Toward an intersectional understanding of violence and resilience: An exploratory study of young Southeast Asian men in Alameda and Contra Costa County, California

There is a nascent, but growing, literature on Southeast Asian youth violence that focuses on the role of acculturation, portraying violence as a problem of maladaptation. However, scholars overlook the ways in which violence holds meaning for the youth who experience it and how violence may be related to racial and gender identity formation. We conducted a qualitative study with young Southeast Asian men to elicit the role violence plays in their understanding of what it means for them to be Southeast Asian and male. We conducted focus groups and semi-structured individual interviews with an ethnically diverse group of 21 young Southeast Asian men 13–17 years of age from Alameda and Contra Costa Counties, California. Data were analyzed using the extended case method approach. Our findings illustrate that violence and engagement with community-based organizations are situational tools that these young Southeast Asian men use to navigate their social contexts in an attempt to be resilient in ecological contexts marked by alienation and discrimination, as well as to construct accepted and successful racial and gender identities. Furthermore, we found that their actions were guided by gendered codes of conduct, such as a “code of the street.”     

They Wear the Mask

Abstract

Interpersonal violence represents a serious health risk for African American male adolescents, especially those in urban environments. Given the nature of potentially high-stress inner-city contexts, perhaps it is not surprising that many young Black males engage in hypermasculine behavior, particularly aggression, to cope and earn respect from peers. Using theoretical frameworks that appreciate cultural, developmental, and gender differences, this study examines relationships between the hypervulnerable qualities of depression, rejection sensitivity, and fear and the hypermasculine outcome of aggression among young Black males in a remedial disciplinary context. Results suggested that depression and rejection sensitivity significantly correlated with anger- and aggression-related responses and can be argued to be potential exacerbators of aggression among these youth. Implications for anti-aggression intervention efforts with young Black males in urban contexts are discussed.     

The Role of Deviant Lifestyles on Violent Victimization in Multiple Contexts

Little research utilizing lifestyles theory (Hindelang, Gottfredson, and Garofalo 1978) has examined the role that deviant lifestyles have on the likelihood of witnessing violence among ethnic-minority youth across various contexts. Therefore, we examined the effects of indicators of a deviant lifestyle (delinquent behavior and deviant peers) on exposure to both direct and indirect forms of violence across three contexts (home, school, and community) among 233 11th graders. Findings indicated that the effects of deviant lifestyle indicators on violence vary by context. Results suggest that lifestyles theory may be applicable for predicting the likelihood of witnessing violence among minority youth across contexts.     

Gang Fights versus Cat Fights: Urban Young Men's Gendered Narratives of Violence

Scholarly accounts of young men's violence have remained remarkably consistent over time: the use of violence emerges in response to focal concerns that strongly emphasize autonomy, respect, and the defense of reputation, and is indicative of the import of hegemonic masculinities on the streets. Yet, despite persistent gender gaps in the use of violence, recent research suggests that young women use violence more often than commonly believed, and their violence is likewise tied to concerns about status and respect. Given scholarly attention to the functions of violence for accomplishing masculinity, this raises the interesting question of whether and how young men maintain the equation of masculinity with violence when faced with the reality of young women's violence. Drawing from the sociology of accounts and research on gender, language, and discourse, we analyze in-depth interviews with 39 urban African-American young men to compare how they construct and make sense of boys' and girls' violence in the context of conversations about the nature and meanings of violence.     

Interparental violence, maternal emotional unavailability and children's cortisol functioning in family contexts

Our goal in the present study was to examine the specificity of pathways among interparental violence, maternal emotional unavailability, and children's cortisol reactivity to emotional stressors within interparental and parent-child relationships. The study also tested whether detrimental family contexts were associated, on average, with hypocortisolism or hypercortisolism responses to stressful family interactions in young children. Participants included 201 toddlers and their mothers who were from impoverished backgrounds and who experienced disproportionate levels of family violence. Assessments of interparental violence were derived from maternal surveys and interviews, whereas maternal emotional unavailability was assessed through maternal reports and observer ratings of caregiving. Salivary cortisol levels were sampled at 3 time points before and after laboratory paradigms designed to elicit children's reactivity to stressful interparental and parent-child contexts. Results indicated that interparental violence and the mother's emotional unavailability were differentially associated with children's adrenocorticol stress reactivity. Furthermore, these family risk contexts predicted lower cortisol change in response to distress. The results are interpreted in the context of risky family and emotional security theory conceptualizations that underscore how family contexts differentially impact children's physiological regulatory capacities.     

