquent behavior, a measure for the subculture of violence and independent variables regarding individual, family and school characteristics. The measures of violent and delinquent behavior consisted of an interpersonal violence index, a theft and vandalism index and a school delinquency index. The subculture of violence was perceived as ìvalues, attitudes or beliefs that either approve of or tolerate the use of aggression or violence.î The independent variables for individual effects consisted of high academic values that would reflect a bond to conventional institutions. Family and neighborhood variables included a measure of family stability (lives with both parents), and a measure of residential stability (whether they have lived in the same city for six or more years). The first independent variable for school characteristics was school size (measured by school enrollment), where it was hypothesized that larger schools would have a harder time exercising social control. The second school variable was a measure of the city size where the school was located; a large city size had a population of over 50,000 people. Two types of analysis were conducted, an aggregate level of analysis, and a contextual analysis. The aggregate level analysis used schools as the unit of analysis to determine the level of interschool behavior variation due to the interschool variation of the subculture of violence. The contextual analysis was used to determine the effects of the group values on individual values about violence and delinquency. The models presented were tested using Lisrel analysis.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The authors found that the subculture of violence varied among high schools. It was suggested that across schools (at the aggregate level) different forms of delinquency were affected by the subculture of violence. They also found that at the individual level, academic values were found to have a negative effect on interpersonal violence, theft/vandalism, and school delinquency, whereas, the subculture of violence was only found to have a positive effects on interpersonal violence. It should also be noted that these findings wee difficult to ascertain due to a collinearity problem (a high correlation between independent variables), but that measures were taken to address the problem.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
None.
(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)
Male Offender
Male Violence
Senior High School Student
Violence Causes
Subculture of Violence
Juvenile Male
Juvenile Offender
Juvenile Violence
Offender Characteristics
Juvenile Delinquency
Juvenile Crime
Male Delinquency
Male Crime
Crime Causes
Delinquency Causes
Individual Risk Factors
School Risk Factors
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