Where do they learn violence? The roles of three forms of violent socialization in childhood

Abstract

Early violent socialization in family and community contexts has consistently been found to affect individuals' attitudes toward interpersonal violence in adulthood. The specific sources and processes underlying children’s acquisition of attitudes toward violence, however, are poorly specified and unelaborated. The current study examined how three types of early violent socialization differently influenced college students’ (N = 3841) acceptance of interpersonal violence and how these influences differed according to gender. Findings from multiple linear regression analyses indicated that advised violence, witnessed violence, and victimized violence each contributed to college students’ acceptance of violence as a valid problem-solving strategy. However, each form of violence differently affected students’ acceptance of violence. Receiving verbal advice to be violent from family and community members had stronger associations with students’ acceptance of interpersonal violence than did witnessing or experiencing violence during childhood. These relationships were not significantly different between male and female students. Whereas existing studies on violent socialization have largely focused on the effects of witnessing and experiencing violence during childhood, our findings also highlight the significant impact of that receiving pro-violence messages from family and community members has on young college students’ acceptance of interpersonal violence. This connection suggests that educational programs targeting parents and community elders should focus on encouraging anti-violence attitudes and coaching children in nonviolent conflict-resolution skills. Our results might help inform college violence prevention practitioners in developing programs for college students to help change their pro-violence attitudes.