A Research Note on Islam and Gender Egalitarianism: An Examination of Egyptian and Saudi Arabian Youth Attitudes

Despite the importance of young people in determining future trends in women's advancement in the predominantly Muslim countries of the Middle East, no quantitative study to date has focused exclusively on the relationship between Islamic religiosity and gender egalitarianism among youth in the region. Using data from the Youth, Emotional Energy, and Political Violence Survey, I investigate the relationship between Islamic religiosity and gender egalitarianism among youth in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, devoting special attention to gender differences within countries. Particular dimensions of Islamic religiosity have different effects on gender egalitarianism by group, reflecting social currents in each country's civic sphere. For young men in both contexts, orthodoxy and mosque attendance are negatively associated with gender egalitarianism. In contrast, for Egyptian young women self‐identified religiosity positively affects gender egalitarianism while for Saudi Arabian women, Islamic religiosity has no effect.     

Embodied performance in violent places: Transiting in and through the home,the streets,and institutions

Young marginalized people who live in violent contexts have intense and non-linear spatial experiences. This paper explores their gendered responses to violence in terms of body performance and spatial movements between their houses, in the streets and within various institutions. We consider these social subjects to be both ‘body-subjects' and ‘feeling-subjects', as their corporeality articulates urban space and becomes an extension of locations bound by emotion. Through mapping workshops, drawings, and interviews with young residents of a rehabilitation center located on the edge of Mexico City, we explore how institutions dedicated to marginalized youths materialize in their life trajectories. In other words, this paper analyzes institutions from the perspective of youth experience and feelings rather than institutional programs or from the point of view of staff members. We locate these institutions in the various spaces inhabited by the youth. The paper concludes with a reflection on the ambiguities of “care” as a response to violence.     

What We Know and Where We Go from here: A Review of Lesbian,Gay, and Bisexual Youth Hookup Literature

In this paper, we acknowledge and critique the absence of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) experiences in the recent proliferation of scholarship on “hooking up” among youth (aged 16 to 24). Although previous research has documented that LGB youth hookup at high rates (up to three-quarters of LGB youth), and oftentimes more than heterosexuals, the most basic aspects of hookups (e.g., motivations, experiences, and outcomes) have not been comprehensively explored. This is pertinent because young adulthood, in particular, is a time when young people explore their sexuality. Most scholarship on hooking up has focused on White heterosexual college students, mostly due to sampling constraints and impediments, and so we are left with a critical gap in our knowledge about LGB youth—a population that is typically at higher risk for sexual, mental, and emotional health issues. We begin by reviewing the literature on hooking up among heterosexual young adults as organized by four themes: hookup definitions/frequencies, contexts, motivations, and outcomes. We do this to explicitly highlight and contrast what little is known about LGB youth hookups. We then provide a research agenda that projects how future researchers can advance this area of scholarship and begin to fill its gaps, while considering the hookup experiences of diverse LGB youth.     

A Comparison of Gang- and Non-gang-Related Violent Incidents from the Incarcerated Youth Perspective

Research reveals that violence in correctional settings occurs due to both gang and non-gang issues. But there has been limited scholarship that directly compares violent incidents from the incarcerated youth perspective. This study aids in filling this research gap by utilizing interviews from 264 incarcerated male youth, which include 623 violent incident narratives. Analyses reveal differences between facility location, participant dynamic, number of racial groups, and situational dynamics when comparing gang and non-gang motivated violent incidents. The results provide a better understanding of violence among incarcerated youth and have implications for theory, policy, and programming within a juvenile correctional setting.     

