Youth Violence
Violence is a learned behavior. Children often experience violence for the first time in their lives in their homes or in the community. This first taste of violence may include their parents, family members or their friends. Studies have shown that children who witness violent acts, either as a victim or as a victimizer, are more likely to grow up to become involved in violence.
During our second weekend class, we talked specifically about violence and youth. For many young people who have already developed a pattern of violent behavior, the probability that this way of life will endure into their adult lives is very likely. I believe that aggression is often learned very early in a child's life. For the growing trend in youth violence to subside, I assert that parents and many others must make every attempt to educate themselves and to implement methods that will reduce and ultimately prevent much of this violent behavior.
Parents most often play the greatest positive role in a child's life by raising them in homes where they feel safe, secure and loved...
Tio Hardiman, the creator of the Violence Interrupters Program, said, “You can give them a history lesson. Your daddy was violent, your granddaddy was violent, and your great granddaddy was violent. And now your brothers are messed up because you misled them” (James et al., 2012). He is describing how violence is a learned behavior from your family and close peers. Hardiman goes on to tell a little about his own family’s history with violence. When he was fourteen, a man tried to hurt him in the streets, but his stepfather killed the man right in front of him, and he recalls feelings good about it. This family taught him violence was okay through their own
The problem of youth violence is not an unsolvable one. Although fictional, American History X provides an accurate example of how youths can make the transition from violent behavior. We must work to seek out the blind and the lost boys to help them find their vision in a world that is so often covered in darkness.
“Most of the research on youth’s perceptions of violence, however, is based on topics and questions defined by researchers. Few studies provide a format that allows youth to express their ideas about youth violence in their own voices. Rather, they report youth’s responses to closed-ended questions about issues in which the researcher is interested. The unique contribution of this study is that it is based on youth’s perspectives on violence in their own words” (Zimmerman et al., 2004). The cause of violence could be for many reasons including peer pressure, family problems, physical and mental health problems as well.
"Teen violence refers to harmful behaviors that can start early and continue into young adulthood" (Teen Violence). As generations continue to pass, the issue of teen violence remains. Why do kids act the way they do? What factors into their violent behavior? Questions like these do not have straight answers; instead, they seek out people's differing opinions. John Leo, Mike Males, Gloria Steinem, Charlie James, Chuck Shelton, Annette Fuentes, and James Garbarino share their opinions about the controversy of teen violence through newspaper and magazine articles. Each article has its own unique points, whether they are strong or weak. "Children in a Violent World" by James Garbarino offers the most convincing causal analysis and helps reveal the problem of teen violence to his readers.
Violence is defined as the intentional use of force to harm a human being. Its outcome is injury (whether physical or psychological, fatal or nonfatal). Violence among teenagers is on the rise, and has been since the early 1980's. In my opinion this is due to the increase of violence in the media, the astounding availability of firearms and the lack of proper guidance in the home. Northeastern University's College of Criminal Justice reports that from 1985 to 1993 murders committed by people over the age of 25 dropped an impressive 20%; meanwhile they increased 65% for people between the ages of 18-24 and an astounding 165% growth for teenagers 14 to 17. According to the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, in 1996, 6548 young people 15-24 years old were victims of homicides. This amounts to an average of 18 youth homicides per day in the US. It also states that homicide is the second leading cause of death for persons 15-24 and is the leading cause of death for African-American and Hispanic youths in this age group. There are a few things that we as Americans can do to stunt this problem, and it starts with the home. By focusing on the home first, we as Americans can drastically reduce the amount of violent crime committed in the US.
Juveniles resort to violence, usually involving guns, instead of communicating with each other. "Although guns are more available today, youth also now show an increasing tendency to use them to settle disputes. When youth who are already predisposed to violence have easy access to guns, they may be more likely to beco...
