Nonviolent factors: Variables associated with ethnic violence, and factors which are associated with nonviolent response to grievances toward members of other ethnic groups

Ethnic violence appears to be the major source of violence in the world. Ethnic hostilities are potentially all-pervasive because most countries in the world are multi-ethnic. Public health's focus on violence documents its increasing role in this issue.^ The present study is based on a secondary analysis of a dataset of responses by 272 individuals from four ethnic groups (Anglo, African, Mexican, and Vietnamese Americans) who answered questions regarding variables related to ethnic violence from a general questionnaire which was distributed to ethnically diverse purposive, nonprobability, self-selected groups of individuals in Houston, Texas, in 1993.^ One goal was psychometric: learning about issues in analysis of datasets with modest numbers, comparison of two approaches to dealing with missing observations not missing at random (conducting analysis on two datasets), transformation analysis of continuous variables for logistic regression, and logistic regression diagnostics.^ Regarding the psychometric goal, it was concluded that measurement model analysis was not possible with a relatively small dataset with nonnormal variables, such as Likert-scaled variables; therefore, exploratory factor analysis was used. The two approaches to dealing with missing values resulted in comparable findings. Transformation analysis suggested that the continuous variables were in the correct scale, and diagnostics that the model fit was adequate.^ The substantive portion of the analysis included the testing of four hypotheses. Hypothesis One proposed that attitudes/efficacy regarding alternative approaches to resolving grievances from the general questionnaire represented underlying factors: nonpunitive social norms and strategies for addressing grievances--using the political system, organizing protests, using the system to punish offenders, and personal mediation. Evidence was found to support all but one factor, nonpunitive social norms.^ Hypothesis Two proposed that the factor variables and the other independent variables--jail, grievance, male, young, and membership in a particular ethnic group--were associated with (non)violence. Jail, grievance, and not using the political system to address grievances were associated with a greater likelihood of intergroup violence.^ No evidence was found to support Hypotheses Three and Four, which proposed that grievance and ethnic group membership would interact with other variables (i.e., age, gender, etc.) to produce variant levels of subgroup (non)violence.^ The generalizability of the results of this study are constrained by the purposive self-selected nature of the sample and small sample size (n = 272).^ Suggestions for future research include incorporating other possible variables or factors predictive of intergroup violence in models of the kind tested here, and the development and evaluation of interventions that promote electoral and nonelectoral political participation as means of reducing interethnic conflict. ^

An assessment of self-concept and violence within a delinquent adolescent population

The purpose of this study was to provide further data on the relationship between self-concept and violence focusing on a delinquent adolescent population. Recent research has explored the relationship between self-concept and violence with most of the research being done with adult populations. Within the literature, there are two opposing views on the question of this relationship. The traditional view supports the idea that low self-esteem is a cause of violent behavior while the non-traditional view supports the idea that high self-esteem may be a contributor to violent behavior. ^ Using a sample of 200 delinquent adolescents 100 of whom had committed acts of violence and 100 who had not, a group comparison study was done which addressed the following questions, (1) within a delinquent population of violent and non-violent adolescents, is there a relationship between violence and self-concept? (2) what is that relationship; (3) using the Piers-Harris Children's Self-Concept Scale, can it be determined that attributes such as behavior, anxiety, popularity, happiness, and physical appearance as they relate to self-concept are more predictive than others in determining who within a delinquent population will commit acts of violence. For the purposes of this study, delinquent adolescents were those who had official records of misconduct with either the school or juvenile authorities. Adolescents classified as violent were those who had committed acts such as assault, use of a weapon, use of deadly force, and sexual assault while adolescents classified as non-violent had committed anti-social acts such as, truancy, talking back and rule breaking. ^ The study concluded that there is a relationship between adolescent violence and self-concept. However, there was insufficient statistical evidence that self-concept is a predictor of violence. ^

Depression, interpersonal violence and lack of social support as barriers to cervical cancer screening among recently immigrated Latinas

Background. Various psychosocial factors have been demonstrated to be barriers for cervical cancer screening among Latinas in the United States, but few studies have researched whether depression and interpersonal violence act as psychosocial barriers to cervical cancer screening. ^ Methods. The proposed study assessed whether depression, interpersonal violence, lack of social support and demographic characteristics such as age, income, education and years in the United States acted as barriers to cervical cancer screening among cantineras in Houston, TX. This secondary data analysis utilized data from a previous cross-sectional study called Project GIRASOL- Community Outreach to Prevent Cervical Cancer among Latinas. The data from the baseline survey (sample size 331) was analyzed using Pearson chi-square and multiple logistic regression. ^ Results. Multiple logistic regression indicates that none and low levels of social support from relatives, depression, and total IPV are significant predictors of non-compliance to cervical cancer screening. ^ Conclusions. Future health interventions or physicians that promote cervical cancer screening among cantineras or recently immigrated Latinas with similar socio-demographic characteristics should try to identify whether Latinas are suffering from depression, interpersonal violence or lack of social support and provide proper referrals to alleviate the problems and positively influence screening behavior. ^

Is dating violence associated with substance use and sexual risk behaviors among urban, minority, middle school youth

Background. One in 4 adolescents reports some form of dating violence each year. Dating violence among high school adolescents has been linked with several morbidity issues. However, the association between dating violence and sexual risk and/or substance use among young adolescents has rarely been studied.^ Methods. Research hypotheses were tested using a secondary data analysis from a HIV, STI, pregnancy prevention intervention study for urban middle school students.^ Results. At baseline, 21% of youth reported experiencing physical ADV victimization, 48.2% reported non-physical victimization, and 52.6% report any victimization. After adjusting for race/ethnicity, gender, and age ever having sex, alcohol use, and illicit drug use were significantly associated with several forms of ADV.^ Conclusions. Dating violence appears to be associated with early initiation of sexual behavior, as well as alcohol and drug use. Few interventions address ADV among middle school youth. Early interventions that prevent dating violence are needed. ^