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Teen Violence Research Paper

Sherita Dandridge

Na GEN499: General Education Capstone (GSV1517C)

Instructor: Leslie Ruffme

May 12, 2015

Teen Violence Research Paper

Teen violence is a major dilemma in the society today. The teenagers start exhibiting their violent behaviors with their family members and peers and later extend to their neighbors and communities. What the youth see on the television the Internet, through video games and music videos reinforce their negative behaviors. They try to practice what they see in the videos and hear the music. At times, when the children experience corporal punishment, verbal, sexual or physical abuse, or witness such behaviors in the home, they are likely to end up in teen violence. Teen violence has a lot of impact on the youths of today, leading to destructive behaviors. Many teenagers face depression and end up in alcohol and substance abuse, due to violence. When under the influence of these drugs, the youth gets violent and start engaging in dangerous acts of violence. Some carry guns and knives to school, hence posting significant dangers to their peers. They join gangs and terror groups, which are a great concern to today’s society. There are different causes and forms of teenage violence. Similarly, various programs help parents and guardians to prevent and reduce teen violence.

The violent patterns among the teenagers can augment brutality and frequency. There are different types of teen violence. The primary form of teen violence is physical violence. The teenagers practice physical violence, such as hitting or terrorizing, to other teens, themselves, pets, family members and adults. The primary aim of physical violence is to cause physical pain and harm. Dating violence involves sexual, emotional, verbal and physical violence among teenagers who are in a romantic relationship, explains O'Keeffe, Brockopp, & Chew, (1986). Either the boy or the girl becomes violent to their partners. They start physical fighting, severe teasing, striking, bullying, and rape. One or both parties become violent to the other and at times ends up in the death of one of them. Another form of teen violence is when the teenagers practice predatory violence. It happens if the teenager is in a group of peers. Predatory violence occurs when the teenagers form groups and gangs. They practice gang- oriented crimes such as muggings, robbery with violence, murder, and kidnapping. In most cases, these youths have problems of anti- social behaviors. They become withdrawn from family and friends and lose interest in the things they once liked. They join these gangs so as to feel that they belong.

The teenagers can also engage in situational violence. It is the form of violence that only happens when they feel stressed. The violent youth only acts when they are in distress. Different issues cause the situational stress. Some of these issues include medical conditions, poverty, social problems at home and in school, drug use and poverty. They could also behave violently when they are in short of something they need such as money or drugs. Relational violence is another form of teen violence where the violent teenagers lash out due to issues stressing their relationships, as mentioned by Paludi, (2011). The relationships could be with friends, family or classmates. For instance, if the parents at the home fight or abuse each other, the teenager will also practice violence. Again, whenever they argue or disagree with their friends, rebellion with the authority and feel uncomfortable with a particular relationship and get stressed, they become violent. Teenagers exhibit many other forms of violence towards the community where they live.

Sometimes the community does not regard some acts of violence as serious teen violence works. For this reason, it becomes difficult to pinpoint the causes of teen violence. Several theories explain why the teenagers become violent. According to Paludi, (2011), the teenagers tend to copy what they see or hear. They also get violent if they experienced or witnessed violence in their childhood. Abuse in the home is one of the factors that increase the chances of teen violence. If they are exposed to violence, chances are that they will be violent in their teenage and young adult lives. They experience emotional and cognitive issues, which they carry on to teenage. Social media is another major cause of teen violence. Some television shows, video games, and music files are aggressive and affect the youth. These social media contents affect their learning. Since a teenager might not have the ability to differentiate between fantasy and reality, it may lead to their violent behaviors. The teens end up misled by the video games that they play for entertainment. Instead of educating the youth, some of the contents teach aggression.

