Posted: August 16th, 2019

Week 6 Plan of Action – Rough Draft literature review

Week 6 Plan of Action – Rough Draft

During Week 6, your Action Plan will focus on submitting a high level rough draft of your integrated paper. This will allow you to receive substantive, detailed feedback from your instructor that you can use to craft a polished final version of your paper for submission in Week 7.

Your rough draft should include all of the elements of the final integrated paper assignment, specifically:

Title Page: (2 points) Includes – Get research paper samples and course-specific study resources under   homework for you course hero writing service – elements identified in EOP Manual.
Table of Contents: (3 points) Includes – Get research paper samples and course-specific study resources under   homework for you course hero writing service – elements identified in EOP Manual.
Abstract: (5 points) The abstract is limited to 200 words, and highlights the purpose, method (literature sampling strategy), major finding(s) from analyses, and conclusion.
Introduction: (10 points) Identifies the student’s specific literature review topic, explicitly articulating a unifying, overarching theme that will guide the project.
The section should include:

Background and contextual information related to the unifying/overarching topic.
Definitions of major concepts and theories.
Identification of the four core areas of psychological specialization examined in the project.
A brief discussion of each area’s relevance to the overarching theme of the project.
A purpose statement.
Literature Review: (35 points) Reviews literature related to the unifying/overarching them within the core specializations identified. The focus of the literature review is to determine how the topic has been addressed in the available research literature, extending knowledge in the field by synthesizing research literature from the core areas within the primary topic. Provide a current state of accumulated knowledge as it relates to the specific topic, integrating the core specializations. Summarize the general state of the literature on the topic. The literature review section should begin with a description of the literature search strategy including (not limited to):
Keywords used
Databases searched
Years included
Results yielded
Results excluded
The following should be included in the literature review section:

Research studies should be summarized with detail, including the findings, how they were obtained, and any biases and limitations affecting the findings.
Significant or noteworthy similarities and differences among core areas and the unifying theme should be highlighted.
Provide critical analyses of available research literature.
Conclusion that summarizes the section.
Discussion: (30 points) Articulate the importance of the findings of the literature reviewed; explain why these findings are important to the field of psychology. Make recommendations for future research based on the literature reviewed and explain the rationale for the recommendations.
This section should include:

Synthesis of the research literature, redeveloping conceptualizations of existing paradigms, or proposing new paradigms.
Extending of knowledge through the integration of the literature review findings.
Supported recommendations for future research.
Conclusion summarizing the major elements of the project.
References: (5 points) Includes – Get research paper samples and course-specific study resources under   homework for you course hero writing service – a complete reference list, formatted to APA 6th edition standards.
Rubric: (10 points) Additionally, attach a copy of the project rubric. Assess yourself, labeling clearly where you feel you fall on the rubric in each area for your work as it currently stands. This is intended to help you focus on the components as you will be assessed on them, to evaluate your own progress so far, and to allow you and your instructor to dialogue about where improvements are still needed.
It is expected that your work at this point will need further polishing, correction, expansion, and refinement; however, the more complete your rough draft, the more effectively you will be able to integrate feedback from your instructor.

Submit your Plan of Action – Rough Draft by Sunday of Week 6, 11:55 PM EST.

Previous assignments For reference:

Courses for integrated review

• Learning and Cognition

• Lifespan Development

• Social Psychology

• Psychopathologies

Definition of topics

• Learning and cognition: Cognitive learning in young children focuses on the development of teaching and learning styles that aid in children’s education.

• Lifespan Development: Theories of development are a range of psychological theories put forth to explain human growth and learning

• Social psychology: Violence and Aggression: Focuses on behavioral traits that are exhibited by violent individuals and individuals displaying signs of aggression

• Psychopathologies: Borderline Personality Disorder: focuses on individuals exhibiting unstable emotions, have self-image issues, and have difficulties managing their emotions.

