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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The objective of this study by Kratcoski was to examine various factors that might play a role in the development and manifestation of family violence. The study was founded in two theoretical approaches to family violence and its effects upon youth violence--stress theory and social learning theory.
METHODOLOGY:
The author employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design with a non-probability sample of 295 youth. These participants included students from four classes in eleventh and twelfth grades in a small city central high school, adolescents referred to three juvenile court centers and delinquent youth from five secure institutions. Data were obtained via use of a self-report questionnaire that included measures of family violence (defined as threatened or actual force within the family unit, including pushing, shoving, slapping, beating or threatening with a weapon - 20 items), family functioning (defined as the degree to which family members interacted with and supported each other - 12 items), parental aggression towards the subject, peer group relationships, violence committed whilst with the peer group and whilst within the school setting, school functioning and information about demographic characteristics of each respondent. Analysis included examination of frequencies and correlations.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The sample consisted of 75% males, and 74% whites, with an average age of just under 17 years. Intact families, with biological parents still married, were found for 49% of the group, although 60% reported two parent figures such as step-parents or other adults. Single mothers were present in 25% of the sample. Father's occupation was unknown to almost 25% of the subjects, and of those who did respond, two-thirds reported fathers in blue collar occupations while one-third held white collar jobs. Half of the respondent's mothers were listed as housewives or unemployed, or no information was provided. Mothers who were employed outside the home usually worked in unskilled or semiskilled jobs (60%), with 40% being employed in white collar positions such as teaching and nursing. 9% of the sample received welfare. An examination of the role of family functioning found that most of the sample scored in the moderate to high categories, indicating that the sample was not characterized by family dysfunction or disintegration. Most of the subjects from the low functioning homes came from the juvenile courts and institutions groups. Family violence was divided into four categories - parental violence against the child, child violence against the parent, intrasibling violence and intraparent violence. A strong negative correlation was found between family functioning and child violence toward the parents, although the correlations between functioning and the other three forms of intrafamily violence were weak. Strong correlations were found between each of the four types of intrafamily violence (see following table).
Correlation of Family Violence with Family Functioning
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Parent-Child Child-Parent Sibling Parent
Function
Parent-Child 1.00
Child-Parent 0.36 1.00
Intrasibling 0.65 0.21 1.00
Intraparent 0.48 0.20 0.47 1.00
Functioning 0.02 -0.22 0.04 0.09 1.00
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By examining the case records of those subjects from juvenile courts and institutions, the author found that youths who exhibited violent behavior toward their parents had usually been beaten either by their parent(s) or by a male guardian. Families in which violence was present were often characterized by alcohol abuse, and comparison of violent youths with non-violent youths revealed that those who were violent had more often been the victims of violence form their parents, had been violent towards their siblings more often and had witnessed their parents behaving violently towards each other more than had their non-violent counterparts. The author concluded that intrafamily violence was more likely to be present in homes with low levels of family functioning, conforming with both stress and social learning theories of family violence.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATION:
The author suggested that an intervention model for cases of family violence should take into account a number of different factors, such as who initiated the violence, the intensity of the interaction, the context of the incident, the levels of stress within the home situation and whether the parties involved in the violent event had any form of psychological dysfunction. Included in the model, and based upon social learning theory, should be efforts to unlearn the violent behavior that might have been learned in the home, by providing alternative methods for achieving one's goals. The author concluded by stressing the importance of considering family dynamics in cases of family conflict.
EVALUATION:
The author presents an interesting discussion of some of the factors that might contribute to the manifestation of family violence. The good sample size and the relative representativeness of the sample provide good external validity to the study, although internal validity is difficult to assess due to the lack of detailed discussion about the measures employed. Only family functioning and family violence were analyzed - issues pertaining to peer group relations, violence committed with peers or whilst in school and school functioning were initially included in the study design, but were then not addressed in the analysis or in the discussion. Implications of the findings were briefly discussed, although more reference to both stress and social learning theories would have been useful. In general, this study, whilst brief and sometimes lacking in thorough discussion, does contribute to the knowledge in the field of family violence. And perhaps more importantly, it acts as a reminder to researchers and policy makers alike that this is a field that warrants much further attention. (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 - Domestic Violence Effects
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Parent Offender
KW - Parent Abuse
KW - Alcohol Use
KW - Development
KW - Domestic Violence Offender
KW - Child Abuse Effects
KW - Child Abuse Causes
KW - Child Abuse Victim
KW - Child Victim
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Juvenile Abuse
KW - Domestic Violence Victim
KW - Domestic Violence Causes
KW - Spouse Abuse
KW - Family Relations
KW - Demographic Factors
KW - Intergenerational Transmission of Violence
KW - Intervention Recommendations
KW - Parent Child Relations
KW - Social Learning
KW - Theory
KW - Stress
KW - Family Environment
KW - Sibling Violence
KW - Single Parent
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Adult Victim
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Partner Violence
KW - Violence Against Women |