Adolescent Attitudes Towards Violence: Exploring the Attitudes of Male and Female Adolescents at a Shelter for Youth in Crisis.

Noorjehan K. Brantmeier

Indiana University-Bloomingtonn

Abstract:

Research on adolescents has primarily focused on youth in school settings. This study explores the attitudes of adolescent female and male residents of Monroe County Youth Shelter, a shelter serving youth in crisis situations. This is a population that may not be reached when conducting studies on adolescent violence because of their transience and irregular attendance. This study seeks to explore the views of this group, especially differences in gender, while at the same time being an outlet for adolescents to express their views on violence they perceive. The design of the study is mixed: it uses existing data on youth served by Monroe County Youth Shelter,, surveys that measuremeasuring adolescent attitudes on violence and one-on-one semi-structured interviews. Differences in attitudes towards violence for males and females are expected based on past research about adolescent violence. One goal of this study is to gain a better understanding of the discrepancy between what adolescent females report their views on violence are, and the rising frequency and severity of acts adolescent females commitare involved in.

Table of Contents

Section I: Introduction

i. Statement of the Problem

ii. Purpose of Research

iii. Significance of Research

Section II: Background Information: Literature Review

Section III: Significance of Research

Section IIIV: Description of Proposed Research

Section VIV: Description of Relevant Institutional Resources

Section VI: List of References

Sectional VII: Personnel

Section VIII: Budget

Section VIII: Appendices

Section I:

Introduction

i: Statement of the Problem

On Friday April 24 in Red Lion Pennsylvania, James Sheets a 14-year old male shot his principal in the chest and then killed himself as his eighth grade classmates looked on. This is not the first time that suchthat tragedies have occurredlike the one I mentioned have taken place. It is obvious apparent?Another recent, very tragic example of these acts of adolescent violence was the incident at Columbine High School in Colorado. (Do you have research to prove this? If so, cite it) to all, Athat adolescents have become increasingly more violent and rates of female violence are quickly rising. (Veenema, 2002). The questions on the minds of policy makers, educators, social workers and all who work with youth are ; why are adolescents committing morecommitting more frequent, severe acts of violence and what measures can be taken to prevent tragedies in schools and in the greater community ? community. Recently,Currently researchers have begun asking adolescents theirabout their perceptions and feelings onabout violence.

ii. Purpose of Research

According to the review of literature, the issues of gender differences in adolescents’ attitudes towards violence, attitudes among youth in non-urban areas versus urban areas and the attitudes of youth over the age of 13 are areas that necessitate further research. Few mixed design exploratory studies have been conducted in these areas. This study seeks to further examineplore personal views ofthe perceptions of adolescents on the topic of violence by looking deeply exploring at the viewsthe personal views and attitudes of youth seeking emergency shelter at the Monroe County Youth Shelter which serves youth aged 8-17 who are in crisis situations. This is a population of youth whom are fleesing situations in which they feel unsafe, need a timeout period from home, or have been placed by outside agencies such as Monroe County Juvenile Probation or Child Protective Services. The focus of this study is on adolescents using the facility aged 13-17 years of age and their attitudes towards violence in terms of what they have seen and experienced. The guiding research questions include: T, to what extent is violence a viable option for solving conflict and for adolescent perpetrators, Wwhat is the impetus for choosing a violent option over a non-violent option?; How do adolescents view violence dependent on their relative positions as the recipients of violence, the perpetrators or both?The purpose of the proposed study is to describe attitudes towards violence, including any differences in attitudes between males and females, from the point of view of adolescents aged 13-17 using the facility during the summer of 2003. Most specifically the study intends to explore the following questions: How do adolescents who are served by the Monroe County Youth Shelter describe their experiences with and towards violence, including the ways their experiences as perpetrators, recipients or both are talked about? How do adolescents who are served by the youth shelter discuss their involvement or non-involvement in violence including descriptions of decision-making where violence and conflict took place? What kinds of differences and similarities can be described across male and female attitudes on violence as expressed in interviews and as scores on the Attitudes Toward Interpersonal Peer Violence Scale and the Attitudes Towards Guns and Violence Scale?

iii. Significance

Learning more about the views and attitudes of adolescents in relationship to violence is one more step towards understanding the phenomena of youth violence. Understanding the views and attitudes adolescents have about violence based on personal experiences this issue is integral to developing interventions to prevent acts of youth violence in the community.stop tradgedies such as the one at Columbine High School and the recent shooting of a high school principal in PennsylavaniaPennsylvania.

