Adolescent Violence A View From the Street - 1998

U.S. Department of Justice DE PA NT OF J ME US RT CE TI National Institute of Justice IJ J O F OJJ D P B RO J US T I C E P National Institute of Justice R Jeremy Travis, Director e s e a r c h P r e v i e w January 1998 Adolescent Violence: A View From the Street Summary of a Presentation by Jeffrey Fagan, Ph.D., Center for Violence Research and Prevention Typically, studies on violence have focused on propensity, that is, on who is or is not likely to become violent. But propensity models do not account for the transactional, contingent nature of violence or for within-person variability over time or place. Further, they cannot explain the occurrence or nonoccurrence of a violent event—that mixture of motivation, context, and facilitation that channels arousal or other actions into actual violence or the failure of an event to escalate to violence despite the presence of the dynamic factors that would make it likely. Researchers at Columbia University’s Center for Violence Research and Prevention are conducting a qualitative, multistage study on adolescent violence that draws strategically from theories of cognitive and developmental psychology to construct a situational framework for understanding violent behavior. Cosponsors of this research include the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation. To date, 150 subjects, primarily from the criminal justice and community samples, have been interviewed and their responses transcribed. Interviews were conducted by “street smart” young men who are a few years older than sample members, are from the neighborhoods where subjects were recruited, and are role models for avoiding serious violence. The interview protocol sought narrative responses to structured questions regarding general information (respondent’s family, school, work, and problem behavior), perceptions of social interactions in the community (including dealings with the police), and the details of two violent and two near-violent events during the past 2 years in which the respondent participated as (1) an armed perpetrator or victim, and (2) an unarmed perpetrator or victim. Information was requested on the social context of these events and the strategic decisions the subjects made that led them to engage in or withdraw from a situation, as well as decisions made once a violent episode had begun. Interviews were tape recorded and transcribed. Findings from these first 150 interviews are presented here. Methodology The research design includes three samples of young men, ages 16 to 24, with histories of involvement in violent activities and currently (or, if incarcerated, formerly) residing in two of New York City’s highest youth homicide rate neighborhoods—East New York (Brooklyn) and Mott Haven (South Bronx). The criminal justice sample includes young men convicted on gun-related charges and incarcerated in the Rikers Island Correctional Facility and facilities under the auspices of the New York State Division for Youth Facilities. The second sample consists of victims of violence identified in the emergency rooms of two hospitals, one near each of the two neighborhoods. The community sample consists of young men who are involved in violence but have avoided both the criminal justice system and the emergency room. Findings Preliminary analyses focused on three areas: (1) the functions, contexts, and variability of violence; (2) an assessment of the “code of the streets,” a sociocultural structure that establishes rules, motivations, and justifications for engaging in violence in poor and socially isolated neighborhoods; and (3) the role of alcohol and other drugs in violent events. In addition, the study tried to determine how the subjects avoided potentially violent confrontations. Variability and function of violence. The study confirmed that respondents were involved in a wide range of violent acts in diverse social contexts. Violent events have different motivations, meanings, and outcomes depending on context: s Gang conflicts, both within gangs and between rival gangs. s Neighborhood and ethnic conflicts, often over “turf.” Research in Progress Seminar Series „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ „ S G OVC RA MS Office of Justice Programs N BJ A C E I OF F s Continuing feuds between individuals over perceived insults or disrespect. s Disputes over girlfriends. s Acquisitive violence, such as extortion and robbery. s Preemptive or strategic violence, i.e., “I’m going to get him before he gets me.” s Dating violence. s Ritualized violence, e.g., gang initiations. violence, regardless of who was present or how much alcohol had been consumed: being in the wrong place at the wrong time resulted in injuries, including gunshot wounds, to a number of respondents. The effects of drugs on violence were much less clear. Marijuana made some subjects less prone to violence, others sought out victims to exploit or dominate, and still others became paranoid—either avoiding human contact or becoming hostile and prone to defensive violence. Circumstances tended to overtake the effects of drugs; that is, if a fight broke out, even the most relaxed and “mellow” individual would immediately snap out of his stupor to defend