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J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01. Published in final edited form as: J Child Fam Stud. 2016 June ; 25(6): 1746–1754. doi:10.1007/s10826-015-0355-8.
African-American and Latino Parents’ Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Adolescent Fighting and Its Prevention RuiJun Chen, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA
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Glenn Flores, and Department of Health Policy Research, Medica Research Institute; Minneapolis, MN Rashmi Shetgiri Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1000 W. Carson Street, Box 468, Torrance, CA 90509-2910, [email protected]
Abstract
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Adolescent fighting affects 25% of youth, with the highest rates among African-Americans and Latinos but little is known about parental views on youth fighting. The purpose of this study was to examine African-American and Latino parents’ perspectives on adolescent fighting and methods to prevent fighting. We conducted four focus groups with parents of African-American and Latino urban adolescents. Focus groups were stratified by race/ethnicity and fighting status. Groups were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed by three independent coders using thematic content analysis. Seventy-six percent of the 17 participants were female. Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort, and taught children about consequences of fighting, emotional regulation, and non-violent conflict-resolution strategies. African-American parents endorsed teaching non-violent strategies, but expressed some doubts about their effectiveness. AfricanAmerican parents also suggested corporal punishment, but acknowledged that this may not be an optimal long-term strategy. Positive role modeling and involvement by teachers and other adults were cited as having important roles in fighting prevention. Suggested interventions included teaching adolescents non-violent conflict-resolution skills, anger management, and alternatives to fighting. Parents recommended that violence prevention programs incorporate the experiences of former fighters and be tailored to community needs. Study findings suggest that youth violenceprevention programs may benefit from addressing parental attitudes towards fighting and parentchild communication about fighting, teaching adolescents non-violent conflict-resolution skills, and tailoring programs by race/ethnicity. Promoting positive modeling and involvement by teachers and other adults also may be beneficial.
Corresponding author. [email protected]. Compliance with Ethical Standards Research involving Human Participants: This study was approved by the University of Texas Southwestern Institutional Review Board. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Keywords Adolescent; violence; parents; fighting; ethnicity
Introduction
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Physical fighting is a common form of interpersonal violence among youth, with almost 25% of adolescents reporting fighting in the past year (Kann et al., 2014). Adolescent fighting is associated with other risky behaviors, and can lead to homicide (Borowsky & Ireland, 2004; Cotton et al., 1994; Orpinas, Basen-Engquist, Grunbaum & Parcel, 1995; Rappaport & Thomas, 2004). The prevalence of fighting varies by race/ethnicity. AfricanAmericans have the highest prevalence of fighting (35%), followed by Latinos (28%), and whites (21%) (Kann et al., 2014). Risk and protective factors for adolescent fighting have been shown to differ by race/ethnicity (Shetgiri, Kataoka, Ponce, Flores, & Chung, 2010); however, most prior research has focused on white youth, with limited studies on AfricanAmerican or Latino adolescents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2001).
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Most violence-prevention interventions consist of classroom and school-based programs which show conflicting results on the effectiveness in reducing violence, particularly among racial/ethnic minority youth (Cooper, Lutenbacher, & Faccia, 2000; Miranda et al., 2005; Mytton, DiGuiseppi, Gough, Taylor, & Logan, 2006; Park-Higgerson, Perumean-Chaney, Bartolucci, Grimley, & Singh, 2008). It is necessary, therefore, to identify influences on youth violence that can be targeted for inclusion into potentially effective violenceprevention programs. Interventions that include parent and family components may be more likely to be effective (Reese, Vera, Simon & Ikeda, 2000; Pantin et al., 2009).
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Parental attitudes and behaviors may substantially influence adolescent behavior, including violence. Close parental monitoring and strong parent-child relationships are inversely associated with youth violence (Resnick et al., 1997; Smith, Flay, Bell, & Weissberg, 2001; Wright & Fitzpatrick, 2006). Parental attitudes about violence influence the messages they impart to youth about violence (Lindstrom Johnson, Finigan, Bradshaw, Haynie, & Cheng, 2011). Surveys of ethnically diverse youth show that perceptions of parents’ or families’ attitudes towards violence are positively associated with adolescent fighting behavior (Cotten et al., 1994; Malek, Chang, & Davis, 1998) and retaliatory attitudes (CopelandLinder, 2007), with pro-fighting attitudes associated with violence and fighting (Ohene, Ireland, McNeely, & Borowsky, 2006; Orpinas, Murray, & Kelder, 1999; Solomon, Bradshaw, Wright, & Cheng, 2008). Qualitative studies of youth similarly reveal that family norms supporting violence and fighting in response to aggression are associated with fighting (Johnson, Frattaroli, Wright, Pearson-Fields, & Cheng, 2004). Identifying and addressing parental attitudes and behaviors may, therefore, be an important component of interventions to prevent fighting. Few qualitative studies have examined parental perspectives about youth fighting. Qualitative research is particularly useful for examining attitudes and behaviors, and can provide insights into parental perspectives on adolescents’ fighting behavior (Johnson et al., J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01.
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2004). Studies suggest that there may be racial/ethnic differences in parental perspectives on youth fighting and its prevention. In one qualitative study, inner-city African-American parents identified strategies to prevent or de-escalate fights, including parental monitoring of teens’ activities and friendships, and parental counseling of youth to avoid negative peers and conflict situations and to seek help from teachers (Lindstrom Johnson, Finigan, Bradshaw, Haynie, & Cheng, 2013). Parents viewed it as necessary to use violence in certain situations, such as self-defense; youth reported mixed messages from their parents regarding situations in which fighting was acceptable (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013). In semistructured interviews with low-income, urban, predominantly African-American parents, participants discussed the importance of parental involvement with the school as a method of supervising children, but stated that such involvement could be hindered by negative interactions with teachers and staff (Murray, 2014). In a focus group study of AfricanAmerican parents of adolescents living in public housing, parents instructed their children to avoid potentially dangerous situations and to walk away from conflict situations (Howard, 2003). They reported closely monitoring their children’s activities, enlisting the help of extended family members as role models and supervisors for youth, and enrolling youth in community programs and services. Parents also recounted becoming involved in their children’s conflict to mediate the situation, but that this could result in parents themselves resorting to aggression (Howard, 2003).
