NCJ Number
209569
Journal
Journal of Interpersonal Violence Volume: 17 Issue: 5 Dated: May 2002 Pages: 533-550
Date Published
May 2002
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examined the prevalence of observing, experiencing, or engaging in aggressive behaviors over the period of 1 year among a random sample of young adults.
Abstract
From the fall of 1998 through the spring of 2000, two concurrent phone surveys were conducted. One survey involved 967 adults between the ages of 18 and 30 years in the general community (community sample), and the other focused on 433 young adults in college (college sample). All participants lived in Erie County in upstate New York. Participants in the college sample were younger, less likely to be employed, and less likely to be married. The surveys solicited information on the sociodemographic characteristics of the respondents, their attitudes toward violence, and their experiences with aggressive behavior within the past 12 months. Questions pertinent to the latter subject asked how many times the respondent had observed someone grab, shove, slap, or punch somebody, use a weapon, or some other type of incident in which a person was physically aggressive with another person. Respondents were also asked whether they had been victims of or perpetrated such aggressive behavior. Approximately 25 percent of the women and 33 percent of the men had experienced and/or observed aggression in the preceding year. One of the primary locations for these experiences of aggression was in or around a bar. For the most severe episode, the most common location was in or around a bar for men and in their own home for women. Thus, this study indicates that young adults commonly experience aggression in their environments. The authors advise that understanding criminal violence and people's fear of violence requires addressing this pandemic level of aggression in American society. 4 tables and 9 references