Victimization and Resistance Strategies Among Female Offenders

Research reveals that most women resist violence against them. We know less, however, about the situational processes and context that shape the nature and outcome of attacks. In addition, limited research has examined the use of resistance strategies among female offenders. This article draws from a qualitative study of violence in the lives of female offenders to examine the situational context of assault outcomes and its relationship to their resistance strategies. Specifically, this study investigates how women's accounts of resistance to both physical and sexual assaults by an intimate partner, acquaintance, or stranger unfold across time. Results highlight the importance of examining the situational context of violence and resistance to further enrich our understanding of these phenomena.     

Remaining in a situationally aggressive relationship: The role of relationship self‐efficacy

Relationship self‐efficacy (RSE) is the belief that one can resolve relationship conflicts, and it may lead victims of situational violence to remain in their relationships because they expect to minimize subsequent violence. Indeed, a longitudinal study of two samples of college students demonstrated that RSE moderates the effects of victimization on relationship dissolution; intimate partner violence (IPV) victimization was positively associated with dissolution among intimates low in RSE but was unassociated with dissolution among intimates high in RSE. Interestingly, although RSE was negatively associated with dissolution among victims, it was associated with experiencing less subsequent IPV in one sample. Ultimately, whether victims' RSE is adaptive may depend on the extent to which any minimization of conflicts eliminates violence.     

A systematic meta-review of evaluations of youth violence prevention programs: Common and divergent findings from 25 years of meta-analyses and systematic reviews

Violence among youth is a pervasive public health problem. In order to make progress in reducing the burden of injury and mortality that result from youth violence, it is imperative to identify evidence-based programs and strategies that have a significant impact on violence. There have been many rigorous evaluations of youth violence prevention programs. However, the literature is large, and it is difficult to draw conclusions about what works across evaluations from different disciplines, contexts, and types of programs. The current study reviews the meta-analyses and systematic reviews published prior to 2009 that synthesize evaluations of youth violence prevention programs. This meta-review reports the findings from 37 meta-analyses and 15 systematic reviews; the included reviews were coded on measures of the social ecology, prevention approach, program type, and study design. A majority of the meta-analyses and systematic reviews were found to demonstrate moderate program effects. Meta-analyses yielded marginally smaller effect sizes compared to systematic reviews, and those that included programs targeting family factors showed marginally larger effects than those that did not. In addition, there are a wide range of individual/family, program, and study moderators of program effect sizes. Implications of these findings and suggestions for future research are discussed.     

The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes Toward Gender Roles Among Adolescents in 36 Countries

In the present article, we look at attitudes toward gender roles among young women and men in 36 countries with different levels of societal gender inequality. By applying multilevel models to data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009, the study contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by showing that (a) both young women and young men (in 8th grade; M_age = 14.39 years) display more gender-egalitarian attitudes in countries with higher levels of societal gender equality; (b) young women in all countries have more egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles than young men do, but (c) the gender gap in attitudes is more evident in more egalitarian contexts; and (d) a higher level of maternal education is associated with more gender-egalitarian attitudes among young women. In contrast, no statistically significant association emerges between maternal employment and young men’s attitudes. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents in different contexts are influenced by the dominant societal discourse on gender inequality, which they interiorize and display through their own attitudes toward gender roles. However, the findings also indicate that young women are more responsive to external cues than young men are. This result, coupled with the fact that young men in egalitarian contexts have not adopted gender-egalitarian attitudes to the same extent as young women, is concerning because it suggests a slowdown in the achievement of societal gender equality that is still far from being reached.     

