Violence 1. Violence 2. Roots of violence

GST ANGER Criminal Behavior Strain

Assignment # 4  According to Agnew, males and females tend to experience different types of strain.  Males: 1) financial problems; 2) work-related problems, 3) status; 4) conflict and competition with peers;  Females: 1) abortion; 2) STD 3) verbal, sexual, and physical victimization; 4) gender-based discrimination; 5) child care problems; 6) stressors involving family and friends; 7) low prestige at work; 8) fitting in (looks+popularity);

 Males and females differ in terms of their emotional reactions to strain.  Males: Anger+Moral outrage  Females: Anger+Fear +Depression+Anxiety+Guilt+Self-blame Assignment # 4

 Males and females differ in terms of their behavioral reactions to strain. Males: Crime and delinquency Females: Self-destructive behaviors such as eating disorders, alcohol/drugs, running away from home, self-injuring, self- cutting, prostitution.

Final Exam  New Format  50 Multiple Choice Questions  Practice questions?

Roots of violence  What causes people to behave violently?  Adults and violence  Children and violence  Several competing explanations

Sources of Violence Violence Substance abuse Cultural Values Ganging Regional Values Human Instincts Ineffective families Personal Traits Firearm availability

Personality Traits  Abnormal personality structures  Depression, impulsivity, aggression, dishonesty, pathological lying, lack of remorse, psychopathology  Many murderers kill themselves shortly after committing their crime  There cases when people who commit murder wait for the execution (form of “Suicide-murder”)

Ineffective families  Absent/deviant parents  Inconsistent discipline  Lack of supervision  Abused children

Patterson’s Social-Interactional Developmental Model (1989)  Children and their environment are in constant interchange  The start of antisocial behavior happens in dysfunctional families (harsh and inconsistent discipline, little positive parental involvement, poor monitoring)  Family members directly “train” the child to perform antisocial behaviors

Patterson’s Social-Interactional Developmental Model (1989)  In dysfunctional families, coercion is a way of life  Child might see that only coercion can stop other family members from employing hitting  Antisocial children manifest “conduct problems” outside the home (rejected by peers)  Later they gravitate toward “deviant peer groups”  This association reinforces delinquent behavior  Later these children will have dysfunctional families and promote coercion

Mark Colvin-Differential Coercion Theory  Non-coercive and consistent  Non-coercive and erratic  Coercive and consistent (depression)  Coercive and erratic (chronic criminal)  Likelihood of crime varies according to the amount of coercion experienced  Low coercion produces low anger, high self- esteem, strong social bonds  High erratic coercion produces high anger, low self-esteem, weak social bonds

Mark Colvin-Differential Coercion Theory  Individuals with background of coercion are more likely to get involved in coercive situations and respond to them with violence  They create and maintain the cycle of coercion (coercive to future children+partners)  They become caught up in a coercive cycle

Abused Children  Eric and Lyle Menendez were convicted of first- degree murder for the brutal shotgun slaying of their parents in Beverly Hills. Their defense was based on the “abuse excuse”  The apparent motives ranged from the brothers’ fear of their father’s abuse to their desire to collect $11 million in insurance

Evolutionary factors  Human instincts (survival instinct)  Violent behavior is committed predominantly by males  Sexually aggressive males have been the ones most likely to produce children

Exposure to violence  At home, school, neighborhood  Mental health  Deviant behavior  Victimization  Vulnerable to the lure of gangs and other deviant groups

Cultural/Regional Values  Violence-prone subcultures  Violence is used to solve social conflicts and dilemmas  Ganging  Regional values (murder rate is higher in the South)

Ganging  Rising homicide rates in the 1960s and 1970s have been linked to increased gang activity and drug trafficking in central cities  Patterns of violence in large cities strongly influence national trends

Homicide rates

Cultural Values  “Legitimation of violence” hypothesis (Archer, Gartner, 1984) argues that during wartime pro-violent values are reinforced and these values are carried over to postwar periods  Increase in homicide rates after World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War are consistent with this idea

Firearm availability  Greater social acceptance of violence as method of conflict resolution  Violence is deeply woven into the fabric of American culture (street talk, prime-time television programming, “gangsta rap” music lyrics)