Youth oppositional defiant disorder leads to defiance, hostility and aggression. The disorder has some symptoms that persist if the teenager does not get the right diagnosis. If a teenager has underlying health issues, they are very likely to exercise violence. However, if health caregivers discover these conditions in time and maintain them, then they decrease the chances of the symptoms occurring among the youth through pro- social behavior skills building. Alcoholism and drug abuse also affects the social practices of the teenagers and is one of the causes of aggression and violence, (Paludi, 2011). The causes of teen violence vary depending on the type of violence that a particular teenager practices.

The community supports various ways through which parents and guardians help the youth reduce teen violence. One of the tips is talking about how they could reduce and eventually eliminate teen violence. Parents talk to their teenagers about the ways of solving arguments without fighting, weapons or violence. The parents could also team up and involve the entire community in preventing teen violence. The teenagers need to feel that they can trust their parents of an adult family member. McCarthy, & Hutz, (2006) adds that it helps them in taking over a stressful situation hence reducing any chances of violence. The parents should talk to their teenagers in case they suspect a problem. They should create an environment of free and trusted dialog.

Even though most teenagers might not allow it, parents need to monitor the media, especially music and violent television programs. If violent scenes come on televisions, parents should explain to the teens what is wrong about it. Otherwise, the teenager will think it is fine. The adult family members, especially parents and guardians should be role models in solving issues in nonviolent ways. It is not advisable to hit the teen; instead they should have none- physically- violent solutions to solving problems. If they cannot control their anger, they should ask for some time from the teenager instead of hitting them. It is useful to reason with the youth while helping them solve a problem because they learn the proper ways to an effective problem- solving. Do not threaten the teen using guns or violence, warns McCarthy, & Hutz, (2006). Since most youths act violently out of anger, it is good to help them manage it.

While at home or in school, the teenagers exhibit warning signs and typical changes that show that they could be disturbed. When they change their behavior, it could be a healthy sign of teenage behaviors, such as wearing attention- seeking clothes, dyeing their hair, or changing fashions, (Mink, Moore, Johnson, Probst, & Martin, A. (2005). However, if it turns to tattoos, self-harm and cutting of the skin, an adult should intervene and try to understand the teenager’s problems. Another warning sign is increased rebellion and arguments. Such youths tend to skip school, escalate arguments and involve themselves in violence. In diverse cases, the youths regularly have brushes with the law.

Mood swings could be a characteristic of teenage, mentions Aitken, (2001). However, it gets as bad as a change in personality, failing in school grades, anxiety and sleeping problems, and it could lead to depression and later to aggression. At one point in time, every teenager tests alcohol, smokes a cigarette, and a few others try bhang. However, if these habits become frequent and habitual, coupled with problems at home and in school, then the parent has reasons to worry. Another warning sign occurs when the teenager seems to get more influence from friends than parents, especially in negative behaviors. Such a teenager finds it hard to comply with rules like they used to before. They avoid the outcome of their dangerous actions and start lying a lot. They also prefer spending more time alone than enjoying the company of their parents while at home. The parents need to seek professional assistant early enough so as to help the teenagers stop their violent actions after noticing the negative behavior.

References

Aitken, S. C. (2001). Schoolyard shootings: Racism, sexism, and moral panics over teen violence. Antipode, 33(4), 593-600.

O'Keeffe, N. K., Brockopp, K., & Chew, E. (1986). Teen dating violence. Social Work, 31(6), 465-468.

Top of Form

McCarthy, S. N., & Hutz, C. S. (2006). Preventing teen violence: A guide for parents and professionals. Westport (Conn.: Praeger.

Mink, M. D., Moore, C. G., Johnson, A., Probst, J. C., & Martin, A. (2005). Violence and rural teens: Teen violence, drug use, and school-based prevention services in rural America. Rockville, MD: South Carolina Rural Health Research.

Bibliography

Aitken, S. C. (2001). Schoolyard shootings: Racism, sexism, and moral panics over teen violence. Antipode, 33(4), 593-600.