Section II:

Literature Review

“Juveniles have increasingly become involved in violent crime, both as victims and as offenders” ( Funk et al, 1999; Becker, Barham, Eoron & Chen, 1994). Law-makers, school administrators, educators, psychologist, social workers, parents and the general public are alarmed at the growing rates of adolescent violence. Violence in schools has gotten special attention after incidents like the shootings at Columbine High School and incidences of violence in schools such as the recent shooting by a 14-year old boy in Pennsylvania. Current literature studying youth seeks to understand the phenomena of youths’ exposure to violence in their schools ,homes and communities; and , reactions to this violence and long term effects of being the victim of violence.t. Statistics provided by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in 1997 showed that guns were involved in more than 80% of adolescent deaths (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1997). Homicide is the leading cause of death for persons aged 15-24 years of age and has been the leading cause of deaths for African-Americans in this age group for over a decade (Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1998).

Research on violence takes place in schools, emergency settings and in community settings. Much of the current research on youth violence studies youth in urban settings. ResearchersThe authors Lisa Sweatt, Carol G Harding, Laura Knight-Lynn, Saba Rasheed, Paulette Carter(2002) ofin the article, “Talking about the silent fear: Adolescents experiences of violence in an urban high rise community” (Lisa Sweatt, Carol G Harding, Laura Knight-Lynn, Saba Rasheed, Paulette Carter(2002)looked at the adolescents perceptions and attitudes towards violence who live in the urban housing project environment of Chicago. The researchers delved into adolescent’s attitudes in this community by using participant observation in a focus group, surveys and interviews. It was one of the few studies that was not school based or quantitative in its design. Exploratory in nature, it sought their opinions on solutions to violence of the youth in a high-risetheir inner city living environment on their solutions to violence, while offering teens the opportunity to express themselves. One key finding of this study was that the youth who participated in the study did not openly discuss the violence they experienced with adults or in an open forum (7).

In addition to urban housing settings, research on youth and violence has also been conducted in other urban settings. Researchers Pryor, Sarri, Bombyk and Nikolovska (1999) studied youth attitudes on violence from representative socioeconomic and ethnic groups(1999). . This particular study was conducted in Denver on youth violence using a sample from many different situations; youth in schools, job training programs, vocation and technical program, residential treatment programs and homeless shelters. Eighteen organizations participated in the study and 31 focus groups were held with a sample of 350 youths mostly aged fifteen to eighteen. Participants also filled out a survey on their attitudes about their community, its service personnel and what they perceived to be the biggest problems. Youth in this study felt that lack of role models, racism and ethnic prejudice, suicide, gangs and substance use were some of the most pressing problems in their community (9). Studies that used a combination approach to obtain information seem to contribute a new perspective to existing research-; the opinions of the youth.

Other current research on the topic of youth violence conducted in emergency shelters also offers a new perspective on adolescent violence (Veenema, 2002). The majority of recent research onin concerns to youth violence recently has been conducted in schools (Price, R., Cioci, M. Penner, W &Trautlein, B (1990).; Research conducted in emergency facilities involves participants who may not be in school or may be homeless. Thus, transience becomes a major factor in this kind of research. A study conducted by Tener Veenema of the University of Rochester (2002) offers a look at this population by conducting interviews with adolescent females in emergency facilities. The adolescent females in this study had significant experience with violence both as the perpetrators and the victims. They also acknowledged that female violence is a problem that is growing. The growing rates of violent acts committed by females have become an increasing problem. Studies from Harvard University and others seek to find the connection between major acts of violence committed by adolescents and the characteristics that link them (Watson, Malcolm and Fischer, Kurt 2002). This study looks at personality traits such as introversion in some youth to prevent violent acting out.

