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School Attachment and Violent Attitudes Preventing Future Violent Behavior Among Youth
Jorge J Varela1, Marc A Zimmerman2, Allison M Ryan2
1Universidad del Desarrollo, Santiago, Chile.
Journal of Interpersonal Violence
|September 22, 2018
Summary
School attachment influences adolescent violent behavior by shaping violent attitudes over time. This study highlights schools
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Criminology
- Sociology
Background:
- Social information theories suggest cognitive mechanisms influence lifelong violent behavior.
- Limited research explores how school factors contribute to these mechanisms and later-life violence.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine the longitudinal relationship between school attachment, violent attitudes, and violent behavior in urban adolescents.
- To assess if violent attitudes mediate the link between school attachment and subsequent violent behavior.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study utilizing structural equation modeling.
- Sample of 579 urban adolescents from the U.S. Midwest.
- Controlled for gender and race in the analysis.
Main Results:
- School attachment was found to be indirectly related to violent behavior over time.
- Violent attitudes significantly mediated the relationship between school attachment and violent behavior.
- The findings underscore the role of cognitive mechanisms in mediating behavioral outcomes.
Conclusions:
- Interventions within the school context can potentially mitigate violent behavior.
- Strengthening school attachment may reduce the development of violent attitudes.
- Schools can serve as a critical environment for preventing future violence.
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