violence paradox

acting violently serves as immunization against the effects of community violence. or, so says a study founding a correlation between acts of violence and reduced incidence of depression in violent communities.

being aggressive in the context of community violence could be an adaptive strategy that preserves adolescents' sense of control in a volatile and unpredictable environment. "This may seem counter intuitive, that violence in a violent context could be somewhat protective for psychological well-being among adolescent boys."

the "vaccine" only works for males, it seems, and the older, the stronger the correlation. for girls, the inverse is true, with violent offenders becoming more depressed than their passive counterparts.

correlation is not always causation, and there are several explanations for this correlation besides that of a "violence vaccine." one among them is that there could be something particular about persons who act out violently that also prevents them from being depressed - perhaps a kind of proactive, although perverse, resilience.

acting violently could very well, however, actually help stave of depression. it could give the actor a feeling of control that is probably lacking in violent neighborhoods, a feeling that is very often discussed as a significant component of psychological well-being.

it seems fairly obvious why the correlation is positive for girls, who not only face the legal repercussions of violent actions, but also more social pressure to "behave" than boys typically do. in addition, the threshold for violent action in girls, i'm willing to bet, may be much higher. that is, girls are less prone to violence both biologically and socially. because of this, fewer girls act violently. since fewer girls act violently, the ones that do have reached a much higher threshold, skewing the sample towards really messed-up individuals who may be more likely to be depressed than the wider sample of boys who are violent at the drop of a hat.

Labels: misc. psych, well being