Despite the strides that have been made in understanding and curbing adolescent violence there are gaps in the research. Much of the research conducted to date deals with young children. Many of the studies that look at youth perceptions of violence in terms of their phase in cognitive development leave out youth aged 13-17. It seems with the assumption that once youth reach the age of 13 years old they are cognitively on par with adults. The majority of studies focus on youth in urban centers (Pryor, Carolyn B.; Sarri, Rosemary C.; Bombyk, Marti; Nikolovska, Lidija. (1999; Sweatt, Lisa; Harding, Carol G., Knight-Lynn, Laura; Rasheed, Saba; Carter, Paulette (2002). The experiences of youth in urban centers mayare not generalizable to the experiences of youth who live in towns with smaller populations or even more rural settings. Much of the research to date has focused on male juvenile delinquency. Research shows that adolescent females are making their own mark in the rates of juvenile crime and are committing more frequent violent acts (Veenema 2002). Despite research that shows that males are more likely to hold beliefs that accept aggression than females, there seems to be a discrepancy between what females are reporting in comparison to the acts of violence they are committingcommitting (Pryor, Carolyn B.; Sarri, Rosemary C.; Bombyk, Marti; Nikolovska, Lidija. (1999); Veenema, Tener G. (2002).

author’s last name and year). In Tener Veenema’s study focusing on adolescent females in emergency settings, the method of using one focus group that meets for two and one half hours is very narrow. hours seems insufficient to truly understand how adolescents perceive violence. Though adding to the body of research that already exists in terms of studying adolescent’s perceptions about violenceabout violence, there is a limited amount of information on how adolescents feel about and see violence. Much of the knowledge that has been collected thus far has been in terms of youth exposure to violence and has been researched in a more quantitative fashion. (Snyder, Jane and Rogers, Kenneth. 2002; Tarter, Ralph E., Kirisci, Levent, Vanyukov, Michael., Cornelius, Jack., Pajer, Kathleen., Shoal, Gavin., Giancola, Peter R. 2002 ). This type of research has given law-makers and other researchers a better scope of the problem in terms of the amounts of violence youth experience. Current research such as the study conducted by Sweatt, Lisa; Harding, Carol G., Knight-Lynn, Laura; Rasheed, Saba; Carter, Paulette.(2002) has been more exploratory in nature and is trying to find the answers to the questions to help prevent violence among youth.

Section IIIV: Description of Proposed Research Methods

This is a mixed design study that will be a comparison of adolescent females and males who use shelter services. The method includes one-on-one seme-structured interviews, existing demographic data, the Attitude Towards Interpersonal Peer Violence Scale, and the Attitudes Towards Guns and Violence Scale.

The quantitative portion of this study will be conducted using existing data on adolescents using the services of the Monroe County Youth Services Bureau’s experiences with violence either as the perpetrator or recipient. Attitudes towards violence scales will also be used to measure youth perceptions of violence. The surveyscales will be administered to all youth who enter this emergency facility for thea month of June, 2003 as a part of the resident intake procedure. The Attitude Toward Interpersonal Peer Violence Survey adapted by the Houston Demonstration Project in 1993. It has an internal consistency of .75. The Attitudes Toward Guns and Violence Scale was developed by Dr. Jeremy Shapiro of Applewood Centers, Inc. in 1996. It has an internal consistency of .88. This data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and non-parametric statistics with the help of SPSS software.

The qualitative portion of this study will be conducted using one -on-one interviewone -on-one semi-structured interviews which will be recorded and transcribed. The interviews will be exploratory in nature for the purposes of gaining a better understanding of adolescent perceptions of violence and then noting any gender differences in those perceptions. I will be interviewing ten adolescents who will be representative of the Youth Shelter population. The interviews will be semi-structured, open ended interviews. The interviews will be coded using the emergent codes and with the qualitative software package NVivo as a tool. I will be using commonly accepted validity techniques with the qualitative data, namely peer debriefing, recording devices, triangulation, audit trail and negative case analysis. that they have experienced, to understand when using violence is a viable option to resolve conflict, to understand if adolescents are educated on other ways to resolve conflict, and for violent perpetrators; the process one goes through when choosing violent action over a non-violent one?

Section IV: Description of Relevant Institutional Resources

At both my research site and Indiana University I will have access to computers, copy machines, a library, work space and various data bases for research. .

Section V: List of References

Buckley, Maureen A. and Walsh, Mary E. (1998) Children’s Understanding of Violence: A Developmental Analysis. Applied Developmental Science, 2, 182-193.

Dahlberg LL, Toal SB, Behrens CB. Measuring Violence-Related Attitudes, Beliefs and Behaviors Among Youths: A Compendium of Assessment Tools. Atlanta, GA: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, 1998.

Pryor, Carolyn B.; Sarri, Rosemary C.; Bombyk, Marti; Nikolovska, Lidija. (1999)

Urban Youths’ Views of Violence in Their Communities: Implications for Schools. Social Work in Education, 21, 72.

