Age and Gender Effects in Recent Violence Perpetration

Although we know much about the effects of violence on victims, we know less about individuals who perpetrate violence. In the present study, we used a large, nationally representative sample of adults (National Comorbidity Study–Replication; n = 9,282) to examine demographics (i.e., age and gender)...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of interpersonal violence 2020-09, Vol.35 (17-18), p.3513-3529
Main Authors: Fahlgren, Martha K., Kleiman, Evan M., Puhalla, Alexander A., McCloskey, Michael S.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Adults
Age
Aggression
Cognitive functioning
Comorbidity
Female
Gender
Gender Identity
Humans
Male
Prevalence
Risk assessment
Risk Factors
Victims
Violence
Young Adult
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Although we know much about the effects of violence on victims, we know less about individuals who perpetrate violence. In the present study, we used a large, nationally representative sample of adults (National Comorbidity Study–Replication; n = 9,282) to examine demographics (i.e., age and gender) and social, occupational, and cognitive functioning among perpetrators of recent violence. We found that recent violence was more prevalent among younger individuals and males (i.e., these groups were more likely to engage in at least one act of violence). Among those who did engage in violence, there was no effect of age or gender on violence frequency (i.e., number of violent acts engaged in over the past year). Furthermore, gender moderated the effect of age on recent violence prevalence, but not violence frequency. Finally, those reporting violence over the past year showed greater impairment in all examined domains of functioning, but there was no association between impairment and frequency of violence. This study represents one of the first attempts to utilize 12-month prevalence data to explore the lifetime trajectory of violence among those who perpetrate it, which seems to peak in young adulthood and then decrease across the life span. Furthermore, although males are more likely to engage in violence than females, adults who engage in at least one act of violence demonstrate no difference in frequency of yearly violent acts, regardless of gender. Finally, it is apparent that merely engaging in any acts of violence over the past year is associated with functioning problems. Overall, most significant differences emerged between those who do and do not engage in violence, which is key for informing violence risk assessment and prevention.
ISSN:0886-2605
1552-6518
DOI:10.1177/0886260517709803