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Mexican-American immigrant parents in one qualitative study described using a combination of strict parental monitoring and promoting close parent-child relationships to protect their children from violence (Cruz-Santiago & Ramirez Garcia, 2011). They stressed the importance of parent-child communication, parental involvement with their children, and building strong, mutually trusting relationships with their children. Parents reported instilling strong cultural values in their children, such as familismo, which emphasizes the importance of the family over the individual, and respeto, which emphasizes respect towards elders and authority figures. In another focus group study of Latino parents, participants expressed a desire for culturally relevant parenting interventions, based on cultural values of familismo and respeto, which teach alternatives to corporal punishment as a means of discipline (Parra-Cardona et al., 2009). Few studies, to our knowledge, have investigated parental perspectives on adolescent fighting across racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to examine AfricanAmerican and Latino parents’ perspectives on adolescent fighting and methods to prevent fighting. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing comparison of African-American and Latino parents’ perspectives on youth fighting.
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Method Participants Four focus groups were conducted with parents/guardians of adolescents 13–17 years old, two groups with parents of African-American adolescents, and two groups with parents of Latino adolescents. Parents of adolescents who had been in a fight in the past year were placed in different groups than parents of adolescents who had not been in a fight. Parental race/ethnicity was self-reported, and fighting status was based on parental report or student J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01.
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self-report. Participants were recruited from two urban high schools and a community-based program, or through their children’s participation in another study (Shetgiri, Lee, Tillitski, Wilson, & Flores, 2015). Focus groups were the chosen methodology because of their utility in examining participants’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and motivations (Kitzinger, 1995). Procedure
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Written informed consent was obtained at the time of recruitment or when participants arrived for focus groups. Since the ideal size of a focus group is 4–8 participants (Kitzinger, 1995), 8–9 parents were recruited for each group, to account for potential no-shows. Focus groups were conducted in a private room at a location which was convenient for participants. Groups were moderated by a bilingual, trained researcher using a moderator’s guide of open-ended questions and probes to stimulate discussion, and were 60–90 minutes in duration. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and received a $30 honorarium. Measures Focus group questions included the following:
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1.
What makes your child (or his/her friends) get into fights?
2.
What stops your child (or his/her friends) from getting into fights?
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What is the best way to prevent adolescents from fighting? What can peers/parents/ schools/other adults do?
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We would like to start a program to keep teens from fighting. What should this program look like?
Data Analyses
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Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed by a research team member. To ensure accuracy, a second team member independently reviewed the transcripts while listening to the audiotape. Transcripts were analyzed independently by three coders, with differences resolved by consensus (Bertrand, Brown, & Ward, 1992). Two of the coders were physicians and researchers with prior experience conducting focus groups and analyzing qualitative data; the third coder was a medical student with a BA degree, who was trained in qualitative methods by the senior author (R.S.). Thematic content analysis was used to compare and contrast participant perspectives. Open-coding of transcripts was conducted using inductive analysis to identify participant-stated concepts (Elo & Kyngas, 2008). No new themes emerged after four focus groups, and it was determined that thematic saturation had been reached. Comparisons between themes by racial/ethnic group were then conducted. As the main aim of focus groups is to identify qualitative themes, frequencies are not reported (Kitzinger, 1995).
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Results Of the 17 participants, 76% were female (Table 1), 71% cited English as the primary language spoken at home, and about half of participants lived in two-parent households. Seven major themes and 27 sub-themes emerged (Table 2). The major themes were as follows: parental influence, methods used by parents to prevent youth from fighting, situations in which fighting is acceptable, peer influences, role of schools in protecting youth from fighting, role of other adults, and suggested interventions. Themes are described with illustrative quotes in the following text. Parental Influences
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Latino participants stated that parents are the most important protective influence against fighting, and that fighting prevention should “start at home” because “they [parents] have first interaction with that child.” They stated that it is the parents’ role to teach children good values, so that before engaging in negative behavior, their children consider, “what would I be doing to my parents if I do that? This isn’t the way I was raised.” There was alignment between Latino parent responses and African-American parent responses, with AfricanAmerican parents stating that “teaching starts at home” and parental nurturing and involvement, especially in early-childhood, protects against fighting. The importance of parental involvement in their child’s school was described by one African-American mother as, “I go pop up in my kids’ class, I volunteered in the attendance office, I wanna see what’s going on.” Methods Used by Parents to Prevent Youth from Fighting
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Corporal punishment was endorsed by most African-American participants; however, some acknowledged this as a short-term solution. One African-American parent reflected on the need for alternative methods to deter negative behavior, stating, “corporal punishment, the whoopings, that’s more of an immediate thing. I don’t think that’s a long-term solution. I’ve noticed it really only made me feel better because I was showing her [daughter] that there’s a consequence for what you did. You did this, so you’re going to get a couple of licks. But are those licks going to hurt that bad that that student is not going to act up or fight the next month? We need something more, but don’t know what that is.” African-American participants stated that youth should be taught to avoid fights by using non-violent strategies, including ignoring provocation, walking away, and telling adults, such as teachers or security officers, but that these strategies may be ineffective. Some African-American parents themselves did not know how to effectively use these strategies, and, therefore, felt unable to teach their children. One African-American parent explained that she tells her children, “if anybody wanna pick a fight with them, try to walk away. But sometimes that don’t work, cause other kids just provoke you. You used to could tell the kids where if somebody’s botherin’ you, tell the teacher first. But if you tell the teacher, and then the principal, they don’t do nothin’, then the next thing you do, your child is fighting.” Latino parents stated that they protect their children from fighting by specifically teaching about the consequences of fighting, boundaries for acceptable behavior, and taking responsibility for their actions. Latino participants recommended directly discussing
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negative consequences of fighting with their children because “the child can’t make the right decision if you leave it to them. It starts with the parents. You tell them, ‘hey, this happens if you get into a squabble’.” Parents are responsible for “making sure they [children] are loved, providing a safe place, letting them know some boundaries and some rules, and that sometimes you have to be stern with them, but it’s for their own good.”
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Latino participants strongly recommended non-violent conflict-resolution strategies, such as ignoring those who provoke fights, walking away, resolving differences by talking, and avoiding fights. Several Latino parents advised their children, “don’t pay attention to what they say,” and “if they look bad at you, they’re not doing anything to you, just look the other way.” Latino parents advised walking away from fights and seeking help from a teacher, police officer, or other adult, stating that “it takes a stronger man to walk away from a fight, and you’re more victorious if you can walk away, because you didn’t stoop to that level.” They also recommended that children report the incident to parents and enlist parental assistance in making reports to school administrators. Latino parents advised avoiding fights and those who fight, stating, “if they see a fight, or they heard the rumor there’s going to be a fight, not to go see it.” Situations in which Fighting is Acceptable Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort, if children continued to be physically threatened, despite attempting non-aggressive alternatives. One Latino father advised his children to “talk your way through the situation, get an adult involved. If it gets physical, you have our permission to fight back, but always try to talk your way out of a physical fight, and seek help before it gets to that point.”
