Thesis (Ph.D)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Psychology. Title from resource description page. Includes bibliographical references.

Victim precipitated homicide is a phenomenon generally credited to the seminal work of Marvin Wolfgang (1957, 1958, 1967). While a limited number of studies have been conducted supporting this concept, limited understanding exists of the event dynamics of homicidal transactions in general and victim precipitated homicides in particular. In this study, the presence of an audience and alcohol impairment are treated as catalysts that influence the dynamics of the homicide event. It is hypothesized that homicide events are more likely to take shape as victim precipitated transactions when audience members are present. It is further hypothesized that the victim’s consumption of alcohol serves as a moderator between the presence of an audience and victim precipitated homicide. These hypotheses were tested using a dataset of 473 homicides occurring in Dallas, Texas from 1988 to 1997. The author found support for the first hypothesis postulating that the presence of an audience increases the odds of a victim precipitated homicide, but found little support for alcohol as a moderating factor. Potential theoretical and policy implications and future research are discussed.

Talk of violent crime in South Africa abounds, with criminal violence as a topic of discussion on many social platforms - from the President‟s State of the Nation address to conversations between people on the street. This study aims to explore the discourses that South Africans use in their accounts of violent crime, what presentation of violent crime is constructed through the use of these discourses, and the effects of such constructions. Using Wetherell and Potter‟s (1992) approach to discourse analysis, the transcripts from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with fifteen participants were analysed to identify and examine the discourses that participants drew on to construct an account of violent crime. Seven central themes were identified in the transcripts. These pertained to the causes of violent crime, the effects of violent crime, prevention and deterrence, victims, responsibility, perpetrators and categorisation of „good‟ and „bad‟ criminals. In the study each of the themes is examined in turn to explore the discourses that are drawn on in the construction of each theme and the presentation of violent crime that is constructed through the use of these discourses. Analysis of the discourses shows that the construction of crime, criminals and victims is complex and that this is often done in such a way as to manage the threat of violent crime. It also shows that race „colours‟ the way we see, understand and construct violent crime. Yet this is not only about the identification of others as particular kinds of people but also about self-identifying, as people actively construct their own identity when constructing violent crime. The way in which we construct violent crime therefore has important implications for the way in which we experience others as well as ourselves. It also has important implications for the interventions that are used and proposed for managing violent crime. An understanding of these discourses and constructions of violent crime will allow us to more effectively evaluate the assumptions on which these interventions are based and thus improve the interventions themselves. / Thesis (M.Soc.Sci.)-Univesity of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2010.

Peer violence perpetration and victimization are the most common types of violence among youths (Swahn et al., 2008). This study determined the associations between peer violence attitudes and involvement in peer violence perpetration and peer violence victimization among boys and girls in high-risk urban community. Analyses were based on data from the 2004 Youth Violence Survey, administered to over 80% of public school students in grades 7, 9, 11, and 12 (N = 4131) in a high-risk urban community. Chi-square and logistic regression analyses were conducted to test the associations between attitudes and involvement in violent behaviors after controlling for demographic characteristics and potential confounders (e.g., child maltreatment, substance use, weapon carrying, and efficacy to avoid violence). Results show that among all youths, attitudes supporting boys hitting boys significantly increased the odds of peer violence perpetration (AOR: 1.48; 95% CI = 1.13, 1.95). However, stratified analyses for boys and girls show that attitudes supporting boys hitting boys increased the odds of peer violence perpetration for girls only (AOR: 1.57; 95% CI = 1.04, 2.37). The findings demonstrate associations between attitudes and actual involvement in violent behaviors, but they need to be further explored. Additional research is needed to determine how attitude modifications can be incorporated into youth violence prevention programs.

Graduate

Charles Nokan is an Ivorian poet, novelist and dramatist of the second generation of Francophone African writers. A militant writer, Nokan has constantly condemned the failures of the independent Ivory Coast and of those of other independent African nations with an emphasis on the increasing poverty of their peoples. Paradoxically, Nokan is the least known today by the Ivorian public, and his artistic talents have not been fully recognized in his homeland even if in Europe, especially France, his canon has been largely discussed in literary circles and newspapers.In writing this dissertation, I intend to arouse scholarly interest in Ivorian literature, to increase Nokan's readership and to satisfy potential international curiosity. Therefore, I have chosen to translate and annotate Nokan's Violent Etait leVent (1966) and to provide the translation with a critical introduction. The reasons for selecting this novel are twofold: first, it is the novel most representative of his literary canon. Second, Nokan's narrative structure in the novel is especially interesting: it sought to comply with the aesthetic of his own Baoule people. In the novel, the protagonist Kossia relates moments of his childhood in his village. Then, with the help of a friend, Djahah, Kossia goes to study in France. When he returns home, he teaches classes on the revolutionary history of the masses. But he has to fight against powerful neo-colonial forces. His struggle is an epic one, ending in death.This dissertation is divided into five parts. Part One deals with Nokan's life and place in African literature; it also provides the intellectual and political movement against colonialism in twentieth century Africa. Part Two focuses on the African values, customs, traditions and briefly comments on the political history of the Ivory Coast. Part Three is a discussion of the problems encountered and of the choices made during the translation process. Part Four deals with the English translation of Violent Etait le Vent. Finally, Part Five discusses Nokan's narrative technique and narrative content in the novel. The analyses show that Nokan imitates aspects of the African oral traditions and utilizes them to develop a new form of novel marked by his peculiar eccentricity of style. The narrative strategy is the first of its kind in African literature. / Department of English

