Violence in the United States

Due to the increase in violence, the CDC (Center for Disease Control) created the Division of Violence Prevention and considers violence a chronic disease that is pervasive at all levels of American society.

We see violence against individuals and against groups in various settings. We continue to see ethnoviolence (violence that is toward a person of a specific color, race or gender), hate crimes (crime motivated by prejudice on the basis of a person being part of a specific group) and acts of terrorism (the use of violence and threats to intimidate or coerce). We also continue to see domestic violence, which can be defined as attempting to cause or causing bodily injury to a family or household member or using a threat of force against a family or household member to instill a fear of imminent physical harm.

Youth Violence

Youth violence is a significant public health problem that affects thousands of young people each day, and in turn, their families, schools, and communities.

Youth violence is an adverse childhood experience and is connected to other forms of violence, including child abuse and neglect, teen dating violence, adult intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and suicide.

Preventing Youth Violence

What is youth violence?

Youth violence is the intentional use of physical force or power to threaten or harm others by young people ages 10-24. It typically involves young people hurting other peers who are unrelated to them and who they may or may not know well. Youth violence can take different forms. Examples include fights, bullying, threats with weapons, and gang-related violence. A young person can be involved with youth violence as a victim, offender, or witness.

Youth violence starts early. Physical aggression can be common among toddlers, but most children learn alternatives to using violence to solve problems and express their emotions before starting school. Some children may remain aggressive and become more violent. Some early childhood risk factors include impulsive behavior, poor emotional control, and lack of social and problem-solving skills. Many risk factors are the result of experiencing chronic stress,* which can alter and/or harm the brain development of children and youth.

Youth violence is an adverse childhood experience and is connected to other forms of violence, including child abuse and neglect, teen dating violence, adult intimate partner violence, sexual violence, and suicide. Different forms of violence have common risk and protective factors, and victims of one form of violence are more likely to experience other forms of violence.

Risk Factors for Perpetration

Risk factors are characteristics linked with youth violence, but they are not direct causes of youth violence. A combination of individual, relationship, community, and societal factors contribute to the risk of youth violence. Research on youth violence has increased our understanding of factors that make some populations more vulnerable to victimization and perpetration.

Individual Risk Factors

• History of violent victimization
• Attention deficits, hyperactivity, or learning disorders
• History of early aggressive behavior
• Involvement with drugs, alcohol, or tobacco
• Low IQ
• Poor behavioral control
• Deficits in social cognitive or information-processing abilities
• High emotional distress
• History of treatment for emotional problems
• Antisocial beliefs and attitudes
• Exposure to violence and conflict in the family

Family Risk Factors

• Authoritarian childrearing attitudes
• Harsh, lax, or inconsistent disciplinary practices
• Low parental involvement
• Low emotional attachment to parents or caregivers
• Low parental education and income
• Parental substance abuse or criminality
• Poor family functioning
• Poor monitoring and supervision of children

Peer and Social Risk Factors

• Association with delinquent peers
• Involvement in gangs
• Social rejection by peers
• Lack of involvement in conventional activities
• Poor academic performance
• Low commitment to school and school failure

Community Risk Factors

• Diminished economic opportunities
• High concentrations of poor residents
• High level of transiency
• High level of family disruption
• Low levels of community participation
• Socially disorganized neighborhoods

Protective Factors for Perpetration

Protective factors may lessen the likelihood of youth violence victimization or perpetration. Identifying and understanding protective factors are equally as important as researching risk factors.

Individual Protective Factors

• Intolerant attitude toward deviance
• High IQ
• High grade point average (as an indicator of high academic achievement)
• High educational aspirations
• Positive social orientation
• Popularity acknowledged by peers
• Highly developed social skills/competencies
• Highly developed skills for realistic planning
• Religious beliefs

Family Protective Factors

• Connectedness to family or adults outside the family
• Ability to discuss problems with parents
• Perceived parental expectations about school performance are high
• Frequent shared activities with parents
• Consistent presence of parent during at least one of the following: when awakening, when arriving home from school, at evening mealtime, or when going to bed
• Involvement in social activities
• Parental/family use of constructive strategies for coping with problems (provision of models of constructive coping)

Peer and Social Protective Factors

• Possession of affective relationships with those at school that are strong, close, and prosocially oriented
• Commitment to school (an investment in school and in doing well at school)
• Close relationships with non-deviant peers
• Membership in peer groups that do not condone antisocial behavior
• Involvement in prosocial activities
• Exposure to school climates with the following characteristics:
  • Intensive supervision
  • Clear behavior rules
  • Consistent negative reinforcement of aggression
  • Engagement of parents and teachers

 How big is the problem?