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African-American participants generally recommended not fighting unless physically attacked, but admitted that families sometimes may encourage fighting or model aggression, resulting in mixed-messages. One African-American parent explained, “parents or adults can encourage children to fight because so and so disrespected your sister or me. To redeem our family, you need to go and do something; usually that something is gonna mean fight.” Parents may unintentionally model aggression when attempting to protect their children by intervening in disagreements. One African-American mother described this struggle: “I went up there, and I said, I’ma be calm, I’ma be calm. Cause with me, anytime’s you messin with my kid, you messin with me! I got riled up, before you even think about it or realize what you’re doing.” Fighting was also viewed by African-American parents as sometimes necessary to prevent further victimization, with one parent asserting, “if somebody hit ‘em, they supposed to defend theyself, they supposed to fight back. Don’t just get hit and keep getting hit. Let em hit you once, ‘she’s scared, he’s scared, they ain’t gonna fight back.’ They target, they pick at the ones that they know that they can pick at.” Peer Influences Despite acknowledging the importance of parental influences, African-American parents noted that influences outside the home, particularly friends, have the greatest impact on their children’s fighting behavior. Some African-American parents described methods they have used to protect their children from these external influences, including curfews, close
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monitoring for fighting before and after school, and moving to safer neighborhoods where children have a higher likelihood of associating with pro-social peers. Latino parents stated that friends can influence children negatively, by encouraging involvement in fighting, or positively, by defending their friends and helping friends choose non-violent conflict resolution strategies. Role of Schools in Protecting Youth from Fighting
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Latino and African-American participants cited respected teachers as being potentially influential in preventing fighting. One Latino parent observed, “kids really look up to certain teachers. It’s something they respect, and a mutual understanding. That surrogate parent, they’re the person they can talk to.” Teachers also can discover potential conflicts before they start, and defuse them early because, “if you have a good relationship with your teacher, the students will come to you and say, ‘there’s something going on’.” Despite this potential positive influence on preventing fighting, African-American and Latino parents stated that teachers may not have the tools to do so effectively. Latino parents advised empowering teachers and schools by providing education and resources for teachers to prevent fights. One Latino parent related, “A lot of teachers don’t want to get involved because of what happens to them. The teacher be asking a kid, ‘hey, you can’t be fighting,’ and he grabs him, talks to him; the next thing you know, the parents are suing them, or there’s conflict, or getting assaulted. So they [teachers] should be educated on what to say, on how to prevent, to stop a fight.”
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African-American and Latino parents strongly recommended increasing the severity of school-based consequences for fighting. One African-American parent recounted, “when I went to school, and if I start a fight, you go to the office, you would get your butt whipped. Nowadays, a kid get in trouble and they go to the office. The parent says, ‘don’t spank my kid or I’ma sue you.” African-American parents recommended stricter rules, consistent discipline, increased security and monitoring of school premises, and providing counseling for students who fight. One African-American parent advised, “If they get in fights in school, make it a requirement that they have to go to counseling and find out what the bottom issue is as to why they feel they need to act out in violence.” Role of Other Adults
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African-American parents asserted that all the adults in a child’s life can be role models, talk with children about fighting, and encourage values and respect. Extended family members and other adults can serve as positive role models by talking with children about their difficulties, or can be detrimental by counteracting teachings of non-violent conflict resolution in the home. One African-American parent stated, “sometimes, if a child is into a fight at school, instead of that family member going and trying to help solve it, they go and instigate, start wanting to fight everybody in the school too. That’s not helping the child, that’s just bringing more problems.” African-American parents emphasized, therefore, that “every adult needs to encourage that self-respect and value. The one that says, ‘if you want to amount to something, you’re going to not fight.’ It helps that every adult involved in the child’s life says the same thing.” There was congruence between African-American parent responses and Latino parent responses, with Latino parents stating that other adults also can
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protect children against fighting, particularly when their parents are unwilling, or unable, to do so. Police and neighbors can monitor children’s activities, and coaches, school staff, and religious leaders can serve as positive role models and reinforce the non-violent messages that children receive from parents. One Latino parent explained, “they’re like, ‘hey I heard this before,’ and they go ‘maybe my dad does make sense, because my coach is telling me the same thing my dad tells me.’” Suggested Interventions for Preventing Fighting
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African-American and Latino parents both stated that prevention should begin when children are young, such as in kindergarten, and should continue at least through middle school. Latino parents suggested that interventions that incorporate violence prevention into every part of the school curriculum are more likely to be effective, because “if you did it at every grade level, they’re getting conditioned.” Interventions should teach consequences of fighting and alternatives to fighting, including “punishments, why it’s wrong, who it affects. Not only the person fighting, but the victim, the friends around the victim, and your friends, and the victim’s parents.” African-American parents’ suggestions for intervention program components included teaching respect, anger management, and self-expression, concluding that “part of fighting is about expression, so if they can find a constructive way of expressing themselves, that would be a good program.”
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Latino and African-American parents recommended student involvement in designing the program. One African-American parent clarified, “I don’t mean the goody two-kind [of students] that’s quiet in school. Get some rowdy ones, the ones that kinda startin’ fights, to kinda figure what you think,” and Latino parents recommended including reformed fighters as role models. African-American and Latino parents recommended sports, after-school activities and mentoring programs, and community activities, such a religious involvement. One Latino parent described the benefits of physical activity in violence prevention as, “the more you sweat, the less you bleed.” African-American parents suggested community-based interventions that involve parents and teachers. Latino parents preferred programs tailored to the needs of each community, including providing program materials in several languages and electronic formats, and inclusion of parents and families. A Latino parent concluded, “you gotta have a program that’s willing to welcome these kids with open arms, to have the kid shine when there’s no hope, to reward that child when he gets there, to see them come to their fullest potential.”
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The goal of this qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of African-American and Latino parents about adolescent fighting and methods to prevent fighting. African-American and Latino participants agreed that parents, schools, and other adults play important roles in adolescents’ engagement in fighting, but disagreed about the relative importance of each of these agents. There also was disagreement about situations in which fighting is acceptable, and strategies parents use to protect youth from fighting. Parents provided specific suggestions regarding the content of desired interventions to prevent youth fighting.
