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Abstract
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The purpose of this study was to examine the intergenerational influence of experiencing parental violence on the expression of violent behavior in adolescent males and to attempt to assess the importance of psychological mechanisms in this transmission. Sixty-five consecutive male admissions to a Young Offenders Unit and 25 male high school boys were administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory, an intelligence test, and a violence questionnaire. Violent behavior in adolescence was found to be associated with experiencing paternal violence. This transmission was also found to be associated with higher levels of psychotic symptomatology. Violent behavior in adolescence was not found to be associated with maternal violence experienced or parental violence witnessed or with low self-esteem, externalizing defences, or internalizing defences.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The goal of this study by Truscott was to prove that violent male adolescents from violent families have lower self-esteem, employ fewer internalizing defenses and more externalizing defenses, and exhibit more psychotic symptoms than adolescents who did not come from violent families and non-violent adolescents who did come from violent families. This study also sought to prove that adolescents who witness or experience greater levels of familial violence are more likely to be violent themselves.
METHODOLOGY:
This was a quasi-experimental, cross-sectional study of 104 inpatient offenders referred to a Treatment and Assessment Unit at Alberta Hospital, Edmonton, Canada for court assessment over an 8 month period. The control group consisted of 10th grade students from an Edmonton Catholic high school who were in psychology or law classes and who chose to participate (65%). Both the experimental and control groups completed several survey instruments. The experimental group was given Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale tests, while the control group was given the Multidimensional Aptitude Battery. All subjects completed the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories (MMPI), Culture-Free Self-Esteem Inventory (SEI), and Conflict Tactics Scale. The subjects were divided into four groups: (1) violent subject, violent family (n=29), (2) violent subject, non-violent family (n=13), (3) non-violent subject, violent family (n=21), and (4) non-violent subject, non-violent family (n=27).
In the experimental group, females, illiterates, and ten subjects who refused to participate in the assessment and ten others with inaccurate MMPIs were excluded. The final experimental group consisted of 65 subjects. Females were also excluded from the control group. Two males whose protocols were incomplete were also excluded. The final control sample size was 25. The two groups were of similar average age (15.7 and 16.4 years), socioeconomic status (3.5 and 3.1), and IQ (101.4 and 94.2). While none of the control group participants came from violent families, six of the subjects were violent.
Subjects were defined as violent if they had hit someone with a fist or object, kicked, bit, or threatened another person with a gun or knife, or beat someone up 3-5 times in the last year. Subjects had witnessed violence if they had seen the same acts as above two or more times. Subjects had experienced violence if they had been the victim of the above acts, even if they had only been beaten up once. To test the first hypothesis, multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) with the MMPI and SEI scores as dependent variables was done to determine whether violent adolescents who have experienced parental violence have more self-esteem, defense problems, and psychotic symptomology than the other three groups.
To test the second hypothesis, multiple regression analyses were done with adolescent physical violence scores being entered as the dependent variable. Witnessing and experiencing parental physical violence and verbal aggression scores were the independent variables. Adjustments for age, IQ, and socioeconomic status were made.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The hypothesis that violence is transmitted intergenerationally was supported, and psychological mechanisms are a part of this phenomena. In addition, violent juveniles from violent families were found to have more psychotic symptoms than non-violent adolescents from non-violent families. However, violent juveniles who have been physically abused did not have lower self-esteem, use fewer internalizing defenses, or use more externalizing defenses. Thus, the first hypothesis was only partially supported. The second half of the study found that violent adolescents who had experienced parental violence were significantly (P<.012) different than both violent and non-violent adolescents who had not experienced parental violence. Violent juveniles were also significantly (P<.012) different than non-violent adolescents who had experienced parental violence. Juvenile violence was not found to be associated with witnessing either parent's violent behavior to someone else, nor with experiencing the mother's violent behavior. However, it was associated with being physically and verbally abused by the father. (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)
KW - Foreign Countries
KW - Canada
KW - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Witnessing Spouse Abuse
KW - Witnessing Violence Effects
KW - Intergenerational Transmission of Violence
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Juvenile Male
KW - Juvenile Witness
KW - Male Witness
KW - Male Violence
KW - Male Victim
KW - Male Offender
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Psychological Victimization Effects
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Physical Abuse Victim
KW - Child Physical Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse-Violence Link
KW - Children of Battered Women
KW - Partner Violence
KW - Violence Against Women
KW - Spouse Abuse Effects |