Thousands of people experience youth violence every day. While the magnitude and types of youth violence vary across communities and demographic groups, youth violence negatively impacts youth in all communities—urban, suburban, rural, and tribal.

Youth violence is common. Nearly 1 in 5 high school students reported being bullied on school property in the last year, and about 1 in 7 were electronically bullied (texting, Instagram, Facebook, or other social media).

Youth violence kills and injures. Homicide is the 3rd leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24. Each day, about 14 young people are victims of homicide and about 1,300 are treated in emergency departments for nonfatal assault-related injuries.

Youth violence is costly. Youth homicides and nonfatal physical assault-related injuries result in more than $21 billion annually in combined medical and lost productivity costs alone, not including costs associated with the criminal justice system, psychological and social consequences for victims, perpetrators and their families, or costs incurred by communities.

What are the consequences?

Youth violence has serious and lasting effects on the physical, mental, and social health of young people. It is a leading cause of death for young people and results in more than 475,000 nonfatal injuries each year. The impact of youth violence goes beyond physical consequences. Adverse childhood experiences, like youth violence, are associated with negative health and well-being outcomes across the life course. Youth violence increases the risk for behavioral and mental health difficulties, including future violence perpetration and victimization, smoking, substance use, obesity, high-risk sexual behavior, depression, academic difficulties, school dropout, and suicide.

Youth violence affects entire communities. Violence increases health care costs, decreases property value, and disrupts social services. Youth violence negatively impacts perceived and actual safety, participation in community events, youth’s school attendance, and viability of businesses. Addressing the short- and long-term consequences of violence strains community resources and limits the resources that states and communities have to address other needs and goals.

School violence has received particular attention following school shootings that have resulted in the deaths of many within a setting that we assumed would be safe. Legislation was passed in the year 2000 requiring schools to have specific planning and training regarding violence. The name of the legislation varies by state. In New York State, the legislation is called Project SAVE (Safe Schools Against Violence in Education).  Any potential threat against a school is taken very seriously with consequences for anyone who threatens. As part of planning, we need to know what to do in the event of a lock down or an active shooter situation. We also need to have a major focus on preventing violence whenever possible.

The Dignity Act – The Dignity for All Students Act (DASA) was passed in 2010 with the purpose of providing a school environment free of discrimination and harassment.  Those protected under the legislation would be anyone who is subject to actual or perceived intimidation or abuse based on race, color, weight, national origin, ethnic group, religion, religious practice, disability, sexual orientation, gender, or sex.

Causes of Violence – The underlying causes of violence are varied, but include several social, cultural, and individual factors, such as poverty, unemployment, parental influence, cultural beliefs, the media, discrimination, religious beliefs, political indifference, breakdowns in the criminal justice system, stress, and use of alcohol and other substances. Mental health status, youth interaction (bullying) and firearms are also a significant part of the discussion.

We cannot isolate the cause of violence to just one aspect. There are multiple influences. There is no denying the correlation between violence and substance abuse, as judgment and inhibition are lowered with substance use. However, there is debate regarding the contribution of some of the above items.  Of course, there is a well-known controversy regarding the contribution of firearms to violence. The probability of someone dying from a gunshot is zero if there are no firearms. At the same time, there is also “guns don’t kill people, people kill people”.  There has been concern about the influence of certain types of music and video games relative to violence and aggression.  Are there individuals who have listened to violent music and played violent video games who have not become violent individuals? YES. However, can these things contribute to violence in certain people? YES. This is especially true if there are mental health issues.  All of this can be compounded by the influence of peers.