Integrated Project Overarching theme

The overall theme of this integrated theme is an understanding of violent behavior. Over the last 5-years, mass shootings, domestic violence, femicides and homicides have been on the rise. Often, these acts of violence, especially those involving sadistic killings or unexplained mass shootings are attributed to psychopathic behavior. Perpetrators of this acts of violence are often antisocial, aggressive, or have personalities disorders. Therefore, this integrated project will examine the growth and development of these individuals and attempt to understand how such individuals develop these violent tendencies.

Learning and cognition, and lifespan development cover areas of learning and development throughout the key life stages of a human being. These topics are important for this theme as they attempt to explain at what point in life an individual is likely to learn or develop violent skills or sadistic tendencies. Social psychology and psychopathologies investigate human-human interactions and behavior and how these behavior affects or is affected by mental health disorders.

Therefore, these four topics will address two primary areas; human development and human behavior. By understanding these areas, it is possible to have an in-depth understanding of how aggressive individuals think and why they act violently. In addition, examining these individuals from an early stage is critical to identifying such individual early enough to prevent acts of violence. Therefore, the selected topics are related in their definition and analysis of human development and behavior.

Violent behavior is conditioned over time

Psych 511 Learning and Cognition – Violent individual’s early childhood experiences.

Finkelhor, D., Shattuck, A., Turner, H., & Hamby, S. (2015). A revised inventory of adverse childhood experiences. Child abuse & neglect, 48, 13-21.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.07.011

Finkelhoret al. (2015) studied the impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) on health outcomes including how these can be improved to better predict the behavior of children when they become adults. The impact of adverse childhood experiences has been the subject of research for a long time, and it has been shown that exposure to such experiences (e.g. violence, neglect, etc.) is associated with negative mental health outcomes. The current study seeks to explore opportunities on how to improve the ACE scale which is used to assess such adverse experiences so that it can become an accurate predictor of developmental problems. The participants included 1,949 children and adolescents between 10 and 17 years of age together with their parents/caregivers. The researchers used telephone surveys to collect data between August 2013 and April 2014. OLS regression and negative binomial regression were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that exposure to violence, rejection, and peer victimization made ACE scale more accurate in predicting mental health problems such as violent behavior. This study added new knowledge in the area especially concerning how to improve ACE scale.

Fox, B. H., Perez, N., Cass, E., Baglivio, M. T., & Epps, N. (2015). Trauma changes everything: Examining the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and serious, violent and chronic juvenile offenders. Child abuse & neglect, 46, 163-173.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2015.01.011

Fox et al. (2015) examined the risk factors associated with serious, violent, and chronic (SVC) juvenile offenders. A lot of research has already gone into understanding the factors associated delinquent behavior including the application of labelling theory. The current study sought to examine the impact of adverse childhood experiences in predicting delinquent behavior. Data relating to 22,575 delinquent youths from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice was analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariate logistic regression. The results indicated that every adverse childhood experience that a child undergoes increases the chances of developing violent behavior. The findings imply that ACE score can be used to screen and predict violent behavior in children.

Hunt, T. K., Slack, K. S., & Berger, L. M. (2017). Adverse childhood experiences and behavioral problems in middle childhood. Child abuse & neglect, 67, 391-402.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2016.11.005

Hunt, Slack, & Berger (2017) examined the relationship between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and behavioral outcomes. A lot of research has shown that ACEs increase the risk of negative health outcomes in adulthood such as depression and substance about. However, research into the proximal link between ACEs and behavior has received limited attention, and the study aimed to fill this gap. The study used data from over 3000 children from the Fragile Families and ChildWellbeing Study. The data was analyzed using regression analyses, and findings indicated that ACEs are highly linked with both internalizing and externalizing behavior in children. The implication is that children as young as 9 are alert in terms of experiencing ACEs, and these can affect their behavior as they grow up.