himself. Some respondents blamed their violent behavior on alcohol or drugs, and others did not. A number of young men used alcohol or drugs after violent events as a form of self-medication. Avoiding violence. Even under the influence of alcohol, some youths were able to walk away from violence. Researchers repeatedly heard stories of “graceful” and strategic retreats from violence by persons able to simultaneously pay respect to the other party and maintain their own status. This took verbal skills and mental agility in the midst of a scene where both parties showed anger and arousal—cognitive abilities that not everyone possesses. The most compelling function that violence served in the lives of respondents was to achieve and maintain status as a “tough” person—a reputation that conferred social power and dominance and protected the young men against victimization. Violence was also seen as a means to acquire the accouterments of wealth (e.g., nice clothes, flashy cars, or access to clubs), control or humiliate another person, defy authority, settle drug-related “business” disputes, attain retribution, satisfy the need for thrills or risktaking, and respond to challenges to one’s manhood. Violence as a code of behavior. The study found that identities and normative behavioral codes were situationspecific. Many young men alternated their demeanor between “decent” and “street” codes of behavior, language, and dress. Both orientations lived side by side within the same individuals. The street code’s rules for getting and maintaining respect through aggressive behavior forced many “decent” youths to situationally adopt a tough demeanor and perhaps behave violently in order to navigate through an otherwise hostile and possibly dangerous environment. The reaction of bystanders is a key factor in the outcome of a situation. Bystanders can cool off or heat up the response to a confrontation or dispute. Repeated violent interactions can motivate a person’s strategic decisionmaking to internalize a street code. The pressure of guns often escalates the stakes of a dispute and increases its potential lethality. Alcohol, drugs, and violence. Alcohol and drugs can influence social interactions in two ways that may lead to violence. First, alcohol can shape the dynamics, decisions, and strategies in a violent or near-violent episode—that is, interactions in which one or both individuals have been drinking will turn out differently than those in which one or both are sober. The second is that the context in which drinking occurs exerts independent effects on how violent or near-violent events unfold. Respondents reported that intoxication increased the likelihood that a person’s language would become provocative and boastful turning minor disputes into violent encounters. Alcohol exaggerated the sense of outrage over perceived transgressions of personal codes, resulting in violence to exert control or exact retribution. Some drinkers acted on bystanders’ provocations to fight more seriously; others felt invincible and started fights that they then lost. In addition, certain bars or bodegas were frequent scenes of Interventions for the future The researchers concluded that classroom instruction in conflict resolution skills is generally ineffective when practiced in the neutral, unemotional context of a classroom. The findings of this study indicate that adolescents should be taught negotiating and conflict avoidance skills under conditions that mimic the street—that is, under emotional states that stimulate unpredictable behavior. Role playing can help participants better understand the provocative and steering behaviors of bystanders and other third parties. Bystanders can also learn how their behavior can increase the risks of lethal violence for young men facing off on the street. This summary is based on a presentation by Jeffrey Fagan, Ph.D., Director for the Center for Violence Research and Prevention at Columbia University’s School of Public Health, to an audience of researchers and criminal justice practitioners. His coinvestigator is Deanna L. Wilkinson. The seminar, Adolescent Violence: A View From the Street, is available as a 60-minute videotape for $19 ($24 in Canada and other countries). Use the order form on the next page to obtain this videotape, NCJ 163059, and any of the others available in NIJ’s Research in Progress Seminar Series. Points of view in this document do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Department of Justice. FS 000189 The Latest Criminal Justice Videotape Series from NIJ: Research in Progress Seminars Learn about the latest developments in criminal justice research from prominent criminal justice experts. Each 60-minute tape presents a well-known scholar discussing his or her current studies and how they relate to existing criminal justice research and includes the lecturer’s responses to audience questions. In addition to Adolescent Violence: A View From the Street, reported on in this Research Preview, the other tapes available in VHS format are: NCJ 152235—Alfred Blumstein, Ph.D., Professor, Carnegie Mellon University: Youth Violence, Guns, and Illicit Drug Markets. NCJ 152236—Peter W. Greenwood, Ph.D., Director, Criminal Justice Research Program, The RAND