Community Mobilization and Community-Based Participatory Research to Prevent Youth Violence Among Asian and Immigrant Populations

Many community mobilization activities for youth violence prevention involve the researchers assisting communities in identifying, adapting, and/or tailoring evidence-based programs to fit the community needs, population, and cultural and social contexts. This article describes a slightly different framework in which the collaborative research/evaluation project emerged from the community mobilization activities. As will be discussed, this collaborative, sustained partnership was possible in the context of the Center on Culture, Immigration and Youth Violence Prevention's (UC Berkeley ACE) community mobilization activities that brought the issue of youth violence, particularly among immigrant and minority populations, to the forefront of many of the community partners' agendas. The East Bay Asian Youth Center (EBAYC) was one of the partners that came to the table, which facilitated the community-based engagement/mobilization. UC Berkeley ACE collaborated with EBAYC to evaluate an after-school program and an alternative probation program serving a diverse youth and immigrant population, including African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics. This article describes UC Berkeley ACE's community mobilization activity and the collaborative partnership with EBAYC, discusses how the evaluations incorporated community-based principles in design and practice, and presents some findings from the evaluations.     

Relational aggression in young adults' friendships and romantic relationships

This study examines young adults' experiences with relational aggression among friends and romantic partners. Results suggest that relational aggression occurs more frequently among romantic partners than among friends. A gender difference in relational aggression emerged in the romantic context (females were more aggressive), but no gender difference was found in the friendship context. Relationship exclusivity and normative beliefs about relational aggression predicted aggressive behavior across contexts, while rumination predicted relational aggression in the romantic context but not in the friendship context. Implications of these findings, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.     

Promoting Social Nurturance and Positive Social Environments to Reduce Obesity in High-Risk Youth

Nurturing environments within the context of families, schools, and communities all play an important role in enhancing youth’s behavioral choices and health outcomes. The increasing prevalence rates of obesity among youth, especially among low income and ethnic minorities, highlight the need to develop effective and innovative intervention approaches that promote positive supportive environments across different contexts for at-risk youth. We propose that the integration of Social Cognitive Theory, Family Systems Theory, and Self-Determination Theory offers a useful framework for understanding how individual, family, and social-environmental-level factors contribute to the development of nurturing environments. In this paper, we summarize evidence-based randomized controlled trials that integrate positive parenting, motivational, and behavioral skills strategies in different contexts, including primary care, home, community, and school-based settings. Taken together, these studies suggest that youth and parents are most likely to benefit when youth receive individual-level behavioral skills, family-level support and communication, and autonomous motivational support from the broader social environment. Future investigators and healthcare providers should consider integrating these evidence-based approaches that support the effects of positive social climate-based interventions on promoting healthy eating, physical activity, and weight management in youth.     

Negotiating Multiplicity: Adaptive Asymmetries within Second-Generation Turks’ “Society of Mind”

If identities are socially produced, what happens when individuals grow up participating in divergent or conflicting social contexts? This article reports on research with second-generation Turkish adolescents in London. Using the concept of the dialogical self, the research examines the dialogical structure of these young Turks’ selves. The analysis is Bakhtinian and seeks to identify the different discourses through which these young Turks talk about themselves. Three distinct discourses, or I-positions, are identified. These are then related to the sociocultural context within which these youth live, and specific attention is given to the constraints on these youth in expressing aspects of their identity. We demonstrate that the asymmetries and tensions within these adolescents’ dialogical selves are adaptive to the fractured and asymmetrical social contexts in which they are embedded.     

情境对面孔表情识别的影响

长期以来,关于面孔表情识别的研究主要是围绕着面孔本身的结构特征来进行的,但是近年来的研究发现,面孔表情的识别也会受到其所在的情境背景（如语言文字、身体背景、自然与社会场景等）的影响,特别是在识别表情相似的面孔时,情境对面孔表情识别的影响更大。本文首先介绍和分析了近几年关于语言文字、身体动作、自然场景和社会场景等情境影响个体对面孔表情的识别的有关研究;其次,又分析了文化背景、年龄以及焦虑程度等因素对面孔表情识别情境效应的影响;最后,强调了未来的研究应重视研究儿童被试群体、拓展情绪的类别、关注真实生活中的面孔情绪感知等。