What are the roots of violence? A troubled mind? The mean streets
of the inner city? No, says a major report by the American Psychological
Association, they are in the home. And there are things parents can do to
stop violence before it starts.
The greatest single predictor of violence is a personal history of
violence, claims the APA's Commission on Youth and Violence. A person's
level of aggression is remarkably consistent over the lifetime: those
aggressive as children are much more likely to be violent as adults.
Additionally, parents who themselves have a history of violence raise
children with a greater than normal chance of becoming violent.
Violence is not a natural state; it's learned by the young in
observing parents and peers. Nor is it the inevitable result of anger or
impulse. Violent actions by parents and siblings can exacerbate a child's
already violent nature, creating a "trajectory toward violence." Physical
punishment may produce obedience in the short term, but it teaches
children that problems are best solved through aggressive or violent
means.
Societal influences help foment violent behavior. The images that
populate mass media actually have the longest-lasting impact of all
contributors to violence. Prolonged exposure to violent images increases
the fear of becoming a victim, desensitizes violence, and heightens the
viewer's appetite for similarly engaging in violence.
But family is the mediating variable. Children with strong family
bonds are at lower risk for becoming violent than children from less
cohesive families, even when they have demonstrated a violent
nature.
So if violence begins at home, then so should prevention. Parents,
advises the commission, should monitor and control their children's use
of violent entertainment--even if it means switching off the television.
Violent parents need to learn better ways to interact with their children
and to get help fast if children exhibit aggressive behavior. They too
need to learn to deal with anger and frustration in less aggressive
ways.
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