Sweatt, Lisa; Harding, Carol G., Knight-Lynn, Laura; Rasheed, Saba; Carter, Paulette (2002). Talking About the silent fear: Adolescents experiences of violence in an urban high-rise community. Adolescence, 37, 109-112.

Veenema, Tener G. (September 26 2002). Female Adolescents residing at an Emergency Shelter: Perceptions of Risk and Attitudes towards Violence. The Advancing Nursing Practice Excellence: State of the Science Conference.

Worde, Amy and Peterson, Nancy. (April24, 2003) Ordinary school day, then shots and death. The Philadelphia Inquirer.

http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/5710701.htm?

Watson, Malcolm and Fischer, Kurt (August 21, 2002) Pathways to Aggression through Inhibited Temperament and Parental Violence. Harvard Graduate School of Education. http://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/features/fischersummary.html

Agnew, Robert and Huguley, Sandra (1989) Adolescent Violence toward Parents. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 699-711.

Funk, Jeanne B., Elliot, Robert, Urman, Michelle L., Flores, Geysa T., Mock, Rose M. (1999) The Attitudes Towards Violence Scale. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 14, 1123-1136.

Snyder, Jane and Rogers, Kenneth. (2002) The Violent Adolescent: The Urge to Destroy Versus the Urge to Feel Alive. American Journal of Psychoanalysis. 62, 237.

Tarter, Ralph E., Kirisci, Levent, Vanyukov, Michael., Cornelius, Jack., Pajer, Kathleen., Shoal, Gavin., Giancola, Peter R. (2002) Predicting Adolescent Violence: Impact of Family History, Substance Abuse, Psychiatric History and Social Adjustment. American Journal of Psychiatry, 159, 1541

Weiss, R (1995). Learning from Strangers: The Art and Methods of Qualitative Interview Studies. Free Press

Creswell, J. (2002). Research Design: Qualitative, Quantitative and Mixed design Approaches. Sage.

Annotated Bibliography

Buckley, Maureen A. and Walsh, Mary E. (1998) Children’s Understanding of Violence: A Developmental Analysis. Applied Developmental Science, 2, 182-193.

The authors of the study explore children’s understanding and interpretations of violence based on their phase in development. The Developmental Conceptions of Violence Protocol was administered in the form of an interview. The participants of the study were aged 5-13 years old. The researchers claim that there is a sequence, or a phase in children’s understandings of violence. The researchers also assert that by matching violence prevention programs to children’s developmental phase in terms of their conceptions of violence may improve the effectiveness of prevention programs.

Pryor, Carolyn B.; Sarri, Rosemary C.; Bombyk, Marti; Nikolovska, Lidija. (1999)

Urban Youths’ Views of Violence in Their Communities: Implications for Schools. Social Work in Education, 21, 72.

This study looks at youth’s views on violence and the role that schools and the education system in general plays. The researchers used focus groups and surveys to access these views. The hypothesis was that attitudes in concerns to violence would differ by gender, which they did. They also wanted to explore what youth knew about conflict resolution training and antiviolence measures, which was rarely brought up. Other results of the study are that youth feel that schools are they key institution to decrease violence not only in school settings, but also in the community.

Sweatt, Lisa; Harding, Carol G., Knight-Lynn, Laura; Rasheed, Saba; Carter, Paulette. (2002). Talking About the silent fear: Adolescents experiences of violence in an urban high-rise community. Adolescence, 37, 109-112.

The authors conducted research as a part of a community-university collaboration program called the High-Rise On-Site Multifamily Environments, other wise known as HOME. The research was exploratory in nature and had the goal of exploring adolescents’ attitudes about community violence, specifically in their urban setting. The methods used were a focus group, survey and one on-one-interview. The topic of violence in focus group was rarely mentioned and quickly dismissed, leading the researchers to refer to violence as a silent fear. More information was gotten about adolescents attitudes about violence in one- on-one interviews. The researchers finding were that the adolescents involved in the study were very aware of the violence in their community and many had direct experience with violence. The adolescents also reported that adults in their lives were ignorant of the violence in their lives and were unavailable to protect them.

Veenema, Tener G. (September 26 2002). Female Adolescents residing at an Emergency Shelter: Perceptions of Risk and Attitudes towards Violence. The Advancing Nursing Practice Excellence: State of the Science Conference.