Bullying, in particular, is a subject that has received increasing attention. Bullying may not be what you think it is. Bullies come in all shapes and sizes, and can be male or female. Some bullies have low self-esteem and are trying to bring themselves up by putting others down, but we’ve also seen bullies with high levels of self-esteem.

Bullying occurs in a number of settings.  In addition to the school setting, bullying happens at home among family members and even in the workplace. Bullying is not always in the form of physical interaction or words that threaten physical interaction.  Relational aggression involves emotional violence and bullying behaviors focused on damaging an individual’s social connections within the peer group. Spreading rumors and talking about people are both forms of violence, but are referred to as social violence or indirect violence. Violence also takes place via technology and is termed, “cyber-bullying”. People enable bullying behavior when they allow it to continue.  Unfortunately, it can escalate, and there have been several instances of bullying that have resulted in death.

Attitudes and beliefs of individuals can often be at the root of violence. Socialization or the way in which someone grew up, mental health issues, childhood trauma, and lack of appreciation for diversity can all influence someone’s attitude, and can result in violence.  Prejudice is a preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.  A child who hears negative stereotypical remarks around the dinner table while growing up is likely to be socialized to carry those ideas into adulthood. The adult says, “All (people of a specific religion, race, sexual orientation, age, occupation) are (negative adjective).”  This attitude can be a result of lack of interaction with different types of people or one bad experience with a person from a certain group.  Why are these types of statements and attitudes so harmful? They are harmful because they apply a negative stereotype to an entire group of people, without knowing each individual.

Review the following graphic of a “Pyramid of Violence”.  We may not realize it, but violence often begins with attitudes of prejudice (see bottom of pyramid), which can lead to actions as basic as microaggressions or verbal comments, (moving up toward the top of the pyramid) which can lead to physical violence or even death.

Pyramid of Violence

Microaggressions are everyday verbal, or nonverbal slights or insults, whether intentional or unintentional, which communicate derogatory or negative messages to a person based upon the marginalized group to which they belong. These messages may invalidate the group identity or demean them on a personal level, communicate they are lesser human beings, suggest they do not belong with the majority group and inferior status, or threaten and intimidate, or relegate them to inferior status.

Stereotyping is an oversimplified attitude or assumption that people hold toward those who are different. They come from incomplete or inaccurate information that is accepted as fact without question.  Stereotypes persist because individuals have the tendency to simplify complex amounts of information, which unfortunately leads to inaccurate portrayals and unawareness of this effect.  Many common stereotypes are negative or derogatory. The use of stereotypes can prevent people from interacting with and learning about individuals as individuals.

Examples of Negative Stereotyping 

There are many examples. Here are just a few. “All college students are slackers” is a negative stereotype that lumps all college students into the same group. How do you feel about that?  Are there some college students who are slackers (unmotivated)? Yes, however, what if you were one of the students who happens to be hard working and motivated, yet have been lumped into this group?

“All overweight people are lazy” is another generalization. Did you ever think that maybe there are some people who have a rare medical condition that does not allow them to lose weight via diet and exercise?  Do you know the person’s story?

Yet another example came after the incidents of September 11th, 2001. There were Islam individuals who had nothing to do with the terrorist activity and whose views were very different from those of the terrorists, yet they were treated by community members as if they were terrorists. Do all people who are part of a particular religion believe in every letter of its doctrine? No. For example, not all individuals who would call themselves Catholic have views regarding controversial issues that align with the doctrine of the church.

Individuals certainly do benefit from having resiliency that helps them to deal with negative attitudes and behaviors of others, however, the behaviors have larger consequences overall, as indicated in the Pyramid of Violence. The level and frequency of the attitudes and actions toward a person also make a difference. If you are not part of a marginalized group, then you may be more likely to think that people are just being too sensitive. Marginalization is predominantly a social phenomenon by which a minority or sub-group is excluded, and their needs ignored. In many cases, decisions in our society are made based on “groups” Although this can be helpful, groups tend to be heterogenous. For example, the group ‘females’, composes half the world’s population. However, the group is highly diverse. It includes women and girls of different races, ages, religions, education levels, sexual orientations, socioeconomic backgrounds, disabilities, etc. Each female experiences discrimination and inequality in a unique way depending on a number of factors. A feature of marginalization is that people who are marginalized are very likely to be subject to multiple layers of discrimination.