Corporation: Three Strikes, You’re Out: Benefits and Costs of California’s New Mandatory-Sentencing Law. NCJ 152237—Christian Pfeiffer, Ph.D., Director, Kriminologisches Forschungsinstitut Niedersachsen: Sentencing Policy and Crime Rates in Reunified Germany. NCJ 152238—Arthur L. Kellermann, M.D., M.P.H., Director, Center for Injury Control, and Associate Professor, Emory University: Understanding and Preventing Violence: A Public Health Perspective. NCJ 152692—James Inciardi, Ph.D., Director, Drug and Alcohol Center, University of Delaware: A Corrections-Based Continuum of Effective Drug Abuse Treatment. NCJ 153271—Marvin Wolfgang, Ph.D., Director, Legal Studies and Criminology, University of Pennsylvania: Crime in a Birth Cohort: A Replication in the People’s Republic of China. NCJ 153730—Lawrence W. Sherman, Ph.D., Professor, University of Maryland: Reducing Gun Violence: Community Policing Against Gun Crime. NCJ 153272—Cathy Spatz Widom, Ph.D., Professor, State University of New York– Albany: The Cycle of Violence Revisited Six Years Later. NCJ 153273—Wesley Skogan, Ph.D., Professor, Northwestern University: Community Policing in Chicago: Fact or Fiction? NCJ 153850—Scott H. Decker, Ph.D., Professor, University of Missouri–St. Louis, and Susan Pennell, San Diego Association of Governments: Monitoring the Illegal Firearms Market. NCJ 154277—Terrie Moffitt, Ph.D., Professor, University of Wisconsin: Partner Violence Among Young Adults. NCJ 156923—Orlando Rodriguez, Ph.D., Director, Hispanic Research Center, Fordham University: The New Immigrant Hispanic Populations: Implications for Crime and Delinquency in the Next Decade. NCJ 156924—Robert Sampson, Ph.D., Professor, University of Chicago: Communities and Crime: A Study in Chicago. NCJ 156925—John Monahan, Ph.D., Professor, University of Virginia: Mental Illness and Violent Crime. NCJ 157643—Benjamin E. Saunders, Ph.D., and Dean G. Kilpatrick, Ph.D., Medical University of South Carolina: Prevalence and Consequences of Child Victimization: Preliminary Results from the National Survey of Adolescents. NCJ 159739—Joel H. Garner, Ph.D., Research Director, Joint Centers for Justice Studies: Use of Force By and Against the Police. NCJ 159740—Kim English, Research Director, Colorado Division of Criminal Justice: Managing Adult Sex Offenders in Community Settings: A Containment Approach. NCJ 160765—Michael Tonry, Ph.D., Professor, University of Minnesota: Ethnicity, Crime, and Immigration. NCJ 160766—David M. Kennedy, Ph.D., Professor, Harvard University: Juvenile Gun Violence and Gun Markets in Boston. NCJ 161259—Robert Crutchfield, Ph.D., Professor, University of Washington: Labor Markets, Employment, and Crime. NCJ 161836—Geoff Alpert, Ph.D., Professor, University of South Carolina: Police in Pursuit: Policy and Practice. NCJ 163056—Daniel Brookoff, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Director of Medical Education, Methodist Hospital, Memphis, TN: Drugs, Alcohol, and Domestic Violence in Memphis. (continued on back) To order any of these tapes, please complete and return this form with your payment ($19, U.S.; $24, Canada and other countries) to National Criminal Justice Reference Service, P.O. Box 6000, Rockville, MD 20849–6000. Call 800–851–3420, or e-mail askncjrs@ncjrs.org if you have any questions. Please send me the following tapes: Qty. Presenter Name and NCJ Number Subtotal Total Name Address City State ZIP Daytime phone ( ) ___ Payment enclosed (U.S. dollars) ___ Deduct this item from my NCJRS Deposit Account, account no. Charge my: ___ MasterCard ___VISA Account no. Exp. Date ________________________ Signature ¢ NCJ 163057—Marcia Chaiken, Ph.D., Research Director of LINC, Alexandria, VA: Youth Afterschool Programs and the Role of Law Enforcement. NCJ 163058—Eric Wish, Ph.D., Director, Center for Substance Abuse Research, University of Maryland: Dependence and Drug Treatment Needs Among Adult Arrestees. NCJ 163921—Patricia Tjaden, Ph.D., Senior Researcher, Center for Policy Research: The Crime of Stalking: How Big Is the Problem?. NCJ 164262—Andrew Golub, Ph.D., Principal Research Associate, National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.: Crack’s Decline: Some Surprises Across U.S. Cities. NCJ 164725—Ronald Huff, Ph.D., Professor, Ohio State University: Criminal Behavior of Gang Members. NCJ 164726—James Austin, Ph.D., Executive Vice President, National Council on Crime and Delinquency: Sentencing Guidelines: A State Perspective. NCJ 165585—Garen Wintemute, M.D., Director, Violence Prevention Research Program, University of California–Davis: Predicting Criminal Behavior Among Authorized Purchasers of Handguns. NCJ 167027—Lorraine Green Mazerolle, Ph.D., Director, Center for Criminal Justice Research, University of Cincinnati: Using Gunshot Detection Technology in High-Crime Areas. NCJ 167028—Stephen Mastrofski, Ph.D.; Roger B. Parks, Ph.D.; Albert J. Reiss, Jr., Ph.D.; Robert E. Worden, Ph.D.: Community Policing in Action: Lessons from an Observational Study. Quick Access to NIJ Publication News For news about NIJ’s most recent publications, including solicitations for grant applications, subscribe to JUSTINFO, the bimonthly newsletter sent to you via e-mail. 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