Aitken, (2001) explains about teen violence by describing a case study of a moral panic in the United States of America. The work is important because it gives an empirical evidence of the effects of teen violence. The author was working a few miles away from the Santana High School. The news was all over the media on global and national basis. One of the teenage students, Charles Williams, opened fire at the school. He killed two students and injured thirteen people. Williams terrorized the school for eight minutes, firing randomly inside a bathroom in the school. He loaded his gun in a smile according to the witnesses. A similar situation happened at Granite Hills High School when Jason Hoffman opened fire shooting students and teachers until an officer in charge of the school fired him. The article will help developing my research paper as it explains real- life cases of teenage violence against adults and peers.

O'Keeffe, N. K., Brockopp, K., & Chew, E. (1986). Teen dating violence. Social Work, 31(6), 465-468.

O'Keeffe, Brockopp, & Chew, E. (1986)’s work is a significant contribution to my research paper. It explains about teen dating violence. It is a type of violence exercised by two teenagers who are dating. One of the partners becomes violent towards the other. In retaliation, the partner fights back. The relationship becomes abusive with time and might lead to death. The journal explains that teen dating violence is a social issue that mostly goes unreported. Teenage couples hide the social issues, and most parents do not realize it until it gets violent. The journal is a summary of the findings of a study of two hundred and fifty- six students from high schools in California’s Sacrameno. According to the results of the survey, thirty- five percent of the students in these schools experienced different forms of teen relationship abuse. The study also measured the severity of the damage. Twelve percent of the students had marks and scars from the abuse.

McCarthy, S. N., & Hutz, C. S. (2006). Preventing teen violence: A guide for parents and professionals. Westport (Conn.: Praeger.

According to McCarthy, & Hutz, (2006), parents are the most important people when it comes to preventing violence amongst their teenagers. They should practice proactive parenting. The book is relevant to the topic. It helped in coming up with the ways through which the youths can receive help from their parents and adult relatives. The book is simplified and discusses points in a concise manner, making it easy to understand the topic. One of the recommendations that the authors give to parents includes talking to their children about violence. The child grows up knowing that violence is a vice and that they should abstain from it. The authors also explain parents should set standards of behavior that their children and teenagers should follow and that the teenagers should also engage in setting the standards. Parents should uphold positive role model by exercising peaceful resolution, not to threaten the youth and limit the children against violent media.

Mink, M. D., Moore, C. G., Johnson, A., Probst, J. C., & Martin, A. (2005). Violence and rural teens: Teen violence, drug use, and school-based prevention services in rural America. Rockville, MD: South Carolina Rural Health Research.

Mink, Moore, Johnson, Probst, and Martin, (2005) conducted a research that explored the frequency of exposure to violence among rural and minority teens.It compared the availability of mental health facilities in schools in the rural and urban schools. The findings of the study showed no evidence to support the postulation that the youth in the rural areas is not prone to violence. The children living in the rural areas are at a higher risk of using alcohol and drugs than those in the urban schools. The research work is important to my research paper because it compares teenage violence between rural and urban schools. Exposure to teen violence varies by gender among the youths from rural schools. The findings of the study also indicate that the teenagers in rural areas can only assess health care services a few hours daily. Rural schools had fewer policies against teen violence than those in the urban areas.

Paludi, M. A. (2011). The psychology of teen violence and victimization. Santa Barbara, Calif: Praeger.

Paludi, (2011) in his book explains cultural and developmental issues that affect teen violence. The book has different chapters dedicated to explaining teen violence. Teen violence is any act that causes harm, threat or pain among the teenagers. The perpetrators are teenagers, but the victims can be teenagers, children or even adults. Teen violence affects more youths in schools than at home. The book also gives a developmental perspective of how teen violence emerges to adulthood. The author in the third chapter explains how social media affects teen violence. It implies that social media is a primary cause of violence among the teenagers and how parents can help their teens. The book also gives an explanation of cases in school yards and teen bullying. The book is instrumental in the research topic as it explains teen violence that occurs in the home especially when the teenagers rebel against their parents and elders.