If you have not experienced a significant level of these actions or outcomes yourself, then it can be very difficult to put yourself in the shoes of a person who has.  The next best thing you can do is to get to know people from all different groups and learn their stories or at least learn about other people and their stories.

How can we stop youth violence before it starts?

The good news is youth violence is preventable. CDC’s Comprehensive Technical Package for the Prevention of Youth Violence and Associated Risk Behaviors, helps communities and states prioritize prevention strategies based on the best available evidence.

The strategies and approaches in the technical package are intended to shape individual behaviors as well as the relationship, family, school, community, and societal factors that influence risk and protective factors for violence. They are meant to work together and to be used in combination in a multi-level, multi-sector effort to prevent violence.

Socialization – When a child is exposed to thinking that involves negative stereotyping and generalizations, they don’t know any better.   Sometimes, the adults who are setting the example do not realize the harm in their attitudes or the negative influence they have on children. Children are socialized to think like the adult and can carry on attitudes that precipitate violence, and then have the same influence on yet another generation.  Unfortunately, these attitudes are correlated with negative actions and move our society away from forward progress. The good news is, attitudes can be changed with realization and a conscious decision to make change.

Studies of prejudice show that prejudice declines when members of the majority group interact with members of a marginalized group. In keeping with this general pattern, one of the most powerful influences is having personal contact with someone from the marginalized group. Negative attitudes are far less common among members of the population when they know someone in the group.

Do your own personal analysis. Do you get annoyed when people are different or do you embrace and appreciate their diversity?  Did you know….? We actually learn much more from people who are different from us than from people who are like us. Also remember, being judgmental and allowing ourselves to be annoyed increases our stress!

Reducing Violence by Addressing Inappropriateness and Bullying

We all have a stake in identifying, intervening, and stopping bullying behavior in all its forms. Thus, we should all do our part to guide our youth in non-violent behavior and communication, as well as character education, citizenship and civility. When we witness these behaviors, we should call it out as inappropriate to send the message to all bystanders.

WHAT TO DO?   In addition to appreciating and embracing diversity, intervening to help another who is demonstrating red flags or helping an individual who is being mistreated is a critical factor in curtailing the violence epidemic.  Bystander Intervention is recognizing a potentially harmful situation or interaction and choosing to respond in a way that could positively influence the outcome.

Who Is A Bystander? Bystanders are “individuals who observe violence or witness the conditions that perpetuate violence. They are not directly involved but have the choice to intervene, speak up, or do something about it.” “They are someone who is present and thus potentially in position to discourage, prevent, or interrupt an incident.”

What Is Bystander Intervention? Bystander intervention is the act of feeling empowered and equipped with the knowledge and skills to effectively assist in the prevention of violence. Bystander intervention doesn’t have to jeopardize the safety of the bystander.  Bystander intervention and bystander education programs teach potential witnesses safe and positive ways that they can act to prevent or intervene when there is a risk for violence. This approach gives community members specific roles that they can use in preventing violence,  including naming and stopping situations that could lead to violence before it happens, stepping in during an incident, and speaking out against ideas and behaviors that support violence. It also gives individuals the skills to be an effective and supportive ally to survivors after violence has taken place.

Bystander intervention can be something as small as a young adult telling his/her friend that his/her  language is offensive or as great as a college student calling the police if s/he witnesses an act of violence from a dorm window. Regardless of the level of intervention, there are safe ways to help prevent violence.

Options for Addressing a Violent or Potentially Violent Situation

Most people do not realize that there are multiple options for addressing violent or potentially violent situations.  This is especially reassuring if we are feeling physically unsafe.  Take a look at the following list of possible options for dealing with situations that were adapted from the nationally recognized Mentors in Violence Prevention training program.5

1. Do Nothing
2. Direct Intervention
3. Indirect Intervention
4. Distraction
5. Follow Protocol (if any)
6. After the Fact – Next Day Conversation
7. Seek Guidance
8. Other Option:

Increase Confidence by Preparing Ahead

One of the barriers to effective intervention is when we don’t know what to say or do.  Thinking about our possible responses in advance can be very helpful.  Of course, we can’t predict every possible scenario, but we can build our self-efficacy by doing some preparation.

