4 Troubled Teens Blog

A study of campus violence entitled "Campus Attacks," examined 272 incidents of "targeted violence," in which 281 people died and 247 were injured. Of these, 190 were students and 72 were college employees.

The definition of targeted violence is an incident in which an attacker selects a victim before hand or randomly chooses victims because they fit a predetermined profile or relationship. This definition excludes violence that breaks out spontaneously.

• Intimate relationships triggered one-third of the attacks, and academic stress was involved in 10 percent of them.
  
• Sixty percent of the perpetrators were students or former students, and guns were used in the majority of the incidents.
  
• Knives were used 20 percent of the time.
  
• Ninety percent of the attackers were male, and 75 percent of the time, the perpetrator specifically targeted one or more individuals.

The Campus Attacks report was released on the third anniversary of a shooting rampage at Virginia Polytechnic Institute, which left 33 students and faculty members dead. The FBI and the Education Department are currently studying factors such as past behaviors and mental illness of perpetrators of college violence.

Labels: causes, relationships, violence, stress

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Contrary to popular belief, relationships between parents and teenagers are getting better. Results from surveys of 5,500 teens found that nine out of ten say their mothers carry a "high" level of influence and more than eight in ten say the same thing about their fathers. Both of these statistics are up by about ten percent since the 1980s.

Weekly arguments are down from 52 percent a decade ago to 42 percent, the survey shows. Teens are also reporting a greater degree of understanding between themselves and their parents: just 39 percent are troubled about not being understood, compared with 58 percent in 1992. (Source: The Vancouver Sun)

These results were released by sociologist Reginald Bibby of the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. Though the survey evaluated the quality of parent-teen relationships in Canada, experts estimate that the results are indicative of what would be found in the United States.

The survey statistics are good news for a variety of reasons, not the least of which is that effective parent-teen communication has been cited as a strong positive influence in the effort to keep kids from engaging in a wide range of dangerous teen behaviors.

Labels: relationships, parental_involvement, communication

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A survey conducted by the Boston Public Health Commission found some chilling results. Nearly half of the kids surveyed said they think R&B star Rihanna was "responsible" for the beating she received during a fight with her boyfriend Chris Brown:

"Every single one of the 200 12- to 19-year-old kids surveyed had heard about the incident involving the two R&B starts that took place hours before the Grammys on Feb. 8... 46 percent of the kids surveyed said they thought Rihanna was to blame for the beating."

Many parents and advocacy organizations expressed their misgivings when Rihanna and Brown got back together again after the fight. Many report being fearful that this is one more incident that "normalizes" relational and domestic violence. Source: The Boston Globe

Labels: relationships, violence, abuse

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According to the U.S. Department of Justice nearly one-third of all teenagers are, or have been, in an abusive relationship. Unfortunately, someone who stays in an abusive relationship long enough begins to feel like there's no way out.

"Is there a way to escape these relationships? Yes, and the first step is asking for help. Talking to your family and being honest about what is going on is a good first step... Close friends are also good to confide in to help take steps toward getting out and can offer support when talking to a professional or parent."

Ending a relationship is always difficult. Abuse relationships can be even harder to escape because the abuser has established control. But there are many ways to get out, and many people are people willing to help. Source: Grand Forks (MN) Herald

Read more about Teen Dating Violence

Labels: relationships, abuse

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Because teenagers don't have a lot of relationship experience, they can easily find themselves in a situation involving physical or emotional abuse:

"I've seen a lot of students that think that really jealous behavior is appropriate, and they think 'this person loves me so much that they want to know where I am all the time, what I'm doing, they don't want me to be with anyone else but them.' And after a while... [they]...start to feel very controlled, claustrophobic and they don't know how to get out,' said Wendy Falvey, a family and consumer science teacher."