The author seeks to understand how homeless adolescents perceive violence. The study is conducted with adolescent females in an emergency shelter. The method used was a focus group which was conducted for two and one half hours with six participants. The findings of the study show that all participants in the focus group had considerable exposure to violence either as the perpetrator or as the receiver of violence. The study concluded that violence prevention efforts may not be reaching the population of adolescents who may be homeless.

Watson, Malcolm and Fischer, Kurt (August 21, 2002) Pathways to

Aggression throughAggression through Inhibited Temperament and Parental Violence. Harvard Graduate School of Education.

The authors look at personality traits that may lead to eventual extreme violent behavior. Introversion is seen as a possible predictor of this behavior because a history of being picked on by other children or suffering abuse at home in silence may lead to the eventual violent outburst.

Agnew, Robert and Huguley, Sandra (1989) Adolescent Violence toward Parents.

Journal of Marriage and the Family, 51, 699-711.

This article looks at the phenomena of parental abuse. In the family violence research this topic in the past has not been researched the extent of other family violence research. Data collection is difficult and often times inaccurate because parents do not openly discuss abuse by their own parents. This abuse is also in a different category from other domestic violence because it involves a weaker person abusing someone who is older and stronger. It is seen as the largest affront to parent authority a parent can experience.

Funk, Jeanne B., Elliot, Robert, Urman, Michelle L., Flores, Geysa T., Mock,

Rose M. (1999) The Attitudes Towards Violence Scale. Journal of

Interpersonal Violence, 14, 1123-1136

The authors developed a scale to measure adolescent attitudes towards violence. The scale was developed to measure the impact of the Victims Forum which is re-sensitization to violence forum. The scale was administered before and after attending the Victims Forum presentation. The scale has sub-sections labeled Culture of Violence and Reactive Violence. The scale has good internal reliability and looked at characteristics of gender, ethnicity and self-identification as a victim of violence. The Attitudes towards Violence Scale measured adolescent’s attitudes towards violence with a reliability of .86.

Timeline: May 28, 2003-July 31, 2003

Week 1:

• Explaining research project to Youth Services Bureau administration and Residential Coordinators.
• Surveys and informed consent forms will be put into resident intake folders and administered to youth in the shelter on June 1 and those in the shelter for the month of June 2003.
• Data collection from youth using the services of the Youth Shelter for the 2003-2003 year will be collected from past files.
• History of violence will be obtained from the files and placed into SPSS.

Week 2:

• Data collection from youth using the services of the Youth Shelter for the 2003-2003 year will be collected from past files.
• History of violence will be obtained from the files and placed into SPSS.

Week 3:

• Run SPSS to find ratio of adolescents males to females aged 13-17 using shelter services.
• Begin selection of one-on-one interview participants.
• Double check consent forms before approaching possible participants

Week 4:

· Begin interviews and transcribe. (Goal is 3 participants a week.)

Week 5:

· Interviews and transcribe. (Goal is 3 participants a week.)

Week 6:

Interviews and transcribe. (Goal is 3 participants a week.)

·

Week 7:

• Complete last interview and transcribe.
• Finish up and additional transcribing not already completed.

Week 8:

• Analyze survey and SPSS data

Week 9:

• Analyze data and write up findings.

Week 10:

• Analyze data and write up findings.

Sectional VI: Personnel

I will be the sole person working on the project.

Section VIII: Budget Budget of Research Supplies

• Tapes and recorder for oral interviews
• Field/observation notebooks (2-3)
• (Facilities for computing and printing?)Printing allowance at IU
• Eexpandable file for raw data
• Copiy card for making copies es of survey instrumeents

o College Mall Gift Certificates in the amount of $15.00 for 10 participants

• Transcriber(check out)

o Section VIII:

Appendices

i. Attitude Towardss Interpersonal Peer Violence Scale

Attitudes Ttowardss Guns and Violence Scale

ii. Attitude Towards Interpersonal Peer Violence Scale

i. Attitudes Toward Guns and Violence

1. You’ve got to fight to show people you’re not a wimp. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

2. If someone disrespects me, I have to fight them to get my pride back _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

3. Carrying a gun makes people feel safe. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

4. Carrying a gun makes people feel powerful and strong. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

5. If people are nice to me I’ll be nice to them, but if someone stops me from getting what I want, they’ll pay for it bad. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

6. I’d like to have a gun so that people would look up to me. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

7. It would be exciting to hold a loaded gun in my hand. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

8. I wish there weren’t any guns in my neighborhood. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

9. I bet it would feel real cool to walk down the street with a gun in my pocket _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

10. I’d feel awful inside if someone laughed at me and I didn’t fight them _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree.

