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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The goal of this study by Justice et al. was to examine the triad of behaviors of enuresis, fire-setting and cruelty to animals, and to evaluate how sufficient a predictive model for adult violence this triad represents.
METHODOLOGY:
The authors first conducted a review of the literature in the field of prediction of violence in order to determine which behaviors had already been identified as possible early signs of violence. 1,500 references were examined from the years 1950 to 1971, covering the fields of psychiatry, psychology, sociology, medicine, criminology, behavioral science and law. From these, 188 references were found in relation to predictors of violence, and a content analysis was performed to ascertain the frequency with which particular symptoms or behaviors were mentioned. The authors then employed a quasi-experimental cross-sectional design, with a sample, collected in an unreported fashion, of 779 people in 25 professions having contact with troubled youth. Each was interviewed using open-ended questions about their thoughts on predictive behaviors of violence. The final sources of information were the case studies of 1,055 schoolchildren who had been evaluated between 1955 and 1958 for behavioral or learning difficulties in the classroom. Of this initial number of students, 57 were found for the current study in the files of the Texas Department of Correction, and 8 had been convicted of violent offenses. These 8 individuals were interviewed to examine the role of early signs of violent behavior. Analysis involved examination of prevalence rates and frequencies.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
By combining information gathered from the literature review, the interviews and the case studies of the eight violent offenders, the authors found four early indicators of subsequent violent behavior. Appearing in all the case histories and being most frequently cited as a predictor of violence, fighting was thought to be an important early-warning sign. Temper tantrums, school difficulties and truancy, and inability to relate to and get along with others were also found to be of some import in this study. Enuresis, or bed-wetting, was ranked higher than these four behaviors only in the frequency of citations in the literature, although it was not frequently mentioned in the interviews or in the case studies. Cruelty to animals and fire-setting were not frequently cited in the literature and the interviews, and only cruelty was found to be a fairly prevalent symptom in the case histories. The authors suggested that, whilst each of the four behaviors--fighting, temper tantrums, school difficulties and truancy, and inability to relate to others--was often a common occurrence in children, the existence of all these symptoms at the one time, at inappropriate ages or in excessive amounts, could be considered as indicative of a strong possibility of violence in later life. According to the authors, these early-warning signs do not indicate certainty of later violence; rather, they act as alerts, whose presence should lead to follow-up action and intervention. The authors concluded that the triad of predictors--enuresis, fire-setting and cruelty to animals--were not proven incorrect, but were found to have more limited utility and breadth in predicting violence than did the four symptoms discovered in this study.
EVALUATION:
The authors present an interesting examination of the predictors of violent behavior. However, no discussion is provided about the measures employed, the questions in the interviews of the 779 subjects, how these subjects were chosen, from where the case histories were taken, the justification for the methodology and the interviews of the eight violent offenders. No discussion is offered about the implications of the findings, and the general discussion and conclusions seem somewhat brief. It seems that a more thorough presentation of the methodology and of the findings would have added much depth to this study. (CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
KW - Texas
KW - Childhood Predictors
KW - Childhood Risk Factors
KW - Child Behavior
KW - Enuresis
KW - Firesetting Effects
KW - Child Firesetter
KW - Child Violence
KW - Child Problem Behavior
KW - Animal Abuse-Violence Link
KW - Juvenile Behavior
KW - Juvenile Firesetter
KW - Juvenile Problem Behavior
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Violence Predictors
KW - Violence Causes
KW - Violence Risk Factors
KW - Adult Offender
KW - Adult Violence
KW - Life Course
KW - Child Development
KW - Juvenile Development
KW - Youth Development
Language: en |