This paper attempts to contribute to the understanding of individual violence by addressing the question of why some individuals are violent while others are not. Theories on aggression and research on and related to violent offenders are reviewed and critiqued. A theoretical framework involving (a) low self-esteem, (b) lack of social competencies, (c) exposure to violence, and (d) attitudes accepting of violence is posited to differentiate violent from nonviolent individuals. This theory is discussed in terms of existing research findings and a study designed to assess its validity is presented. Results obtained support the basic assertions of the theory. Self-esteem was found to be significantly correlated with undergraduates' attitudes towards violence. Likewise, factors of social competencies and exposure to violence were significantly correlated with self-esteem. Significant correlations were also obtained for self-reported violent behaviors and attitudes accepting of violence (positive correlation) and self-reported violent behaviors and self-esteem (negative correlation). While these findings are supportive of the differentiations posited, more work needs to be done to define and assess the above factors and discern their precise role regarding individual violence.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UMASS/oai:scholarworks.umass.edu:dissertations-4539 |
| Date | 01 January 1985 |
| Creators | THEISS, ANDREW JAMES |
| Publisher | ScholarWorks@UMass Amherst |
| Source Sets | University of Massachusetts, Amherst |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Source | Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest |
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