The Social Structure of Violence in Childhood and Approval of Violence as an Adult.

This paper tests the idea that the experience of violence in childhood constitutes a factor leading to the approval of adult violence for achieving socially desirable goals. Using the data from a national survey conducted in 1968, the study constructs indexes on Interpersonal Violence Approval, National Violence Approval, and Political Violence Approval to measure the following aspects of violence experienced in childhood: observing violence, carrying out violence, and being the victim of violence. By computing the correlation of each measure of violence experienced to indexes of violence approval, the study tests the hypothesis that violence in childhood relates to adult approval of violence. Results show that approval of interpersonal violence most highly relates to experiencing violence as a child. The authors conclude that a "social structural theory of violence" featuring social learning and role-modeling has more import for the study than does a "culture of violence theory." (Authors/LAA)