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Date: November 25, 2024 Mon
Time: 8:24 pm
Time: 8:24 pm
Results for street violence
1 results foundAuthor: Trajtenberg, Nico Title: Towards a more Effective Violence Prevention Policy in Uruguay Summary: This report presents the results of the Montevideo Project on the Social Development of Children and Youths (m-proso) study, a large representative school-based survey of young people on deviance and violence conducted in Montevideo. The study was funded by the UBS Optimus Foundation and the data was collected by the University of Cambridge and Universidad de la Republica del Uruguay in coordination with the directorial council of the Administracion Nacional de Educacion Publica (ANEP). The main empirical goal of this study was to describe levels of violent victimization and violent behaviour among adolescents in Montevideo. It also aimed to identify major individual, family, school and life-style risk factors associated with victimization and perpetration that can inform the development of a national policy for the prevention of youth violence. To achieve this goal a large representative survey of over 2202 adolescents in grade 9 (i.e. approximately age 15) from public and private high schools was conducted in 2013. The study results can be divided in two main areas: Victimization: - 25% of adolescents have been victims of one of the three types of violence in the past year. Robbery victimizations are most frequent, followed by assault and sexual assault. Most victimizations occur in public space or at school, and are committed by peers of the same age. Only about one out of ten incidents are reported to the police. - The risk of victimization was associated with a number of lifestyle characteristics. Adolescents who go out frequently, consume psychoactive substances, and who engage in delinquent activities are at a greater risk of violent victimization. Also, adolescents with a disability were at a higher risk of victimization, while socio-demographic characteristics were not found to be predictive of victimization. - 28% of adolescents reported experiences of corporal punishment by their parents. Socio-demographic characteristics did not predict the likelihood of corporal punishment. However, the likelihood of corporal punishment was more likely if there was more parental conflict. The experience of corporal punishment was associated with more depressive symptoms. - 20% of adolescents experienced bullying victimization at least once per month. Bullying victims differed from non-victims in several ways: they were more likely to have a poor relationship with classmates and more likely to have academic difficulties. At home they were more likely to experience erratic discipline and parental conflict. Also, adolescents with a disability were found to be more likely to be victimized. - The results of the present study supported findings from international research that different types of victimization tend to be correlated. For example, victims of corporal punishment by their parents were significantly more likely to also experience bullying and violent victimization. Perpetration - 17% of adolescents admitted to having committed at least one act of violence in the past year. 19% of adolescents reported to be involved in a group that threatens, robs or assaults other people. And 13% of adolescents reported that they bullied other adolescents at least once per month. - Different types of violence are strongly correlated in that, for example, adolescents who verbally bully others also tend to be involved in physical fights or robberies committed within a group of other adolescents. Male adolescents are overrepresented for all types of direct aggression, but their predominance is larger for aggression that entails physical force, is more serious, and committed in groups. - Involvement in violence is part of a wider syndrome of adolescent problem behaviours: Violent adolescents are much more likely to also be involvement in non-violent delinquent acts including theft in school, at home or in shops, vandalism and burglary, or drug dealing. They are also more likely to run away from home and to play truant at school. Finally, adolescents involved in violence are much more likely to use alcohol, cannabis, or hard drugs. - Adolescents with a higher involvement in violent acts differed in their personality characteristics from other youth. They were more riskseeking, impulsive, self-centred and short-sighted than non-violent youth; they were more likely to internalize delinquent norms and to reject conventional moral principles; they had lower conflict resolution skills in that they were more likely to react with anger and less likely to understand diferent sides of an argument; and they tend to believe that they are stronger and better fighters than others. - Adolescents involved in physical violence and bullying also differ on school-related characteristics: They were significantly more likely to have been retained at school, to play truant, to have a poor relationship to the teacher and to have a low commitment to do well at school. They were also less likely to accept the authority of teachers and directors. - More violent adolescents tend to live in families where parents were less likely to be involved in joint activities with the young person, that they were less able to efectively supervise the activities of their child, and that they were more likely to use physical punishment as a disciplining strategy. - Finally, aggressive adolescents tend to spend a lot more time playing violent computer games, they are out on the streets more often during night-time and weekends, and they spend this unsupervised time more often in the company of delinquent peers. Finally, based on the aforementioned results and following the WHO public health framework of violence prevention this report provides recommendations on five areas of intervention: enhance parenting support; improve school climate and behaviour management in schools; improve the legitimacy of the police; reduce early access to psychoactive substances and weapons; and reducing street violence and robbery. Details: Cambridge, UK: University of Cambridge, Institute of Criminology, Violence Research Centre, 2015. 162p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 13, 2016 at: http://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/meuruguay/uruguayeng Year: 2015 Country: Uruguay URL: http://www.vrc.crim.cam.ac.uk/vrcresearch/meuruguay/uruguayeng Shelf Number: 145077 Keywords: Juvenile OffendersRobberyStreet ViolenceVictimizationViolenceViolence PreventionViolent CrimeYouth Violence |