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Latino participants identified parents as having the strongest influence on their children’s fighting behavior, whereas African-American participants cited external influences as also being important. This may be consistent with familismo, the normative Latino cultural value of the family as central and important (Rodriguez & Brindis, 1995). Family connectedness and cohesion are more strongly associated with decreased aggression among Latinos, compared with African-Americans and whites (Gorman-Smith, Tolan, Zelli, & Huesmann, 1996; Oscos-Sanchez & Lesser, 2007). Teachers and other adults at school and in the community also were viewed as protective influences by participants. Studies suggest an important role for community and school-based support and resources, particularly teachers, in violence prevention (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2011; Rodriguez & Brindis, 1995; Shetgiri et al., 2009). Warm and supportive relationships with teachers and adults at school may prevent fighting (Farrell et al., 2010). It may be beneficial, therefore, to promote such positive relationships with teachers and other adults, and to empower these adults to take active roles in preventing youth from fighting.
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Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort, whereas some African-American parents stated that fighting is sometimes necessary. Parental attitudes towards the acceptability of fighting are associated with youth fighting behavior (Solomon et al., 2008). African-American, inner-city parents may consider fighting to be necessary in some situations (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013), and studies with youth suggest that mixedmessages about the acceptability of fighting may increase the likelihood of youth fighting (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013; Shetgiri et al., 2015; Solomon et al., 2008). Parental attitudes towards fighting may differ by race/ethnicity, and prevention programs should be designed with awareness of these differences. For African-Americans, it may be beneficial to include components that specifically address changing parental attitudes towards fighting and the acceptability of fighting.
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African-American and Latino parents also differed in their views on methods to prevent fighting. Corporal punishment was strongly advocated as a potential strategy by AfricanAmerican participants. Despite studies that indicate the negative effects of corporal punishment, including increased aggression, its approval remains high within urban communities (Ferguson, 2013; Taylor, Hamvas, Rice Newman, & DeJong, 2011). Inner-city African-American parents in one study reported using corporal punishment to punish children for fighting (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013). Latino parents in another study expressed a desire to learn alternatives to corporal punishment (Parra-Cardona, 2009). Latino parents in our study taught children about emotional regulation and non-violent conflict resolution strategies. African-American parents agreed with teaching non-violent strategies, but expressed some doubts about their effectiveness. Parental influence on youths’ use of aggressive responses to resolve conflict may occur through coaching, which is direct advice that parents give children about how to cope with situations (Kliewer, 2006). AfricanAmerican youth who use aggressive conflict-resolution strategies are more likely to have parents who suggest aggressive coping (Kliewer, 2006). In contrast, African-American youth in another study reported that parents teaching them about the negative consequences of fighting, telling them to use non-violent responses, modeling non-violence and emotional self-regulation, and giving advice about problem-solving deter fighting (Farrell et al., 2010). It may be important, therefore, to address parental beliefs regarding the effectiveness of nonJ Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01.
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violent strategies in order to promote parental teaching of such strategies to youth. Interventions to prevent fighting for African-Americans and Latinos could include components that improve parent-child communication about fighting and alternative conflict-resolution strategies. Certain study limitations should be noted. All participants were recruited from one southwestern US city; findings may, therefore, not generalize to other parts of the country or to non-urban populations. The sample size was relatively small, but thematic saturation was achieved. No additional data collection methods, such as interviews, were used, and triangulation of multiple methods was not conducted.
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Most violence-prevention programs for adolescents focus on school-based interventions, with few programs involving families (Cooper et al., 2000). Intervention evaluations have shown mixed results, with some demonstrating reduced incidence of aggressive behaviors (Mytton et al., 2006), but others finding negligible effects on violence (Park-Higgerson et al., 2008). Findings from our study suggest that addressing parental attitudes towards fighting, teaching parents and adolescents how to effectively use non-violent conflict resolution techniques, and increasing their self-efficacy for using these strategies may improve the effectiveness of violence-prevention programs. Tailoring programs to different racial/ethnic groups; involving students, parents, teachers, and communities; and incorporating the experiences of former fighters also may be beneficial. For AfricanAmerican parents, it may be particularly important to address communication regarding the acceptability of fighting, and teaching children non-violent conflict resolution; programs for Latinos may need to be culturally appropriate, and recognize the prominent role of the family in influencing child behavior.
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Acknowledgments Funding: Dr. Chen’s participation was supported by the American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Society Student Summer Research Program. This study was supported in part by Grant # K23HD068401 to Dr. Shetgiri from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors, and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.
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Table 1
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Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics of Focus Group Parents (N=17) Characteristic
Finding
Mean age of child, years
15
Mean grade of child
10
Gender Male
24%
Female
76%
Primary language spoken at home English
71%
Spanish
29%
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Mother’s highest level of educational attainment Has not completed high school
24%
Graduated from high school or has GED
18%
Has at least some college or technical school training
59%
Family structure Home with both parents
53%
Home with only one parent
41%
Other relative’s home
6%
Home with more than one family
6%
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Table 2
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Focus group themes and sub-themes
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Themes
Sub-themes
Parental influences
Parents as teachers Positive role modeling Parental involvement in children’s lives Promoting goal-orientation
Methods used by parents to prevent youth from fighting
Corporal punishment Non-violent conflict resolution strategies Educating children about negative consequences of fighting Boundaries for acceptable behavior
Situations in which fighting is acceptable
Acceptable when physically attacked Mixed messages from family about acceptability of fighting Necessary to prevent future victimization
Peer influences
Friends can influence more than family Friends can encourage fighting Friends can protect youth from fighting
Role of schools in protecting youth from fighting
Teachers can defuse potential conflicts Teachers need education and resources on preventing fighting Need to increase severity of school-based consequences for fighting Increase school security Provide counseling for fighters
Role of other adults
Extended family members and other adults as positive role models Negative role modeling can counteract parental teaching Need for consistent messages about non-violence
Suggested interventions
Begin early Incorporate violence prevention into school curriculum Teach consequences and alternatives to fighting; respect, anger management, and self-expression Student involvement in program design Community-based, tailored to community needs
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J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01. Published in final edited form as: J Child Fam Stud. 2016 June ; 25(6): 1746–1754. doi:10.1007/s10826-015-0355-8.