Levenson, J. S., & Socia, K. M. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences and arrest patterns in a sample of sexual offenders. Journal of interpersonal violence, 31(10), 1883-1911.https://doi.org/10.1177/0886260515570751

Levenson & Socia (2016) studied the impact of ACEs on arrest patterns. Already, research has shown that ACEs are strongly related to development of antisocial behavior and delinquent tendencies. However, little attention has been given to specifically understanding how ACEs affect arrest patterns. The study, therefore, seeks to fill this gap. In the study, a sample of 740 young offenders (93.5% male) was used. Data was collected using surveys which were supplied in different collection sites. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, bivariate correlations, and logistic regression. Results showed that high rates of ACEs were associated with more arrests, and it implied that accumulation of ACEs increase the risks of developing violent behavior that leads to crime. Thus, addressing issues of violent behavior in children should focus on reducing exposure to ACEs.

Perez, N. M., Jennings, W. G., Piquero, A. R., & Baglivio, M. T. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences and suicide attempts: The mediating influence of personality development and problem behaviors. Journal of youth and adolescence, 45(8), 1527-1545.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0519-x

Perez et al. (2016) examined the relationship between ACEs on social attempts, impulsivity, school difficulties, substance abuse, and aggression. It is widely known that exposure to ACEs increase the risk of developing antisocial behavior. This study specifically explains both the direct and indirect relationships of ACEs on suicidal attempts and other maladaptive personality traits such as impulsivity, social difficulties, substance abuse, and aggression/violent behavior. The study utilized data relating to 64,329 (21.67 % female) delinquent youths from the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice. Data was analyzed using generalized structural equation model (GSEM). Results showed that both individual traits and ACEs account for the development of suicidal tendencies and violent behavior. Thus, if developmental issues are identified early, they could be corrected to prevent children and adolescents from developing violent behavior.

Thomas, A., Caldwell, C. H., Assari, S., Jagers, R. J., & Flay, B. (2016). You do what you see: How witnessing physical violence is linked to violent behavior among male African American adolescents. The Journal of Men’s Studies, 24(2), 185-207.https://doi.org/10.1177/1060826516641104

Thomas et al. (2016) examine the impact of exposure to violence, parent expectations, peer pressure, and self-efficacy in violence avoidance on the development of violent behavior. While a lot of research has already gone into this area, the current study sought to add more information by examining the subject matter from the perspective of Africa Americans. The study used data from 553 black male adolescents from 12 schools, and data was collected using focus groups. Bivariate and multivariable analysis using SPSS and AMOS respectively were used to analyze the date. The results indicated that African American male adolescents who are exposed to violence are in high risk of engaging in violence. The implication is that parent and peer non-violence expectations and personal efficacy to avoid violence are effective in preventing the development of violent behavior.

Psych510 Lifespan Development- Violent behavior is developed from early childhood

Dan, A. (2016). Supporting And Developing Self-Regulatory Behaviours In Early Childhood In Young Children With High Levels Of Impulsive Behaviour. Contemporary Issues in Education Research (CIER), 9(4), 189-200.https://doi.org/10.19030/cier.v9i4.9789

Dan (2016) described the implementation of a kindergarten intervention program to increase self-regulatory behaviors in children with high impulsive behavior. Research has shown that children who lack appropriate self-regulatory skills often end up developing behavioral problems including aggression. This study, therefore, add into this field by suggesting a model for helping children overcome self-regulatory deficits as a way of correcting and preventing the development of certain antisocial behaviors. The study used a sample of 30 kindergarten teachers who filled out the Achenbach Child Behavior Checklist. Data was analyzed using correlation tables. Results showed that many children with impulsive and aggressive behavior also lacked self-regulatory skills. This implied that violent behavior develops as early as when a child is in kindergarten, and it can be corrected at this stage by improving children’s self-regulatory skills.

