S. Feigelman et al., Psychosocial and environmental correlates of violence perpetration among African-American urban youth, J ADOLES H, 27(3), 2000, pp. 202-209
Purpose: To ascertain the proportion of youths involved in acts of violence
; to examine individual, social, and environmental factors associated with
perpetration; and to determine the relationship among victimization, witnes
sing, and perpetration of violence.
Methods: A cross-sectional survey was completed by 349 volunteer males and
females, aged 9-15 years, 96% of whom were African-American. The youths wer
e recruited from recreation centers associated with 10 public-housing commu
nities in an eastern city. Survey instruments included the Child Health and
Illness Profile, Survey of Children's Exposure to Community Violence, and
other standardized questionnaires. Statistical analyses included Chi-square
, correlation, regression, and test for linear trends.
Results: Half of the youths self-reported at least one act of violence perp
etration, with similar distributions among males and females. One-third of
the youths reported both personal victimization and the witnessing of viole
nt events. Victim and witness status were moderately correlated. Individual
risk behaviors and victimization made significant contributions to perpetr
ation status. Further analysis demonstrated a linear relationship between a
cts of perpetration and number of victimization events.
Conclusions: Participation in problem behaviors may place youths in circums
tances in which they may be victim, witness, or aggressor. The chronic and
high levels of community violence to which many youths are exposed are like
ly to contribute to an individual's participation in acts of violence. (C)
Society for Adolescent Medicine, 2000.