African-American and Latino Parents’ Attitudes and Beliefs Regarding Adolescent Fighting and Its Prevention RuiJun Chen, Department of Internal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco; San Francisco, CA
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Glenn Flores, and Department of Health Policy Research, Medica Research Institute; Minneapolis, MN Rashmi Shetgiri Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, 1000 W. Carson Street, Box 468, Torrance, CA 90509-2910, [email protected]
Abstract
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Adolescent fighting affects 25% of youth, with the highest rates among African-Americans and Latinos but little is known about parental views on youth fighting. The purpose of this study was to examine African-American and Latino parents’ perspectives on adolescent fighting and methods to prevent fighting. We conducted four focus groups with parents of African-American and Latino urban adolescents. Focus groups were stratified by race/ethnicity and fighting status. Groups were audiotaped, transcribed, and analyzed by three independent coders using thematic content analysis. Seventy-six percent of the 17 participants were female. Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort, and taught children about consequences of fighting, emotional regulation, and non-violent conflict-resolution strategies. African-American parents endorsed teaching non-violent strategies, but expressed some doubts about their effectiveness. AfricanAmerican parents also suggested corporal punishment, but acknowledged that this may not be an optimal long-term strategy. Positive role modeling and involvement by teachers and other adults were cited as having important roles in fighting prevention. Suggested interventions included teaching adolescents non-violent conflict-resolution skills, anger management, and alternatives to fighting. Parents recommended that violence prevention programs incorporate the experiences of former fighters and be tailored to community needs. Study findings suggest that youth violenceprevention programs may benefit from addressing parental attitudes towards fighting and parentchild communication about fighting, teaching adolescents non-violent conflict-resolution skills, and tailoring programs by race/ethnicity. Promoting positive modeling and involvement by teachers and other adults also may be beneficial.
Corresponding author. [email protected]. Compliance with Ethical Standards Research involving Human Participants: This study was approved by the University of Texas Southwestern Institutional Review Board. Informed consent: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study Conflict of Interest: The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest. Ethical approval: All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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Keywords Adolescent; violence; parents; fighting; ethnicity
Introduction
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Physical fighting is a common form of interpersonal violence among youth, with almost 25% of adolescents reporting fighting in the past year (Kann et al., 2014). Adolescent fighting is associated with other risky behaviors, and can lead to homicide (Borowsky & Ireland, 2004; Cotton et al., 1994; Orpinas, Basen-Engquist, Grunbaum & Parcel, 1995; Rappaport & Thomas, 2004). The prevalence of fighting varies by race/ethnicity. AfricanAmericans have the highest prevalence of fighting (35%), followed by Latinos (28%), and whites (21%) (Kann et al., 2014). Risk and protective factors for adolescent fighting have been shown to differ by race/ethnicity (Shetgiri, Kataoka, Ponce, Flores, & Chung, 2010); however, most prior research has focused on white youth, with limited studies on AfricanAmerican or Latino adolescents (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services [HHS], 2001).
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Most violence-prevention interventions consist of classroom and school-based programs which show conflicting results on the effectiveness in reducing violence, particularly among racial/ethnic minority youth (Cooper, Lutenbacher, & Faccia, 2000; Miranda et al., 2005; Mytton, DiGuiseppi, Gough, Taylor, & Logan, 2006; Park-Higgerson, Perumean-Chaney, Bartolucci, Grimley, & Singh, 2008). It is necessary, therefore, to identify influences on youth violence that can be targeted for inclusion into potentially effective violenceprevention programs. Interventions that include parent and family components may be more likely to be effective (Reese, Vera, Simon & Ikeda, 2000; Pantin et al., 2009).
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Parental attitudes and behaviors may substantially influence adolescent behavior, including violence. Close parental monitoring and strong parent-child relationships are inversely associated with youth violence (Resnick et al., 1997; Smith, Flay, Bell, & Weissberg, 2001; Wright & Fitzpatrick, 2006). Parental attitudes about violence influence the messages they impart to youth about violence (Lindstrom Johnson, Finigan, Bradshaw, Haynie, & Cheng, 2011). Surveys of ethnically diverse youth show that perceptions of parents’ or families’ attitudes towards violence are positively associated with adolescent fighting behavior (Cotten et al., 1994; Malek, Chang, & Davis, 1998) and retaliatory attitudes (CopelandLinder, 2007), with pro-fighting attitudes associated with violence and fighting (Ohene, Ireland, McNeely, & Borowsky, 2006; Orpinas, Murray, & Kelder, 1999; Solomon, Bradshaw, Wright, & Cheng, 2008). Qualitative studies of youth similarly reveal that family norms supporting violence and fighting in response to aggression are associated with fighting (Johnson, Frattaroli, Wright, Pearson-Fields, & Cheng, 2004). Identifying and addressing parental attitudes and behaviors may, therefore, be an important component of interventions to prevent fighting. Few qualitative studies have examined parental perspectives about youth fighting. Qualitative research is particularly useful for examining attitudes and behaviors, and can provide insights into parental perspectives on adolescents’ fighting behavior (Johnson et al., J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01.
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2004). Studies suggest that there may be racial/ethnic differences in parental perspectives on youth fighting and its prevention. In one qualitative study, inner-city African-American parents identified strategies to prevent or de-escalate fights, including parental monitoring of teens’ activities and friendships, and parental counseling of youth to avoid negative peers and conflict situations and to seek help from teachers (Lindstrom Johnson, Finigan, Bradshaw, Haynie, & Cheng, 2013). Parents viewed it as necessary to use violence in certain situations, such as self-defense; youth reported mixed messages from their parents regarding situations in which fighting was acceptable (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013). In semistructured interviews with low-income, urban, predominantly African-American parents, participants discussed the importance of parental involvement with the school as a method of supervising children, but stated that such involvement could be hindered by negative interactions with teachers and staff (Murray, 2014). In a focus group study of AfricanAmerican parents of adolescents living in public housing, parents instructed their children to avoid potentially dangerous situations and to walk away from conflict situations (Howard, 2003). They reported closely monitoring their children’s activities, enlisting the help of extended family members as role models and supervisors for youth, and enrolling youth in community programs and services. Parents also recounted becoming involved in their children’s conflict to mediate the situation, but that this could result in parents themselves resorting to aggression (Howard, 2003).