Eisner, M. P., & Malti, T. (2015). Aggressive and violent behavior. Handbook of child psychology and developmental science, 1-48.https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118963418.childpsy319

Eisner & Malti (2015) examine how aggressive behavior and violence develop from early childhood into adulthood. Many theories have been out forth including Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, and they explain how certain behaviors develop right from the time a child is born until and up to late adulthood. This study takes a different turn by focusing on how aggressive behavior is developed from childhood to adulthood. Data from 654 participants who were observed for a period of 20 years was analyzed using multiple regression analysis. Results indicated that indeed certain behaviors related to violent behaviors are developed over time as they keep on accumulating and being cemented. The implication is that addressing violent behavior in children should begin from a tender age and follow through across all developmental stages.

Girard, L. C., Tremblay, R. E., Nagin, D., & Côté, S. M. (2019). Development of aggression subtypes from childhood to adolescence: a group-based multi-trajectory modelling perspective. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 47(5), 825-838.https://doi.org/10.1007/s1080

Girard et al. (2019) examine the process of development of aggression starting from early childhood. Existing research has identified a series of aggressive tendencies that are associated with long-term maladaptive behaviors but research into the kinds of people who assume such developmental trajectories is lacking. Thus, the study seeks to establish various groups of children who develop aggressive behavior following the known developmental trajectories. A total of 787 children participated in the study. Data about these children were collected through observation and assessments from when they were born up to adolescent age. Results established five groups including high-chronic, high-desisting, moderate-engagers, low-stable, and non-aggressors. Different factors were responsible for placing children into the various groups. For example, coercive parenting was shown to increase risks of developing into moderate-engagers and high-chronic trajectories. Further, results showed that males were more likely to develop into groups with elevated aggression. The findings implied that aggressive behavior develops differently based on parenting and other factors.

Menting, B., Van Lier, P. A., Koot, H. M., Pardini, D., & Loeber, R. (2016). Cognitive impulsivity and the development of delinquency from late childhood to early adulthood: Moderating effects of parenting behavior and peer relationships. Development and psychopathology, 28(1), 167-183.https://doi.org/10.1017/S095457941500036X

Menting et al. (2016) studied the impact parenting behaviors during late childhood and peer influence on cognitive impulsivity and delinquency in adolescent and early adulthood. This study was different from others since the latter have mainly focused on explaining the relationship between cognitive impulsivity and delinquent (violent) behavior. A total of 412 participants were used, and they were assessed every year from the age of 13 to 29 years of age. Intelligence and cognitive impulsivity, and parenting behaviors were equally assessed at age 12–13 years of age and 10 and 13 years of age respectively. Statistical analyses and descriptive statistics were used to analyze the date. Results showed that holding other factors constant, development of impulsive behaviors depended on the behaviors of parents. This implied that such antisocial behavior are learned over time since children are always in contact with parents or caregivers.

Pauwels, L., & Schils, N. (2016). Differential online exposure to extremist content and political violence: Testing the relative strength of social learning and competing perspectives. Terrorism and Political Violence, 28(1), 1-29.https://doi.org/10.1080/09546553.2013.876414

Pauwels & Schils (2016) studied the application of Social Learning (Differential Association) Theory in understanding political violence. This theory has been extensively used to explain how violent behaviors are developed, i.e., through learning from the surrounding. The current study adds on to what is already known by giving special attention to political violence. The study used 6,020 respondents who completed a web survey and paper-and-pencil study. The data was analyzed using binary logistic regression. Results indicated that extremist participation in social movements increased the likelihood of partaking in political violence. This study can be used to draw conclusion to the fact that violent behavior is developed over time, and participation in social movements in which violence is common increases the risk of developing violent behavior.

Sussman, S. (2013). A lifespan developmental-stage approach to tobacco and other drug abuse prevention. ISRN Addiction, 2013.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/745783

Sussman (2013) examined how drug abuse intervention programs are merged into the human developmental stages. While existing research has over-studied the tailoring of intervention programs as per developmental stages, very few have been focusing on how programming has been incorporated in developmental stages across a lifetime. The study, therefore, seeks to fill this gap. A total of 34 participants (5 young children, 12 older children, 8 young teens, 4 older teens, and 5 adults). 32 programs were used across the participants. Results established that current practices have only focused on interventions in one developmental stages. The implication for future research is that more has to be done in terms of programming interventions that cut across all developmental stages. This study can be used to track down developmental behaviors, violent behavior to be precise, across all the developmental stages.