Teens may not be aware that their relationship is abusive, so they need friends and family members to be watching for warning signs. If you suspect that something isn't right, don't be afraid to ask questions or get help. Source: News 10 Now (Syracuse, NY)

Labels: relationships, violence

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Stephen Gavazzi, professor of human development and family science at Ohio State University, has co-authored a study that argues in favor of re-evaluating common wisdom about troubled teens. The study, which looked at how boys and girls handle their problems, tested the common belief that boys act out, while girls internalize.

"In his study, the results showed that Black girls and boys showed similar levels of externalizing and internalizing behavior, once family dysfunction was taken into account. In these families, boys and girls were more likely to show outward aggression if they lived in families with higher levels of dysfunction. Such a relationship was not found in white families."

Gavazzi says the findings shouldn't be surprising. People who study ethnicity and culture have long stated that the importance of family is different for African-American youths than it is for white youths. Gavazzi also believes his results are vital for organizations that help troubled teenagers, though he noted that more research needs to be done to determine how best to use the information. Source: MediLexicon.com

Labels: relationships, emotional_issues, agression

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Gang activity in Limerick City, Ireland, isn't much different than it is in the United States. Police officials are seeing an increasing number of disconnected teens drawn into gangs, where they find the sense of belonging and purpose they don't get at home.

"[Chief Superintendent, Willie Keane] said that 'crime gangs are using young people' from dysfunctional families who do not have proper parenting at home, or where no role models exist in the family. He said that, as a result, no sense of responsibility was being instilled in these youths."

One of the greatest concerns is that gang members seem to be getting younger. People who are barely teenagers are being drawn to gangs and taught how to fight and even how to kill. Source: Limerick Post

Labels: relationships, family, gangs

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More than one-third of children ages 10-18 in a new study report that they bully their friends "at moderate levels." However, over 40% told researchers from Queen's and York University they never bully anyone.

Researchers studying over 870 children found that bullying seems to drop off as children get into high school. Less than 10% admitted to "consistently high levels of bullying from elementary to the end of high school." The majority stopped when they entered high school.

Psychology professor Wendy Craig, lead author of the study, found that young bullies had conflicts with their parents and peers, and lacked a sense of right and wrong. They tended to pick friends who were bullies, too.

Dr. Craig and her colleagues are trying to design programs for this small, high-risk group, in order to prevent "a career path of bullying that leads to numerous criminal and relationship problems in adolescence and adulthood."

This study appears in the journal Child Development.

A private boarding school may offer the kind of structured environment a bully, or a victim of bullying, needs. Find one at Boarding Schools Info.

Labels: relationships, bullying, criminals

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Young men 18 years old and under who attempt suicide are twice as likely to physically abuse their wives or girlfriends, according to a new study published in the Journal of Psychological Medicine.

• Professors David Kerr of Oregon State University and Deborah Capaldi of the Oregon Social Learning Center studied 153 males from age ten to 32 years old who live in high crime neighborhoods.
• Among those who were suicidal, 58 percent were physically abusive to their romantic partners.
• Among those who had no suicidal ideation, 28 percent were physically abusive to their partners.

"This study began when these men were kids, before anyone knew who was going to become violent," said Dr. Kerr. "That was quite different from research that starts with violent men or women from domestic violence shelters and tries to look back in time for explanations."

Though domestic violence is often mistakenly viewed as an "adult problem," relationship abuse among teens and adolescents remains a prevalent problem.
 

Labels: relationships, violence, suicide, abuse

Posted By: Jane St. Clair 0 Comments

More evidence of the importance of healthy relationships: Social isolation is as harmful to your health as being alcoholic, obese, or smoking 15 cigarettes a day, according to new study from Brigham Young University.

Professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad and her colleagues followed 308,849 people, average age 64 years old, for over seven years. Those who had strong personal ties to family and friends lived about four years longer than those weaker social alliances.

"This effect is not isolated for older adults," said researcher Timothy Smith. "Relationships provide a level of protection across all ages. ... Constant interaction is not only beneficial psychologically but also directly to our physical health."

The study appears in the Public Library of Science Medicine journal.

Labels: relationships, health

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