Adolescent Violence

Superior Essays
Violence is recognized as a major public health issue in America (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). The researchers, Ellickson and McGuigan (2000), conduct a study to identify early predictors of adolescent violence, and whether these predictors range by gender and across different forms and degrees of violence (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). The researchers identify seven predictors, including school bonds, family relationships, problem behaviors, exposure to deviant social influences, personalities, sociodemographics, and community characteristics (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). Correspondingly, the researchers claim that violence prevention programs for youths should include efforts to minimize poor academic performance and misbehavior in school, …show more content…
The study initially began with 6,527 racially diverse seventh grade students from 30 middle schools across California and Oregon (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). The school districts varied from suburban, urban, and rural (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). The study concluded with 4,390 student participants, who are now in the twelfth grade (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). As part of the study, students were required to fill out school administered surveys to assess themselves on where they ranked with regard to the seven predictors (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). The measure used to gauge the students consisted of characterizing the meanings of the terms relational and predatory violence. Each term was measured by associating it with definitive actions. For instance, relational violence is associated with hitting and making threats to family, friends, and acquaintances (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). Predatory violence is associated with using force to obtain money or possessions, gang fights, assault with the intent to harm or kill, and carrying a concealed weapon (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). It is notable that approximately one-third of the baseline sample is not included in the final statistics (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). To compensate for the missing surveys, the researchers created nonresponse weights to mitigate survey bias (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). However, this is …show more content…
Additionally, the researchers distinguished that girls were more susceptible to committing relational violence, while boys were more likely to engage in predatory violence (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). The factors that catalyze such behavior was accredited to low self esteem for the girls, and excessive relocation from schools for the boys (Ellickson & McGuigan, 2000). It is apparent that there are overlapping predictors of violent behavior between girls and boys. However, certain predictors range by gender, and further analysis needs to be conducted to identify what these factors are. Since a minimal amount of predictors specific to gender were determined, this aspect of the study is underemphasized. The data that support these claims is presented in tables throughout the article. Readers can easily reference back to these tables that correspond with the writing. The article is organized logically and dedicates sufficient amount of explanation to each of the processes conducted in the study, particularly the discussion section, which thoroughly restates the results from the study. The style throughout the article is systematic to reach a logical conclusion. The

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