Strategies For Reducing Violence Essay Example for Free

Strategies For Reducing Violence Essay There are many causes of death but violence can be considered one of the leading causes worldwide. The most recent violent act was a tragic event that took place at an elementary school in Connecticut that killed 28 children as well as some teachers. Violence can be defined as the use of physical force or power against oneself, another person or against a community of a group, which may result in injury, death, mental harm or physical harm. Acts of violence include suicide, terrorism, child abuse, rape, and bullying. This essay will explore how violence can be reduced through changing social and cultural norms, and the teaching of social skills. Violence can be reduced through different school programs that teach the students ways to reduce violence. Olweus (1972) conducted an experiment in schools in Norway and had the whole-school faculty participate. He developed a seminar that taught the school faculty how to deal with bullying which included strict supervision on playgrounds and lunchrooms. He advised that if any bulling took place, the counselors should conduct therapy with the bullies. Olweus reported that this program reduced 50% of all bullying activities. However, on the downside, this research only took place in Norway, which is a country that already emphasizes on social importance and bullying. This could mean that the research may just be adding on to the progress already made. In addition, the policies and programs may only be effective if everyone is aware and is committed in changing. This research is a qualitative research, which can lead to bias and there is no control group for this experiment. However, a nti-bullying programs have been shown to be effective. Another method to reduce violence is through the teaching of social skills. Aronson (1979) used cooperative activities in classroom with the idea that everyone must work together. He used jigsaw puzzles and allowed the class to work together to come to a common goal, or consensus. Everyone had something to contribute and students had to collaborate to move forward. This forced children to help one another and contributed towards the learning process. Aronson also found that this lowered the rate of bullying in schools and increased interaction between out groups. There are also more positive interaction between students. However, this research cannot measure the interaction between students outside of school because it was limited within school grounds. The research was qualitative research, which can lead to possible biases. Although the research emphasizes cooperation and collective norms that would reduce bullying, this research is 20 years old. But there are newer research conducted by Figueireido et al in 2007 with computer training which shows similar effects. This activity alone will not reduce violence because there should be school monitoring of the students. Overall, this method is quite effective and schools should emphasize in training the students. Violence can be reduced through the changing social and cultural norms. There have been many studies that show that norms can increase violence. For example, the American south have a culture of honor that forces men to not accept insults or inappropriate conducts from others. One way to change the social and cultural norms is through education. In a study conducted by Foshee et al where he aimed to prevent adolescent dating violence, the participants’ attitudes towards violence were measured through a series of questionnaires before and after the program. Foshee et al, found that there were less psychological abuse and sexual violence reported in the treatment than in the control group. However, these effects were only reported through questionnaires and the conclusions of the results were based on self-report, not actual behavior. In addition, the effects were explained by changes in the dating violence norms, awareness and gender stereotyping. But reducing the adolescent dating violence through education is a possible option to consider. In conclusion, violence can be reduced through educating children about bullying and changing social and cultural norms. These are the bases of whether a person will be violent or not. If the root cases of these bases are solved, then there will be less violence in the future. It is important for people to educate the young about violence but it is difficult to change a communities’ social norm. However, it is possible if people are cooperating, there will be less more tragic incidents like the shooting in Connecticut.