Socialization to violence among the aged

This paper addresses the issue of the attitudinal consequences of fear and victimization by focusing on the degree to which people of different ages expresses approval of violent behavior. It is our argument that the experience of victimization socializes the individual to a view as constituting an effective strategy for resolving interpersonal conflict. Data from a national sample of the noninstitutionalized adult population of the United States support this argument, at least for respondents under 60. Older people are less likely to be victims of crime than younger persons, more likely to report fear of crime, and more disapproving of violent behavior. Older victims, however, do not evidence the same attitudinal response as younger victims. Younger victims are generally less disapproving of violence than youthful non-victims; the difference between older victims and non-victims, however, is in the opposite direction. This finding is explained as a specific instance of the lesser impact across the life cycle of period effects on attitudes.