Violence Toward Youth: A New Perspective

VioLit summary: OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study by Bybee was to present the current information on violence toward youth and advocate new perspectives which come from a multidimensional, interdisciplinary perspective. METHODOLOGY: A non-experimental, exploratory literature review was employed to describe the research on violence toward youth. FINDINGS/DISCUSSION: It was reported that 80-90% of parents and 36% of secondary schools use some form of physical punishment for children. There have also been support for eliminating child abuse. This amibivalence has been rooted in the difficulty in distinguishing abuse from punishment. The author then reviewed findings on violence toward youth in the areas of definitions and etiologies, incidence and prevalence, causes, consequences, and prevention and treatment. Definitions have differed based on what professional community is discussing the problem. Medical definitions center on physical effects; social defintions have focused on intention of the adult and broadens the definition of abuse, and the legal definitions have been the most broad with the inclusion of emotional abuse as well as neglect. These different definitions provide difficulties to those who want to compare results among studies. Reports of incidence have been inconsistent and range from 67,000 actual reported cases to over 1.4 million children who are at risk of physical abuse. These inconsistencies stem from differences in methodology, changes in reporting behavior over time, and possible changes in the true rates. Most work in causes has tried to uncover singular explanations, though a psychosocial ecological approach has been the most promising, the author reported. The goal, it was argued, was to make a more comprehensive theoretical integration of the work from the range of disciplines that are doing research. Psychoanalytic and psychological explanations have focused on personality characteristics such as difficulties with dependency needs and emotional deprivation as well as trauma during childhood, and cognitive disabilities or deficiencies. Social explanations have focused on such factors as SES, job and marital satisfaction, isolation, and family interaction patterns. Cultural explanations have argued that our cultural background condoning physical punishment and conflicting perceptions of youth. The consequences of abuse were reported to include physical injury including broken bones and even neurological trauma. Psychological damage was also reported as a consequence to include a wide array of developmental problems--cognitive, personality, social, and so forth. The cycle of violence from abused child to their children was also offered as a possible consequence of child abuse. Prevention and intervention research was presented in both primary and secondary intervention. Primary prevention recommendations have included changes in poverty and cultural values, awareness campaigns, and education for parenthood. Secondary preventions recommendations have included attempts to identify youth at risk, "high risk parents," and psychological intervention and treatment. AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS: The author believed that a multidisciplinary approach to child abuse was needed to further understand the complexity of the phenomenon of abuse. New perspectives of this interdisciplinary sort will be necessary, it was argued, both in evaluation of past research and in development of networks of all fields and the public in order to make a solid, cooperative effort to battle the problem of child abuse. EVALUATION: This study presents what was generally known at the time, in 1979, about child abuse. The study of child abuse was still relatively new, and this article summarized what could be found. The argument for an interdisplinary approach to understanding child abuse is still valid. Over a decade has passed, and still communication between disciplines is often lacking. Cooperative efforts in understanding child abuse and developing strategies to cope and, ideally, eliminate it are the best way to get a full picture of the problem. (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 - Literature Review KW - Juvenile Victim KW - Child Victim KW - School Punishment KW - Physical Punishment KW - Corporal Punishment KW - School Discipline KW - Parental Discipline KW - Child Abuse Prevention KW - Child Abuse Causes KW - Child Physical Abuse Prevention KW - Child Physical Abuse Causes KW - Domestic Violence Causes KW - Domestic Violence Prevention KW - Prevention Recommendations Language: en