Youth Aggression And Abusive Behavior: What Are Some Of The Factors?

Nearly 30 percent of 15,686 public school students surveyed reported occasional to frequent involvement in bullying, either as a bully or a victim, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers have found that the behavior is damaging both to perpetrators and victims. In a study of sixth- to ninth-grade boys whom were classified as bullies, researchers at the anti-crime organization Fight Crime: Invest in Kids found that by the age of 24 nearly 60 percent had been convicted of at least one crime. The Rand Corporation has also linked bullying to more serious violent behavior, as well as to elevated levels of anxiety and depression among victims.

Given the high incidence and widespread media coverage of bullying in recent years, researchers have devoted significant effort to uncovering the factors that lead children and teens to act aggressively and abusively. Recently, Time magazine published an article about the effectiveness of encouraging empathy at reducing bullying and other violent acts. The ability to consider how another person is feeling or reacting to a condition or situation is crucial to promoting healthy societal relationships. Children who have suffered neglect or trauma tend not to fully develop this skill and may behave more violently. Moreover, children who witness violent or abrasive interactions between their families or are subjected to spanking and other physical punishments are more susceptible to aggression.

In another study, researchers focused more on the bystander than the bully or the victim, reported the website Sciencedaily.com. The study, conducted by the University College London and initially published in the Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, implemented a program in which empathy and power dynamics were emphasized and discussed with elementary school children and teachers daily for a period of three years. These schools were compared with schools where no intervention efforts were taken and in ones where children with behavioral problems received psychiatric counseling. Students were taught to attempt to understand what each other were experiencing rather than reacting to it, thereby preventing them from accepting when classmates acted aggressively toward one another. Out of the three types of schools studied, those employing this program recorded the lowest incidence of bullying.

The findings of these and other studies suggest that focusing on how the members of a community—parents, students, teachers, and school administrators—interact with one another may be just as, or more, important than targeting students individually to preventing bullying and its injurious consequences in Orange and other counties throughout the nation, explains a lawyer.

By: Larry Drexel

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Larry Drexel is a Public Relations manager. To obtain free, informative books or articles he suggests visiting Orange County injury lawyer.