Youth Violence & Its Causes

Media Influences

• Although not the strongest influence on youth violence, heavy exposure to media violence influences violent behavior, desensitizes youth reactions to violent acts, and establishes unconventional perceptions regarding when violence is appropriate. According to research by the American Psychological Association, youngsters who view excessive amounts of media violence respond more violently to provocation and act more aggressively in general. The APA concluded that media violence is responsible for approximately 10 percent of aggressive and violent behaviors among youth.

Family Experiences

• Whether a child's family environment directly exposes him to violent behaviors or simply fails to stimulate healthy bonding or nurture social norms, early familial experiences are among the most significant causes of youth violence. Insufficient supervision and lack of established values, expectations and appropriate emotional reactions are linked closely with youth violence, as children receiving sufficient supervision are less prone to participate in criminality. Even in the absence of violence in the home, parental neglect can have an impact three times stronger than direct exposure to abuse or other violent acts within the family.

Learned Behavior

• Witnessing physical abuse or violence as the norm at home or within peer groups can increase risk of violent behaviors in adolescence by 40 percent. Approximately two-thirds of juvenile delinquents have been exposed to family members who were criminalized for violent behaviors in the past.

  When nonviolent means of dealing with problems, anger or confrontation are established within children's primary social networks, they can internalize negative consequences as outweighing any positive outcomes of violence. However, when primary influences teach children that violence is essential to acquiring status, power and respect, they are more likely to internalize violent behaviors as rational because positive outcomes seem to outweigh any negative consequences. (Reference 1, page 6 of .pdf)

Neighborhood Influences

• Two-thirds to three-quarters of juvenile delinquency results from group activity. Even when a child's immediate family effectively monitors exposure to media violence, tries to establish conventional behaviors and provides no model for violent action, a lack of social reinforcement of those values may trump familial stability.

  However, since adolescence is often necessarily associated with challenging and defying social norms(Reference 3, page 4), children usually outgrow violent inclinations as long as they are able to make effective transitions into adult roles such as working, marrying and parenting (Reference 1, page 9 of .pdf). Almost 80 percent of adolescents with serious violent offenses have no serious violent offenses in adulthood (Reference 1, page 9 of .pdf). However, when social isolation from the legitimate labor market renders limited opportunities for employment, as in impoverished neighborhoods, successful transition into adulthood is less likely (Reference 1, page 10 of .pdf).