Doing Nothing – One of the biggest problems to date has been that many people simply “walk on by”. Doing nothing (option A above) is not recommended. Rationale you might hear is, “I mind my own business so I don’t end up getting in a confrontation.” Let’s think about that for a minute. If everyone just turned a blind-eye, then we would have even more injustice than we already have. Offenders who receive no feedback regarding their inappropriateness will likely continue the behavior.  We need to remember that situations that do not appear violent can be the precursor of a violent situation.

In some cases, it may be obvious when we need to either have a direct intervention (get involved with the situation) or an indirect intervention (get help). Are there situations where it may be best to get assistance before getting involved? Yes, of course, there will be situations that are dangerous and should be approached with extreme caution. However, if we fail to address these situations at all, we are contributing to the problem. We may not feel comfortable intervening, and that’s why the alternative options are so important.  For example, “distraction” is one of the best options available for many situations. There have been a number of cases in which an individual who wasn’t necessarily comfortable intervening was able to distract and stop the situation from escalating. Ignoring or avoiding intervention perpetuates violence. When adults witness kids saying mean things and say, “kids will be kids”, or fail to follow up with a bully, they are enabling violence and allowing it to escalate.

In many cases, we may choose more than one of the listed options.  We may intervene at the time and then we may also have a conversation the next day and/or seek guidance.  We may also choose “Other” as an option and hang around, as being present can help to prevent things from escalating at the time as well.

Think about what you would do in the following situations:

1. a) An individual is alone, sitting on a bench crying
2. b) One individual pushes another individual
3. c) A friend starts making a joke about another religion, race, or sexual orientation

Yes, it may be difficult to know what to say or do in these situations.  There are various appropriate responses. The important thing is to do something. Thinking about what you would say ahead of time will help you to act when a situation arises.

The Southern Poverty Law Center does an excellent job with sharing strategies for speaking up, complete with scenarios and sample responses.  They also have many other free resources that can be accessed via their website: www.tolerance.org

1. a) If someone is crying and it is not apparent why, asking if the person is ok would be very appropriate. We should also be aware of other indicators that may signal that someone is in need of assistance.
2. b) If you actually see physical violence occurring, your response will depend on a number of factors. If you feel safe enough, step in, or ask what is going on. If not, try distraction, get back up or refer the incident to someone who can step in. Of course, we don’t want to risk our lives in these situations, but if no one is willing to step in, again, the violence is enabled. Imagine the progress that would have been lost if Rosa Parks hadn’t taken the risk and gotten on that bus.
3. c) If someone makes an inappropriate joke, it is best to address it right away. Not saying anything is actually saying that there is no problem with it.  The Southern Poverty Law Center recommends using the following steps in responding:
   1. Interrupt
   2. Question
   3. Educate
   4. Echo

You could say something as simple as, “That really isn’t funny” or “Think about how you would feel if someone was saying something like that about you” to interrupt.  A question could be as basic as, “Why would you say something like that?” You could attempt to have an educational dialogue. Be thoughtful with the approach, as making someone feel stupid will probably not allow them to be open to change. Hopefully someone will “echo” you in support of what you are saying. You can support others by echoing.

If there is an inappropriate comment on social media, it is best to take some time to think before we respond.

Sometimes people respond with reactive or hostile aggression. Reactive aggression is behavior that often has the goal of harming another in response to a perceived injustice, insult, or wrongdoing.  As noted previously, harm can be carried out in physical or non-physical ways. We need to be aware of this in order to recognize it in others and to avoid responding in that way ourselves.

Again, as noted previously, doing something far outweighs doing nothing in most all cases.  Optimally, we want to engage in collegial communication and be a positive influence.  We have to remember, however, that not everyone is going to be receptive.