When was the last time you were violent? Why? What was the result?

1. When was the last time you were violent? • Why? • What was the result?

2. Violence

3. What is it? • Violence: the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maladaptive development, or deprivation. • Examples of violence: suicide, terrorism, child abuse, rape, and bullying.

4. Violence…..why? Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

5. Social Learning Theory and Violence Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

6. Maybe its Social Learning Theory? • Bandura (1977) suggests that people learn to behave violently (including violent attitudes and norms) through direct experiences and through observing models. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

7. Social learning theory focuses on observational learning and modeling. • The theory proposes that children learn to be violent due to exposure to violent models and because violent behavior is rewarded. • The support for this proposition comes from the results of the classic Bobo doll experiment (Bandura et al., 1961) showing that children who watched an aggressive model being rewarded for aggression were likely to imitate the aggression later. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

8. Social learning theory (SLT) has been applied to explain the development of aggression and intergenerational transmission of violence through socialization. • Children are influenced by socialization factors such as the family, the immediate environment (including peers), and the media. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

9. Social learning can be direct via instructions or indirect (e.g. role models and no direct instructions). • Children who grow up in violent families and neighborhoods where they watch models use violence and obtain benefits from it (e.g. power) may be likely to see violence as a legitimate means to get what they want or exert power over other people. • They may even justify the use of violence. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

10. Qualitative study on girlfriend abuse among violent marginal male youth in CanadaTotten (2003) Aim: • To explore how young girlfriend abusers used violence to construct their masculinity. • The study focused on how families and peer groups contributed to learning and identification with violent norms as part of establishing a masculine gender role. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

11. Qualitative study on girlfriend abuse among violent marginal male youth in CanadaTotten (2003) Procedure: • A purposive sample of 30 abusive adolescent males from a large city in Canada participated in the study. • They all had pro-abusive beliefs, masculine ideals, and admitted to using violence towards their girlfriends. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

12. Qualitative study on girlfriend abuse among violent marginal male youth in CanadaTotten (2003) • The mean age of the boys was 15.6 years, six belonged to an ethnic minority and the rest were white. • Many were gang members and most had dropped out of school early. • The researchers used semi-structured interviews to collect data. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

13. Qualitative study on girlfriend abuse among violent marginal male youth in CanadaTotten (2003) Results: • The adolescents’ background had similar features. • They had all been exposed to violent behavior in the family and they saw this as justified and even necessary. • The fathers all had rigid authoritarian beliefs (e.g. rigid gender roles). • The fathers all used violence to control family members or to defend their honor. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

14. Qualitative study on girlfriend abuse among violent marginal male youth in CanadaTotten (2003) • Out of 30 adolescents, 21 had adopted violent behavior. • They were all abusive and used physical and sexual violence for the same reasons as the fathers. • The boys said that they had the right to use violence if girlfriends did not behave. • In some cases the fathers had given them instructions on how to abuse women in particular situations. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

15. Qualitative study on girlfriend abuse among violent marginal male youth in CanadaTotten (2003) Evaluation: • The study used a small and purposive sample so it is not possible to generalize. • The qualitative data gave an in-depth insight into how the violent adolescents experienced the use of violence themselves. • This could be used as a starting point to design interventions to prevent violence, such as by providing positive role models (mentoring) as well as education and job opportunities. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

16. SLT and Violence Strengths of SLT in relation to violent behavior Limitations of SLT in relation to violent behavior SLT cannot explain how structural factors such as poverty contribute to establishing the social norms of male superiority. The theory does not take individual factors such as intelligence and personality into account. Some people may be more prone to violence (e.g. due to brain damage as a result of childhood abuse). • Social norms of violence can be transmitted from parents to children as predicted by SLT. • SLT can also explain that adolescents use violence in marginalized social peer groups because it pays off in the form of status (reinforcement). Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

17. Subculture of violence theory(Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967) • According to the theory violent behavior results from a commitment to sub cultural norms and values. • Individual violent values lead to violent behavior because sub cultural values act as a mechanism of social control among group members. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

18. Subculture of violence theory(Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967) • Violence is used as a means to defend honor and maintain status (e.g. within the group, in the family, or in relation to other groups). • If members of subcultures perceive threats to reputation or honor they will defend their honor with violence if necessary, even if it threatens their life. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

19. Subculture of violence theory(Wolfgang and Ferracuti, 1967) • The theory was developed based on work in an inner-city African-American neighborhood in Philadelphia. • It was suggested that the subculture of violence phenomenon was a lower-class masculine phenomenon related to race. • This is now contested. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

20. So is it true?Subculture of violence influences aggressive behaviorBerburg and Thorlindsson (2005) Aim • This was a large-scale survey of adolescent boys and girls at public schools in Iceland. • The research was carried out to investigate whether pro-violent values influenced group conduct norms as predicted by the subculture of violence theory. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

21. Subculture of violence influences aggressive behaviorBerburg and Thorlindsson (2005) Procedure: • Data was collected in a large-scale survey in Iceland with adolescent boys and girls in 49 public schools. • Participants were between 15 and 16 years old. • The sample was a racially homogenous group. • Participants answered questions on how often they engaged in various threatening and physically violent acts (e.g.fighting, kicking, punching). Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

22. Subculture of violence influences aggressive behaviorBerburg and Thorlindsson (2005) Results: • Results showed a significant impact of conduct norms on aggressive behavior. • The most violent students said they conformed to group conduct norms. • Boys were more likely to behave aggressively than girls. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

23. Subculture of violence influences aggressive behaviorBerburg and Thorlindsson (2005) The conclusion was that group adherence to values and norms encourage aggressive behavior through: • internalization of values encouraging violence • social control processes ensure adherence to conduct norms (i.e. conformity). Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

24. Subculture of violence influences aggressive behaviorBerburg and Thorlindsson (2005) Evaluation: • The survey was based on a large sample of adolescents from Iceland so the findings could be generalized to similar age groups in Iceland. • An equal number of boys and girls participated so there was no gender bias. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

25. Subculture of violence influences aggressive behaviorBerburg and Thorlindsson (2005) • The data was collected through self-reports so there may be a bias. • People do not always tell the truth, especially in a socially sensitive study like this one. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

26. Evaluation of the theory of subculture of violence • The theory can explain how violence may be used to establish and maintain power within a social group (i.e. to establish social hierarchies). • Dominance and power could also be one explanation of school bullying (e.g. Gest et al., 2003, found that bullies are seen as popular and “cool”). Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence

27. Could biological factors cause violence? • Testosterone and violence • Testosterone has been linked to aggression and dominance behavior because castration of a male usually has a pacifying effect on aggressive behavior in males. Evaluate sociocultural explanations of the origins of violence