11. It would make me feel really powerful to hold a loaded gun in my hand _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

.

12. Most people feel nervous around someone with a gun and they want to get away from that person._ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

13. The people I respect would never go around with a gun because they’re against hurting people. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

14. I think it would be fun to play around with a real gun. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

These items measure attraction to guns and violence in relation to four major factors: aggressive response to shame, excitement, comfort with aggression, and power/safety. Respondents are asked to indicate whether they agree, disagree, or are not sure about an idea.

15. If someone insults me or my family, it really bothers me, but if I beat them up, that makes me feel better. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

16. If somebody insults you, and you don’t want to be a chump, you have to fight.

_ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

17. I don’t like people who have guns because they might kill someone _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

.

18. A kid who doesn’t get even with someone who makes fun of him is a sucker.

_ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

19. Belonging to a gang makes kids feel safe because they’ve got people to back them up._ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

20. If I acted the way teachers think I should out on the street, people would think I was weak and I’d get pushed around _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

21. I wish everyone would get rid of all their guns. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

22. I don’t like being around people with guns because someone could end up getting hurt._ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

23. Kids in gangs feel like they’re part of something powerful. _ Agree _ Not Sure _ Disagree

Scoring and Analysis

This instrument is copyrighted. For permission to use and scoring information, contact:

Joella Burgoon (Primary Contact)

Jeremy P. Shapiro, Ph.D. (Developer)

Applewood Centers, Inc.

2525 East 22nd Street

Cleveland, OH 44115-3266

Tel: (216) 696-5800

Fax: (216) 696-6592

This instrument has four main factors. The Aggressive Response to Shame factor has items that measure the belief that shame resulting from being insulted can be undone only by means of aggression (Items 1, 2, 5, 10,

15, 16, 18, 20).

The Excitement factor measures whether the respondent finds guns to be intrinsically exciting, stimulating, and fun (Items 6, 7, 9, 11, 14).

The Comfort With Aggression factor measures general beliefs,

values, and feelings about aggression and violence (Items 8, 12, 13, 17, 21, 22).

The Power/Safety factor measures the belief that guns and violence increase one's safety on the streets and bring a sense of personal power (Items 3, 4, 19, 23).

ii. Attitude Toward Interpersonal Peer Violence

1. If I walked away from a fight, I’d be a coward (“chicken”).

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

2. The best way to stop a fight before it starts is to stop the argument (problem) that caused it. _ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

3. Anyone who won’t fight is going to be “picked on” even more.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

4. I don’t need to fight because there are other ways to deal with being mad.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

5. It’s OK to hit someone who hits you first.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

6. If my friends want to go someplace where a fight might happen, I find it easy to say I don’t want to go with them._ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

7. When actions of others make me angry, I can usually deal with it without getting into a physical fight._ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

8. If a kid teases me or “disses” me, I usually cannot get them to stop unless I hit them._ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

9. If a kid at school hits me, it is harder to report them to a teacher or other adult than it is to just hit them back._ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

10. If I really want to, I can usually talk someone out of trying to fight with me.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

11. My family would be mad at me if I got in a fight with another student, no matter what the reason._ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

These items assess either a passive or violent attitude orientation as well as knowledge and skill in resolving conflicts nonviolently. Students are asked to indicate their opinions or feelings about fighting ,defined as physical fights with pushing and hitting, not just arguments.

12. If a student hits me first, my family would want me to hit them back.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

13. I usually can tell when things are bothering me or getting on my nerves.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

14. If things are bothering me or getting on my nerves, I do things to relax.

_ Disagree A Lot _ Disagree A Little _ Agree A Little _ Agree A Lot

Scoring and Analysis

Point values are assigned as follows:

Disagree A Lot = 1

Disagree A Little = 2

Agree A Little = 3

Agree A Lot = 4

Items 1, 3, 5, 8, 9 and 12 are reverse coded. The scale is scored by summing the point values of the responses and dividing by the total number of responses. Blank items are not counted in the number of responses. Higher mean scores, which can range from 1 to 4, indicate higher levels of knowledge and skills in

resolving conflict non-violently. Lower mean scores indicate less knowledge or skill in non-violent conflict resolution and a more violent orientation.