Psych 516 Social Psychology – How social interactions lead to violent behavior victims

Bastiaensens, S., Pabian, S., Vandebosch, H., Poels, K., Van Cleemput, K., DeSmet, A., & De Bourdeaudhuij, I. (2016). From normative influence to social pressure: How relevant others affect whether bystanders join in cyberbullying. Social Development, 25(1), 193-211.https://doi.org/10.1111/sode.12134

Bastiaensenset al. (2016) developed a path mode to examine if certain norms of a given reference group can create social pressure among bystanders to join cyberbullying. Existing research as extensively explored the impact of social learning and peer pressure in developing antisocial behavior, and this study develops and tests a model that can show how social pressure is build and its impact. The study used 525 (64% girls) adolescent bystanders, and observation was used to collect data. A path analysis using MPlus was used to analyze the data. Results indicated that social pressure emanating from friends and parents approving cyberbullying increased chances of participating in cyberbullying. The study implied that social pressure is one of the biggest factors leading to the development of violent behavior.

DeCamp, W., & Ferguson, C. J. (2017). The impact of degree of exposure to violent video games, family background, and other factors on youth violence. Journal of youth and adolescence, 46(2), 388-400.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0561-8

DeCamp & Ferguson (2017) studied the impact of violent video games on youth violence. Existing research indicate small correlations between playing violent video games and development of violent behavior. Unlike previous studies, this study uses a larger and more diversified sample to investigate the same. A sample size of 9,019 (51 % female) comprising eighth graders and eleventh graders is used. Data was collected using surveys, and it was analyzed using bivariate examinations and regression analyses. The results supported previous research that playing violent games is not a strong predictor of violent behavior. The implication is that unlike other exposures to violence, playing violent games is not an important factor in development of violent behavior.

Farrell, A. D., Thompson, E. L., & Mehari, K. R. (2017). Dimensions of peer influences and their relationship to adolescents’ aggression, other problem behaviors and prosocial behavior. Journal of youth and adolescence, 46(6), 1351-1369.https://doi.org/10.1007/s10964-016-0601-4

Farrell, Thompson & Mehari (2017) studied the impact of peer pressure during adolescence. Existing studies have showedthat the influence of peers is highest during adolescence, and it is one of the leading factors of engagement in violent behavior. This study adds into the existing research by focusing on the specific mechanisms of peer influence. The study used a total of 1787 (53 % female) respondents. Data was collected through self-reports and teacher ratings. Regression analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings showed that peer pressure for violence and delinquent behavior is associated with development of antisocial behaviors. The study findings emphasized the importance of studying the impact of various aspects of peer pressure on the development of violent behavior.

Mohammad, E. T., Shapiro, E. R., Wainwright, L. D., & Carter, A. S. (2015). Impacts of family and community violence exposure on child coping and mental health. Journal of abnormal child psychology, 43(2), 203-215. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10802-014-9889-2

Mohammad et al. (2015) explored the relationship between children’s exposure to violence within family and community, and mental health and coping strategies. Existing research has showed that exposure to ACEs leads to development of negative health outcomes. This study adds into the research by examining the impact of exposure to violence on mental health and emotionally-controlled coping among 91 (54% girls) American school-aged children. Data was collected through a 10-hour face-to-face interviews. Data was analyzed using Mplus 6.12. Findings indicated that exposure to violence is associated with the development of mental health problems in children. The study findings supported previous research that social exposure to violence has a detrimental impact on behavioral development in children. Specifically, the study showed that violent behavior can develop by simply being overly exposed to violence.