This research deals with the topic of violent crime in urban Colombia. Although many references are made to the conflict between the State, guerrilla groups and paramilitary organisations in rural areas, and to the problem of drug-cartels and illegal-drug production, the main aim of the thesis is to show recent trends in violent crime and discuss citizen security strategies followed during the decade of the 1990s. Chapter 1 focuses on urban homicides. In Colombia, 40 percent of the 25,000 annual homicides are committed in the ten largest cities. The cities of Medellin, Bogota and Cali account for almost 30 percent of this total. Although the victims are mainly young men from the poorest socio-economic levels, homicides are not necessarily correlated to the areas where the poor live. The probability of getting involved in a homicide, either as a victim or as victimiser, is significantly higher in places where access to economic resources is greater. Chapter 2 analyses the problem of kidnappings. The chapter looks at recent progresses in Colombian anti-kidnapping legislation and focuses on the authors, the victims and the riskzones where most cases take place. Although these crimes affect mainly the rich and the middle class, kidnappers have recently started to target victims from all social backgrounds. This strategy creates fear among citizens and permits kidnappers to extort more fees from people who could be at risk of being kidnapped. Chapter 3 looks at the issue of perception and fear of crime. This question provides a better understanding of the concept of risk and the subjectivity of decision-making when facing insecurity. If citizen security strategies have had little impact during the last decade, it has been partly because of poor levels of co-operation and communication with the population. The consequence of this has been an increasing perception of insecurity and distrust among citizens. Chapter 4 assesses citizen security strategies followed during the administrations of Presidents Gaviria (1990-1994), Samper (1994-1998) and Pastrana (1998-2002). The reforms implemented since the adoption of a new Constitution in 1991 have had important impacts on security strategies as they have given more discretionary powers to civilian authorities, especially at the municipal level. Larger cities like Bogotá, Cali and Medellin, implemented a series of successful programmes that have reduced the levels of violent crime, notably homicides. Other crimes, like kidnappings, have not decreased since the government has lacked a coherent strategy to combine its peace negotiations with insurgent organisations with its legitimate right to fight violent crime.

Flera kandidatgener har föreslagits spela en roll i utvecklingen av antisociala beteenden i samband med miljöfaktorer. Syftet med den föreliggande studien var därmed att undersöka sambandet mellan genen Katekol-O-Metyltransferas (COMT) och våld; och om det fanns interaktioner mellan exponering för tidigare övergrepp och COMT i samband med senare våld. Data hämtades från en Svensk populationsbaserad studie baserad på 2500 20-24 åringar. Den aktuella studien fann att beroende på vilken variant av genen man besitter, kommer man att påverkas i olika grad av negativa miljöfaktorer såsom försummelse och sexuella övergrepp i samband med våld. / Several candidate genes have been suggested to play a role in the development of antisocial behavior in association with social and environmental factors. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to investigate the relationship between the gene Catechol-O-Methyltransferase (COMT) and violence; and to examine whether there were interactions between earlier abuse and COMT in the association of violence. Data were drawn from a Swedish population-based study including 2,500 20-24 year olds. The present study found that depending on which variant of the gene one possess, one will be affected to different degree of adverse environmental factors in association with violence.

Previous research concerning violent offending has been fragmented considering different elements of violent offending separately. The aim of this thesis is to consolidate the different areas of previous research into one cohesive model of assault offenders and offences. This model will consider the developmental, cognitive, behavioural and environmental constituents of assault offenders and offences in a temporal framework. Interviews were conducted with 35 male and 13 female offenders who had a conviction for assault. Grounded Theory analysis was used to categorise the data and construct a model of assault including developmental factors, the time preceding the offence, the offence and the time after the offence producing the Pathways Model of Assault (PMA). Initial construction of the PMA was conducted using 25 of the male participant interview transcripts. The PMA was then validated across gender through inclusion of the 13 female participant transcripts. The PMA was also subject to an inter-rater reliability test, which provided high consistency between the coding of two researchers using the final 10 male participant transcripts and 10 randomly chosen female participant transcripts. The PMA consisted of 10 stages where the individual differences of the participants could be mapped, thus providing “pathways” through the model. Five major pathways were found. Further exploration of the PMA through quantitative analyses provided validation of four of the pathways, with significant associations found between two of the offender types and two of the offence types. The offender types reported were under-controlled, representing persistent repeat violent offenders and over-controlled, representing onetime violent offenders. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 128-144). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.