Fear of youth violence is a constant concern by millions of people all over the world. Kids seem to take up more and more space of crimes that are usually committed by adults over the age of 18. "Statistics confirm that more horrendous crimes are being committed by increasingly younger children" (Levine 27). These crimes committed by youth's are caused by many different reasons: Poverty, neighborhoods, schools, parents, and TV, are the main concerns. But what is in most people's minds is what we can do to help prevent this violence. Although there are many different methods for reducing youth violence such as administering harsher punishments and steering kids away from gang influences, the most effective is training in conflict resolution because it gives kids another alternative to fighting. There are many different reasons as to why kids administer violence. Families, neighborhoods, peer groups, television, schools, and your personal factors are the main reasons. According to Joy G. Dryfoos, "Children who demonstrate antisocial behavior come from very non-supportive families at two extremes: either the family is repressive and abusive, or it seriously neglects the child from the early years on" (71). Parental neglect is a strong predictor of violence in a child, and parental rejection is the most powerful predictor. "The closer the child's relationship with his parents, the more he is attached to and identified with them, the lower his chances of delinquency" (Hirschi 71). Neighborhoods and peer groups are also a great influence on kids and their crimes. Growing in an underclass neighborhood is closely related with the risk of delinquency. Not all poor people are criminals, but drugs, guns and poverty are identified as causes o...
There are many factors that lead people to use violence. They use violence when they are stressed, angry, feeling hatred, drink too much alcohol, use drug. Children are more likely to grow up as violent men if they are influenced by their parents, brothers, sisters and friends, all of whom use violence.
Pirruzia, T (2011).Review of the Roots of Youth Violence: Literature Reviews. (n.d.). Chapter 1: Biosocial Theory. Retrieved May 1, 2014, from http://www.children.gov.on.ca/htdocs/English/topics/youthandthelaw/roots/volume5/chapter01_biosocial_theory.aspx
Some children who have violent tempers acquire them through their parents. Could this be a motive for these children to go out a killing sprees? But then again the question of whether or not the child is being abused is brought into prospective. Some say if a child is beat or abused in any other way, that would be a incentive for them to be violent. But is this rational? Most children who have had encounters with violence are usually white, intelligent, middle class and heterosexual. Sounds like a pretty normal child doesn’t it? But what reason could be behind this for such a typical child to react in such a hurtful way? Some would say because of the parents. Put the blame on the parents.
...dolescents to weapons. In many cases children have access to a weapon, particularly a handgun, within their own home. With lack of supervision, children experiment with these dangerous weapons, and may even take them out of their homes. Another contributing factor to violent acts among children is the role of the media and the way that television and movies portray violence. Every where you turn on television and in movies, you see someone killing someone or someone getting killed. Kids see the brutal ways, or the quick and smart schemes of combat tactics. They falsely believe that these types of behaviors are acceptable, because the next week they are back on the show demonstrating another episode of violent acts, with no consequences.
Very few youth of today have respect for teachers, elders, or each other. Everyday more and more instances of violent crime are committed by our nation’s youth and children. Shocking accounts of children bringing guns to school as a means of solving problems with a teacher or a fellow student are becoming increasingly frequent. Children are committing crime, which were one thought only committed by adults such as rape, robbery, and murder.
Imagine being able to get your hands on a gun in your community with ease when you were younger. Sounds cool right? Well, to some it might and that’s how young children are living in our communities now-a-days. Kids are able to get guns as long as they have parents with guns or the money to buy one. There aren’t enough restrictions on guns & who can get a hold of them on the streets and parents aren’t doing a well enough job of hiding their guns from their children. Something needs to be done. Too many children and young adults are being injured and murdered by something that is supposed to protect them. The ease in which youths are able to possess guns needs to be stopped. The harder it is for kids to get guns, the safer they’ll be.
Everyday, a child witnesses an act of violence. Not on television but in their own home. "Family and home are not havens in which a child finds nurturing and safety, but rather a battleground where fear, anxiety, confusion, anger, and disruption are significant threads in the tapestry of home life," Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing. Children of family violence are often abusers or victims of abuse themselves. Family violence is a cycle that is very hard to stop. A home is supposed to be a safe place where children learn how to love and relate to others. If they are constantly seeing violence in their parent's relationship, then they assume that a normal relationship is also filled with violence. Often, children do not understand why the violence occurs and may be afraid to share their emotions because of fear. They may associate love and pain together, because this is witnessed in their home. This could lead to psychological problems and confusion about relationships. Children who witness family violence tend to have behavioral, interpersonal, and emotional problems.
According to the scientist research, when children see violence, they become to aggressive way and want to destroy it for little pieces.