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Mexican-American immigrant parents in one qualitative study described using a combination of strict parental monitoring and promoting close parent-child relationships to protect their children from violence (Cruz-Santiago & Ramirez Garcia, 2011). They stressed the importance of parent-child communication, parental involvement with their children, and building strong, mutually trusting relationships with their children. Parents reported instilling strong cultural values in their children, such as familismo, which emphasizes the importance of the family over the individual, and respeto, which emphasizes respect towards elders and authority figures. In another focus group study of Latino parents, participants expressed a desire for culturally relevant parenting interventions, based on cultural values of familismo and respeto, which teach alternatives to corporal punishment as a means of discipline (Parra-Cardona et al., 2009). Few studies, to our knowledge, have investigated parental perspectives on adolescent fighting across racial/ethnic groups. The purpose of this study was to examine AfricanAmerican and Latino parents’ perspectives on adolescent fighting and methods to prevent fighting. This study contributes to the existing literature by providing comparison of African-American and Latino parents’ perspectives on youth fighting.
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Method Participants Four focus groups were conducted with parents/guardians of adolescents 13–17 years old, two groups with parents of African-American adolescents, and two groups with parents of Latino adolescents. Parents of adolescents who had been in a fight in the past year were placed in different groups than parents of adolescents who had not been in a fight. Parental race/ethnicity was self-reported, and fighting status was based on parental report or student J Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01.
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self-report. Participants were recruited from two urban high schools and a community-based program, or through their children’s participation in another study (Shetgiri, Lee, Tillitski, Wilson, & Flores, 2015). Focus groups were the chosen methodology because of their utility in examining participants’ knowledge, experiences, attitudes, and motivations (Kitzinger, 1995). Procedure
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Written informed consent was obtained at the time of recruitment or when participants arrived for focus groups. Since the ideal size of a focus group is 4–8 participants (Kitzinger, 1995), 8–9 parents were recruited for each group, to account for potential no-shows. Focus groups were conducted in a private room at a location which was convenient for participants. Groups were moderated by a bilingual, trained researcher using a moderator’s guide of open-ended questions and probes to stimulate discussion, and were 60–90 minutes in duration. Participants completed a sociodemographic questionnaire and received a $30 honorarium. Measures Focus group questions included the following:
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1.
What makes your child (or his/her friends) get into fights?
2.
What stops your child (or his/her friends) from getting into fights?
3.
What is the best way to prevent adolescents from fighting? What can peers/parents/ schools/other adults do?
4.
We would like to start a program to keep teens from fighting. What should this program look like?
Data Analyses
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Focus groups were audiotaped and transcribed by a research team member. To ensure accuracy, a second team member independently reviewed the transcripts while listening to the audiotape. Transcripts were analyzed independently by three coders, with differences resolved by consensus (Bertrand, Brown, & Ward, 1992). Two of the coders were physicians and researchers with prior experience conducting focus groups and analyzing qualitative data; the third coder was a medical student with a BA degree, who was trained in qualitative methods by the senior author (R.S.). Thematic content analysis was used to compare and contrast participant perspectives. Open-coding of transcripts was conducted using inductive analysis to identify participant-stated concepts (Elo & Kyngas, 2008). No new themes emerged after four focus groups, and it was determined that thematic saturation had been reached. Comparisons between themes by racial/ethnic group were then conducted. As the main aim of focus groups is to identify qualitative themes, frequencies are not reported (Kitzinger, 1995).
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Results Of the 17 participants, 76% were female (Table 1), 71% cited English as the primary language spoken at home, and about half of participants lived in two-parent households. Seven major themes and 27 sub-themes emerged (Table 2). The major themes were as follows: parental influence, methods used by parents to prevent youth from fighting, situations in which fighting is acceptable, peer influences, role of schools in protecting youth from fighting, role of other adults, and suggested interventions. Themes are described with illustrative quotes in the following text. Parental Influences
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Latino participants stated that parents are the most important protective influence against fighting, and that fighting prevention should “start at home” because “they [parents] have first interaction with that child.” They stated that it is the parents’ role to teach children good values, so that before engaging in negative behavior, their children consider, “what would I be doing to my parents if I do that? This isn’t the way I was raised.” There was alignment between Latino parent responses and African-American parent responses, with AfricanAmerican parents stating that “teaching starts at home” and parental nurturing and involvement, especially in early-childhood, protects against fighting. The importance of parental involvement in their child’s school was described by one African-American mother as, “I go pop up in my kids’ class, I volunteered in the attendance office, I wanna see what’s going on.” Methods Used by Parents to Prevent Youth from Fighting
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Corporal punishment was endorsed by most African-American participants; however, some acknowledged this as a short-term solution. One African-American parent reflected on the need for alternative methods to deter negative behavior, stating, “corporal punishment, the whoopings, that’s more of an immediate thing. I don’t think that’s a long-term solution. I’ve noticed it really only made me feel better because I was showing her [daughter] that there’s a consequence for what you did. You did this, so you’re going to get a couple of licks. But are those licks going to hurt that bad that that student is not going to act up or fight the next month? We need something more, but don’t know what that is.” African-American participants stated that youth should be taught to avoid fights by using non-violent strategies, including ignoring provocation, walking away, and telling adults, such as teachers or security officers, but that these strategies may be ineffective. Some African-American parents themselves did not know how to effectively use these strategies, and, therefore, felt unable to teach their children. One African-American parent explained that she tells her children, “if anybody wanna pick a fight with them, try to walk away. But sometimes that don’t work, cause other kids just provoke you. You used to could tell the kids where if somebody’s botherin’ you, tell the teacher first. But if you tell the teacher, and then the principal, they don’t do nothin’, then the next thing you do, your child is fighting.” Latino parents stated that they protect their children from fighting by specifically teaching about the consequences of fighting, boundaries for acceptable behavior, and taking responsibility for their actions. Latino participants recommended directly discussing
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negative consequences of fighting with their children because “the child can’t make the right decision if you leave it to them. It starts with the parents. You tell them, ‘hey, this happens if you get into a squabble’.” Parents are responsible for “making sure they [children] are loved, providing a safe place, letting them know some boundaries and some rules, and that sometimes you have to be stern with them, but it’s for their own good.”
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Latino participants strongly recommended non-violent conflict-resolution strategies, such as ignoring those who provoke fights, walking away, resolving differences by talking, and avoiding fights. Several Latino parents advised their children, “don’t pay attention to what they say,” and “if they look bad at you, they’re not doing anything to you, just look the other way.” Latino parents advised walking away from fights and seeking help from a teacher, police officer, or other adult, stating that “it takes a stronger man to walk away from a fight, and you’re more victorious if you can walk away, because you didn’t stoop to that level.” They also recommended that children report the incident to parents and enlist parental assistance in making reports to school administrators. Latino parents advised avoiding fights and those who fight, stating, “if they see a fight, or they heard the rumor there’s going to be a fight, not to go see it.” Situations in which Fighting is Acceptable Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort, if children continued to be physically threatened, despite attempting non-aggressive alternatives. One Latino father advised his children to “talk your way through the situation, get an adult involved. If it gets physical, you have our permission to fight back, but always try to talk your way out of a physical fight, and seek help before it gets to that point.”
