Social-Demographic Attitudes and Violence* (original) (raw)

SOCIAL-DEMOGRAPHIC DIFFERENCES IN ATTITUDES AND VIOLENCE*

Criminology, 1998

SOCIAL-DEMOGRAPHIC ATTITUDES AND VIOLENCE* FRED E. MARKOWITZ University of Wisconsin at Madison RICHARD B. FELSON State University of New York at Albany In this study, we examine the relationships among social-demo-graphic characteristics, ...

Attitudes and family violence: Linking intergenerational and cultural theories

Drawing on intergenerational transmission and cultural (attitudinal) theories, this study examines the extent to which attitudes help explain (1) the relationship between experiencing violence while growing up and subsequent violence against one amp apose;s children and spouse, and(2) demographic differences in violence. Structural equation modeling techniques are used to examine data from a representative sample of the general population and a sample of ex-offenders. The findings indicate that experiencing violence while growing up is related to favorable attitudes towards violence against spouses. The experience of violence while growing up and attitudes are related to violence against both children and spouses. The relationship between experiencing violence while growing up and engaging in violence against spouses is mediated by attitudes. The results also suggest that men and nonwhites are more approving of violence towards spouses. However, attitudes do not account for demographic differences in violence against children and spouses.

Predicting the Violent Offender:The Discriminant Validity of the Subculture of Violence*

Criminology, 2011

This study tests the extent to which an adherence to the subculture of violence uniquely predicts a tendency to favor violence or instead predicts a more generalized offending repertoire, of which violence is part. Specifically, we use a unique analytic technique that provides the opportunity to distinguish empirically between the "violent offender" and/or the "frequent offender." The results suggest that holding values favorable toward violence consistently predicts general offending but do not identify youth who systematically favor violence over nonviolence. This discussion considers the impact of these findings for the continued utility of the subculture of violence perspective.

Socioeconomic status, subcultural definitions, and violent delinquency

Social forces, 1997

This article examines the theoretical links between socioeconomic status and violent delinquency. The arguments draw on work on social structure and personality and learning theories of crime and delinquency. Hypotheses derived from the resulting explanation are tested using covariance structure models and panel data from a national sample of males. Consistent with these arguments, the results show that violent delinquency is a product of learning definitions favorable to violence, which itself is determined directly and indirectly by association with aggressive peers, socioeconomic status, parenting practices, and prior violent delinquency. The article concludes that explanations of violent adolescent behavior must take into account the joint contributions of social stratification and culture. Although most theories of crime and deviance acknowledge the importance of both social structure and culture, the concrete mechanisms by which these abstract concepts affect law violation often are not articulated clearly. Indeed, the criminological literature is peppered with imprecise definitions and incomplete discussions of social structure and culture (Kornhauser 1978). One remedy for this situation would integrate criminological work on cultural processes leading to deviance with sociological

Development and Testing of the Velicer Attitudes Toward Violence Scale: Evidence for a Four-Factor Model

Aggressive Behavior, 2006

The factor structure of the Velicer Attitudes Toward Violence Scale [VATVS; Velicer, Huckel and Hansen, 1989] was examined in three studies. Study 1 (n=460 undergraduates) found a poor fit for a hierarchical five-factor model earlier advanced by Velicer et al. [1989], but a good fit for an oblique four-factor model. In Study 2, this alternative model was cross-validated in a confirmatory factor analysis of an additional 195 undergraduate students. In Study 3, the competing models were compared in terms of ability to predict self-reported aggression, with 823 undergraduate students. The new four-factor model proved superior. Other findings included evidence of factorial invariance on the VATVS, and more favorable attitudes toward violence among men than women. The VATVS appears to measure the same four attitudinal constructs for men and women: violence in war, penal code violence, corporal punishment of children, and intimate violence.

Demographic and Cultural Dissimilarity's Effects on Responses to Offense

SSRN Electronic Journal, 2000

Two studies of different methodologies investigated ethnic and gender similarity's effect on responses to offense episodes. Despite the different methodologies, common findings were obtained. Cumulatively, our findings show that: (1) victims of offensive workplace interactions do not always choose revengeful responses; instead, they sometimes opt to forgive and/or reconcile with their offender, and (2) the offender's perceived similarity to the victim influences the victim's coping strategy. Additionally, we found that the importance that perceived similarity has on people's responses to workplace-offenses apparently differs across (at least U.S. and Korean) cultures. Implications are discussed.

Violence Begets Violence … but How? A Decision-Making Perspective on the Victim-Offender Overlap*

Criminology, 2016

This study applied a decision making perspective to examine the causal mechanisms underlying the relation between violent victimization and offending. We theorized that having been victimized affects an individual's appraisal of subsequent potentially conflictive situations in such a way that victims become more attuned towards the benefits of violence perpetration than towards its costs. Furthermore, we argued that this altered appraisal mediates the relation between violent victimization and violent offending. We tested these hypotheses using data from the Zurich Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths, a longitudinal study of Swiss youth (N = 1,013; age 11-15). In line with expectations, path analysis results showed that prior victimization influenced the appraisal of decision making situations which, in turn, predicted subsequent self-reported violent offending. Importantly, these mediation effects held when controlling for a variety of time-stable factors, such as self-control and risky activities, as well as prior victimization and delinquency. Implications for research and theorizing on the victim-offender overlap are elaborated in the discussion.

Determinants of Persistence in Collective Violence Offending

Deviant Behavior, 2019

This study explores individual characteristics linked to an increased risk of persistence in collective violence. A sample of collective violence offenders (n = 438) was identified based on individuals' involvement in a collective violence incident in 2011/2012 or due to them being recorded in a police database of 'known' football hooligans. For the current analyses, persistence was defined as recidivism to collective violence assessed over a 4-to 5-year time span. Criminal career data were obtained from the police (register data). Individual characteristics concerned criminal career measures, behavioral indicators of personality traits and childhood problematic behavior. Due to a lack of other available data sources, behavioral indicator data were largely obtained from police and probation service information. The results of this study indicate that offender characteristics can be linked to persistence in collective violence. Results contrast currently dominant theoretical perspectives on the etiology of collective violence. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.