Nisar, M., Ullah, S., Ali, M., & Alam, S. (2015). Juvenile delinquency: The Influence of family, peer and economic factors on juvenile delinquents. Applied Science Reports, 9(1), 37-48.https://doi.org/10.15192/PSCP.ASR.2015.9.1.3748

Nisaret al. (2015) explored economic factors, peer groups, and the family as the leading factors in juvenile delinquency. These factors have been extensively studied by existing research, and they have been shown to influence delinquent behavior significantly. This study adds into what is already known about this area of research. The study makes use of a sample size comprising 45 juveniles. Purposive sampling is used, and interviews are used to collect data. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS V.16. Findings indicated that many delinquents either come from illiterate, nuclear family systems, young, belong to low income group, or keep bad company. Thus, the findings implied that indeed economic factors, peer pressure, and family dynamics play a huge part in development of delinquent behavior.

Koon-Magnin, S., Bowers, D., Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., & Arata, C. (2016). Social learning, self-control, gender, and variety of violent delinquency. Deviant Behavior, 37(7), 824-836.https://doi.org/10.1080/01639625.2016.1147798

Koon-Magninet al. (2016) investigated the role of social learning and self-control theories in influencing the types of delinquent activities that adolescents partake in. Existing research suggests that some behaviors can be learned through observation and imitation. While supporting earlier research in the area, this research also factors in the role of self-control (i.e. ability to regulate one’s urges, emotions, or behaviors when faced with tempting events). The study was conducted on a total of 833 (57% female) high school students. Data was collected through surveys, and it was analyzed using Tobit analysis. The findings indicated that both theories were not able to account for the gender differences. Male respondents who were more vulnerable to peer influence engaged in limited types of violent behaviors. These findings imply that more research is needed to fully understand gender differences when it comes to peer influence on violent behavior.

Psych 526 Psychopathology- Root causes of violent behavior

Fanti, K. A., & Henrich, C. C. (2015). Effects of self-esteem and narcissism on bullying and victimization during early adolescence. The Journal of Early Adolescence, 35(1), 5-29.https://doi.org/10.1177/0272431613519498

Fanti & Henrich (2015) examined the longitudinal association between self-esteem and admiration for bullying, and peer victimization. Existing studies suggest that low self-esteem is one of the leading factors of bullying, but research on low self-esteem as a risk factor for violent behavior remains limited at worse and inconclusive at best. This research aims to fill this research gap by investigating and showing how much of a risk factor is low self-esteem when it comes to bullying and other violent behaviors. This study was conducted on 1,416 (50.1% girls) adolescents. Data was collected using self-reports, and descriptive statistics and Hierarchical Linear Regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings established that low self-esteem, coupled up with high narcissism with bullying, is associated with increased levels of bullying. The study, therefore, implies that low self-esteem is a root cause of violent behavior.

Garofalo, C., Holden, C. J., Zeigler‐Hill, V., & Velotti, P. (2016). Understanding the connection between self‐esteem and aggression: The mediating role of emotion dysregulation. Aggressive behavior, 42(1), 3-15.https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.21601

Garofaloet al. (2016) investigated the relationship between self-esteem and aggression. While existing research has mainly focused on self-esteem as a factor, the current study focuses on the role of emotional dysregulation. Data was collected using self-reports from 350 participants (153 male inmates and 197 male community participants). The data was analyzed using mediation analysis and descriptive statistics. Findings indicated that the inmates had low levels of self-esteem compared to the control group (i.e. the community participants). In addition, the inmates also displayed higher levels of hostility. Moreover, emotion dysregulation was established to mediate the link between self-esteem and violent behavior. The findings implied that emotion dysregulation serves a significant purpose in catalyzing the development of violent behavior in people. In essence, therefore, the study identifies emotion dysregulation as one of the root causes of violent behavior. Treatment programs for people displaying violent behavior should include emotion regulation modules.