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African-American participants generally recommended not fighting unless physically attacked, but admitted that families sometimes may encourage fighting or model aggression, resulting in mixed-messages. One African-American parent explained, “parents or adults can encourage children to fight because so and so disrespected your sister or me. To redeem our family, you need to go and do something; usually that something is gonna mean fight.” Parents may unintentionally model aggression when attempting to protect their children by intervening in disagreements. One African-American mother described this struggle: “I went up there, and I said, I’ma be calm, I’ma be calm. Cause with me, anytime’s you messin with my kid, you messin with me! I got riled up, before you even think about it or realize what you’re doing.” Fighting was also viewed by African-American parents as sometimes necessary to prevent further victimization, with one parent asserting, “if somebody hit ‘em, they supposed to defend theyself, they supposed to fight back. Don’t just get hit and keep getting hit. Let em hit you once, ‘she’s scared, he’s scared, they ain’t gonna fight back.’ They target, they pick at the ones that they know that they can pick at.” Peer Influences Despite acknowledging the importance of parental influences, African-American parents noted that influences outside the home, particularly friends, have the greatest impact on their children’s fighting behavior. Some African-American parents described methods they have used to protect their children from these external influences, including curfews, close
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monitoring for fighting before and after school, and moving to safer neighborhoods where children have a higher likelihood of associating with pro-social peers. Latino parents stated that friends can influence children negatively, by encouraging involvement in fighting, or positively, by defending their friends and helping friends choose non-violent conflict resolution strategies. Role of Schools in Protecting Youth from Fighting
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Latino and African-American participants cited respected teachers as being potentially influential in preventing fighting. One Latino parent observed, “kids really look up to certain teachers. It’s something they respect, and a mutual understanding. That surrogate parent, they’re the person they can talk to.” Teachers also can discover potential conflicts before they start, and defuse them early because, “if you have a good relationship with your teacher, the students will come to you and say, ‘there’s something going on’.” Despite this potential positive influence on preventing fighting, African-American and Latino parents stated that teachers may not have the tools to do so effectively. Latino parents advised empowering teachers and schools by providing education and resources for teachers to prevent fights. One Latino parent related, “A lot of teachers don’t want to get involved because of what happens to them. The teacher be asking a kid, ‘hey, you can’t be fighting,’ and he grabs him, talks to him; the next thing you know, the parents are suing them, or there’s conflict, or getting assaulted. So they [teachers] should be educated on what to say, on how to prevent, to stop a fight.”
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African-American and Latino parents strongly recommended increasing the severity of school-based consequences for fighting. One African-American parent recounted, “when I went to school, and if I start a fight, you go to the office, you would get your butt whipped. Nowadays, a kid get in trouble and they go to the office. The parent says, ‘don’t spank my kid or I’ma sue you.” African-American parents recommended stricter rules, consistent discipline, increased security and monitoring of school premises, and providing counseling for students who fight. One African-American parent advised, “If they get in fights in school, make it a requirement that they have to go to counseling and find out what the bottom issue is as to why they feel they need to act out in violence.” Role of Other Adults
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African-American parents asserted that all the adults in a child’s life can be role models, talk with children about fighting, and encourage values and respect. Extended family members and other adults can serve as positive role models by talking with children about their difficulties, or can be detrimental by counteracting teachings of non-violent conflict resolution in the home. One African-American parent stated, “sometimes, if a child is into a fight at school, instead of that family member going and trying to help solve it, they go and instigate, start wanting to fight everybody in the school too. That’s not helping the child, that’s just bringing more problems.” African-American parents emphasized, therefore, that “every adult needs to encourage that self-respect and value. The one that says, ‘if you want to amount to something, you’re going to not fight.’ It helps that every adult involved in the child’s life says the same thing.” There was congruence between African-American parent responses and Latino parent responses, with Latino parents stating that other adults also can
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protect children against fighting, particularly when their parents are unwilling, or unable, to do so. Police and neighbors can monitor children’s activities, and coaches, school staff, and religious leaders can serve as positive role models and reinforce the non-violent messages that children receive from parents. One Latino parent explained, “they’re like, ‘hey I heard this before,’ and they go ‘maybe my dad does make sense, because my coach is telling me the same thing my dad tells me.’” Suggested Interventions for Preventing Fighting
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African-American and Latino parents both stated that prevention should begin when children are young, such as in kindergarten, and should continue at least through middle school. Latino parents suggested that interventions that incorporate violence prevention into every part of the school curriculum are more likely to be effective, because “if you did it at every grade level, they’re getting conditioned.” Interventions should teach consequences of fighting and alternatives to fighting, including “punishments, why it’s wrong, who it affects. Not only the person fighting, but the victim, the friends around the victim, and your friends, and the victim’s parents.” African-American parents’ suggestions for intervention program components included teaching respect, anger management, and self-expression, concluding that “part of fighting is about expression, so if they can find a constructive way of expressing themselves, that would be a good program.”
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Latino and African-American parents recommended student involvement in designing the program. One African-American parent clarified, “I don’t mean the goody two-kind [of students] that’s quiet in school. Get some rowdy ones, the ones that kinda startin’ fights, to kinda figure what you think,” and Latino parents recommended including reformed fighters as role models. African-American and Latino parents recommended sports, after-school activities and mentoring programs, and community activities, such a religious involvement. One Latino parent described the benefits of physical activity in violence prevention as, “the more you sweat, the less you bleed.” African-American parents suggested community-based interventions that involve parents and teachers. Latino parents preferred programs tailored to the needs of each community, including providing program materials in several languages and electronic formats, and inclusion of parents and families. A Latino parent concluded, “you gotta have a program that’s willing to welcome these kids with open arms, to have the kid shine when there’s no hope, to reward that child when he gets there, to see them come to their fullest potential.”
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The goal of this qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of African-American and Latino parents about adolescent fighting and methods to prevent fighting. African-American and Latino participants agreed that parents, schools, and other adults play important roles in adolescents’ engagement in fighting, but disagreed about the relative importance of each of these agents. There also was disagreement about situations in which fighting is acceptable, and strategies parents use to protect youth from fighting. Parents provided specific suggestions regarding the content of desired interventions to prevent youth fighting.
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Latino participants identified parents as having the strongest influence on their children’s fighting behavior, whereas African-American participants cited external influences as also being important. This may be consistent with familismo, the normative Latino cultural value of the family as central and important (Rodriguez & Brindis, 1995). Family connectedness and cohesion are more strongly associated with decreased aggression among Latinos, compared with African-Americans and whites (Gorman-Smith, Tolan, Zelli, & Huesmann, 1996; Oscos-Sanchez & Lesser, 2007). Teachers and other adults at school and in the community also were viewed as protective influences by participants. Studies suggest an important role for community and school-based support and resources, particularly teachers, in violence prevention (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2011; Rodriguez & Brindis, 1995; Shetgiri et al., 2009). Warm and supportive relationships with teachers and adults at school may prevent fighting (Farrell et al., 2010). It may be beneficial, therefore, to promote such positive relationships with teachers and other adults, and to empower these adults to take active roles in preventing youth from fighting.
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Latino parents condoned fighting only as a last resort, whereas some African-American parents stated that fighting is sometimes necessary. Parental attitudes towards the acceptability of fighting are associated with youth fighting behavior (Solomon et al., 2008). African-American, inner-city parents may consider fighting to be necessary in some situations (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013), and studies with youth suggest that mixedmessages about the acceptability of fighting may increase the likelihood of youth fighting (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013; Shetgiri et al., 2015; Solomon et al., 2008). Parental attitudes towards fighting may differ by race/ethnicity, and prevention programs should be designed with awareness of these differences. For African-Americans, it may be beneficial to include components that specifically address changing parental attitudes towards fighting and the acceptability of fighting.
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African-American and Latino parents also differed in their views on methods to prevent fighting. Corporal punishment was strongly advocated as a potential strategy by AfricanAmerican participants. Despite studies that indicate the negative effects of corporal punishment, including increased aggression, its approval remains high within urban communities (Ferguson, 2013; Taylor, Hamvas, Rice Newman, & DeJong, 2011). Inner-city African-American parents in one study reported using corporal punishment to punish children for fighting (Lindstrom Johnson et al., 2013). Latino parents in another study expressed a desire to learn alternatives to corporal punishment (Parra-Cardona, 2009). Latino parents in our study taught children about emotional regulation and non-violent conflict resolution strategies. African-American parents agreed with teaching non-violent strategies, but expressed some doubts about their effectiveness. Parental influence on youths’ use of aggressive responses to resolve conflict may occur through coaching, which is direct advice that parents give children about how to cope with situations (Kliewer, 2006). AfricanAmerican youth who use aggressive conflict-resolution strategies are more likely to have parents who suggest aggressive coping (Kliewer, 2006). In contrast, African-American youth in another study reported that parents teaching them about the negative consequences of fighting, telling them to use non-violent responses, modeling non-violence and emotional self-regulation, and giving advice about problem-solving deter fighting (Farrell et al., 2010). It may be important, therefore, to address parental beliefs regarding the effectiveness of nonJ Child Fam Stud. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2017 June 01.
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violent strategies in order to promote parental teaching of such strategies to youth. Interventions to prevent fighting for African-Americans and Latinos could include components that improve parent-child communication about fighting and alternative conflict-resolution strategies. Certain study limitations should be noted. All participants were recruited from one southwestern US city; findings may, therefore, not generalize to other parts of the country or to non-urban populations. The sample size was relatively small, but thematic saturation was achieved. No additional data collection methods, such as interviews, were used, and triangulation of multiple methods was not conducted.
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Most violence-prevention programs for adolescents focus on school-based interventions, with few programs involving families (Cooper et al., 2000). Intervention evaluations have shown mixed results, with some demonstrating reduced incidence of aggressive behaviors (Mytton et al., 2006), but others finding negligible effects on violence (Park-Higgerson et al., 2008). Findings from our study suggest that addressing parental attitudes towards fighting, teaching parents and adolescents how to effectively use non-violent conflict resolution techniques, and increasing their self-efficacy for using these strategies may improve the effectiveness of violence-prevention programs. Tailoring programs to different racial/ethnic groups; involving students, parents, teachers, and communities; and incorporating the experiences of former fighters also may be beneficial. For AfricanAmerican parents, it may be particularly important to address communication regarding the acceptability of fighting, and teaching children non-violent conflict resolution; programs for Latinos may need to be culturally appropriate, and recognize the prominent role of the family in influencing child behavior.
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Acknowledgments Funding: Dr. Chen’s participation was supported by the American Pediatric Society and the Society for Pediatric Society Student Summer Research Program. This study was supported in part by Grant # K23HD068401 to Dr. Shetgiri from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors, and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development or the National Institutes of Health.
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Table 1
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Selected Sociodemographic Characteristics of Focus Group Parents (N=17) Characteristic
Finding
Mean age of child, years
15
Mean grade of child
10
Gender Male
24%
Female
76%
Primary language spoken at home English
71%
Spanish
29%
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Mother’s highest level of educational attainment Has not completed high school
24%
Graduated from high school or has GED
18%
Has at least some college or technical school training
59%
Family structure Home with both parents
53%
Home with only one parent
41%
Other relative’s home
6%
Home with more than one family
6%
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Table 2
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Focus group themes and sub-themes
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Themes
Sub-themes
Parental influences
Parents as teachers Positive role modeling Parental involvement in children’s lives Promoting goal-orientation
Methods used by parents to prevent youth from fighting
Corporal punishment Non-violent conflict resolution strategies Educating children about negative consequences of fighting Boundaries for acceptable behavior
Situations in which fighting is acceptable
Acceptable when physically attacked Mixed messages from family about acceptability of fighting Necessary to prevent future victimization
Peer influences
Friends can influence more than family Friends can encourage fighting Friends can protect youth from fighting
Role of schools in protecting youth from fighting
Teachers can defuse potential conflicts Teachers need education and resources on preventing fighting Need to increase severity of school-based consequences for fighting Increase school security Provide counseling for fighters
Role of other adults
Extended family members and other adults as positive role models Negative role modeling can counteract parental teaching Need for consistent messages about non-violence
Suggested interventions
Begin early Incorporate violence prevention into school curriculum Teach consequences and alternatives to fighting; respect, anger management, and self-expression Student involvement in program design Community-based, tailored to community needs
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