Pinna, F., Tusconi, M., Dessì, C., Pittaluga, G., Fiorillo, A., & Carpiniello, B. (2016). Violence and mental disorders. A retrospective study of people in charge of a community mental health center. International journal of law and psychiatry, 47, 122-128.https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2016.02.015

Pinnaet al. (2016) assessed the risk of violence in outpatient settings involving people with mental disorders. While existing research suggest a positive relationship between mental disorders and violent behavior, there is limited focus on how mentally ill people in outpatient settings create risk of violence in their surroundings, and this study, therefore, aims to close this research gap. The study included 678 patients (45.4%males). Data was collected through recording patients’ violence-related history, patient interviews, informants, and interviewing physicians and other staff. Regression analysis and descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. The results established a significant association between mental disorders and violent behavior in male, unemployed, young, and lowly educated participants. These findings suggest that mental disorders are leading root cause of violent behavior. Treating violent behavior, therefore, may include diagnosis and treatment of common mental disorders such as personality disorder, comorbidity, schizophrenia, etc.

Swanson, J. W., Sampson, N. A., Petukhova, M. V., Zaslavsky, A. M., Appelbaum, P. S., Swartz, M. S., & Kessler, R. C. (2015). Guns, Impulsive Angry Behavior, and Mental Disorders: Results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS‐R). Behavioral sciences & the law, 33(2-3), 199-212.https://doi.org/10.1002/bsl.2172

Swansonet al. (2015) investigate the association between mental disorders and violent behavior. Many studies have established that mental disorders are associated with increased levels of violence. In supporting existing research, this study examines the relationship between mental disorders, access to a gun, and violent behavior or aggression. This study used a total of 9,282 respondents, and data was collected through face-to-face interviews and questionnaires. Cross-tabulations and logistic regression analysis were used to analyze the date. Findings established that many people who own guns or have access to it generally portray increased levels of violence. Furthermore, violence increased significantly with the combination of mental disorders and access to guns. The study suggests that access to firearms or any such lethal weapon is a root cause for increased violence but the risk becomes greater if the person involved has one or more mental disorders. The implication is that there is need to use behavioral risk‐based approaches when defining persons prohibited from owning guns.

Tiihonen, J., Rautiainen, M. R., Ollila, H. M., Repo-Tiihonen, E., Virkkunen, M., Palotie, A., … & Saarela, J. (2015). Genetic background of extreme violent behavior. Molecular psychiatry, 20(6), 786.https://doi.org/10.1038/mp.2014.130

Tiihonenet al. (2015) investigated the association between genes and violent behavior. A lot of research has gone into examining biological factors associated with violent behavior and while a majority of them have been able to link certain violent traits to biological factors, none has been able to identify the genes involved. This study, therefore, makes an attempt to identify specific biological materials that are associated with violent behavior. The study involved a total of 794 prisonersfrom 19 Finnish prisons. Structured interviews as well as evaluation of criminal and medical records were used to collect data. DNA samples were collected and studied over time. Data was analyzed using GWAS analyses and discovery analyses. Findings indicated that a monoamine oxidase A (MAOA) low-activity genotype and CDH13 gene were associated with increased aggression. The findings imply that biological factors have an influence on the development of violent behavior, and treatment should also target these factors.

Wilkinson, S. T., Stefanovics, E., & Rosenheck, R. A. (2015). Marijuana use is associated with worse outcomes in symptom severity and violent behavior in patients with PTSD. The Journal of clinical psychiatry, 76(9), 1174.https://doi.org/doi: 10.4088/JCP.14m09475

Wilkinson,Stefanovics & Rosenheck (2015) examined the impact of marijuana on the violent behavior of people suffering from PTSD. Existing studies have supported the use of marijuana in the treatment of PTSD, but there is limited research in determining the impact of marijuana on this group of people. The study examined a total of 2,276 veterans diagnosed with PTSD. Data was collected from sociodemographic characteristics, treatment program features, and clinical data. Data was analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA), analysis of covariance (ANCOVA), and linear multiple regression analysis. Findings from the study established that the use of marijuana by PTSD patients increased negative outcomes such as increased severity of symptoms, increase substance and alcohol abuse, and aggressive behavior. This study implies that drug abuse can be a root cause of violent behavior especially among PTSD people. Therefore, addressing violent behavior may require prevention of cessation