Social Psychiatry 8, 212-219 (1973) �9 by Springer-Verlag 1973

Critical Factors in Understanding Adolescent Aggression R. Dembo

Centre for Mass Communication Research, University of Leicester, Leicester, U.K.

Summary. Some results from a recently completed study into aggression among English working-class adolescents in a depressed neighbourhood are used to exa~nine contrasted perspectives of this behaviour that are prevalent in the field: I. the view which sees aggressiveness as pathological and 2. the position arguing that this action is a by-product of adjusting to the lower-class style of life. Yougsters judged as aggressive or non-aggressive by their peers were depth in- terviewed with a schedule probing the images they held of themselves and their environment, the activities they valued and self-reported aggressive behaviour. The results support the argument that aggression is adjustive, motivated behaviour that holds a complex relationship to the personality and environment of the young people studied.

R6sum~. Certains r6sultats d'une 6rude effectu~e r6cernrnent sur l'agression parrni les adolescents de la classe ouvri~re anglaise vivant dans un milieu d6- favorable ont ~t~ utilis~s afin d'examniner les points de vue oppos6s sur ce com- porternent et adopt~s le plus fr~quernrnent dans ce dornaine: I. le point de vue qui veut que l'agressivit~ soit pa~hologique et 2. la position selon laquelle ce cornporte- rnent serait un d~riv~ de lladaptation au style de vie de la classe inf~rieure. Les jeunes consid~r~s comrne agressifs ou non-agressifs par leurs pairs ont 6t~ inter- view~s en profondeur au rnoyen d'un schema conQu de fagon ~ rnettre en ~vidence l'irnage qulils se font dleux-m~rnes et de leur environnernent, les activit~s qu'ils ap- pr6cient et les cornporternents agressifs notes par eux-rn~mes. Les r~sultats rnontrent que l'agression est un cornporternent adaptatif et mnoiiv~, en relation complexe avec la personnalit6 et l'environnernent des jeunes ~iudi~s.

Zusarnmnenfassung. Einige Ergebnisse ether kfirzlich fertiggestellten Untersu- chung fiber Aggression unter jugendlichen englischen Arbeitern in einern sozialen Notstandsgebiet werden zur Untersuchung gegens~tzlicher Gesichtspunkte ffir die Interpretation dieses Verhaltens benutzt, die auf dern Gebiet vorherrschen: I. die Meinung, da~ Aggressivit~t pathologisch set und 2. die Auffassung, da~ eine ag- gressive Handhng ein Nebenprodukt der Anpassung an den Lebensstil der Unter- schicht set. In einern Tiefeninterview wurden die durch ihre Karneraden als ag- gressiv oder nicht aggressiv beurteilten Jugendlichen anhand eines Fragenkatalogs zur Erfassung der Vorstellungen von sich selbst und ihrer Umwelt, der bevor- zugten Aktivit~ten und des selbst berichteten aggressiven Verhaltens untersucht. Die Ergebnisse stfitzen die Auffassung, daI~ Aggression eine Anpassungsleistung ist. Als rnotiviertes Verhalten steht sic in einer kornplexen Beziehung zur Per- sSnlichkeit und zur Umnwelt der jugendlichen Probanden.

R. Dernbo: Adolescent Aggression 213

Introduction

The study of adolescent aggression is mark- ed by divergent perspectives. One view stres- ses the pathological nature of aggression, urg- ing that it is dysfunctional to the individual and social health (Lefkowitz, ~t al. 1972; Feshbach, 1970; Yablonsky, 1962). For ex- ample, based on the results of a i0 year, longitudinal enquiry into the aggressive be- haviour of youngsters in Columbia County, N. Y., the most extensive yet completed, Lefko- witz et al. argue that within the restrictions their data "aggression does seem to be malad- aptive behaviour. Notwithstanding the con- servative evaluation of the findings, significant relationships occurred between various meas- ures of aggression and indicators of psycho- pathology. " (p. 81). The indicators of psycho- pathology included MMPI scores on sub-scales 4 and 9 and records of criminal arrests. How- ever, the authors are aware that sample bias and IQ differences could well have accounted for the MMPI score difference, and that sex, social status and population density, among other factors, might have been responsible for the finding that more highly aggressive boys were arrested on criminal charges than those who were less aggressive.

An alternative position, represented in the work of W.B. Miller (1958, 1961), Wolfgang and Ferracuti (1967) and Werthman (1970) argues that aggression is best seen as a by- product of acting according to the values of the lower-class style of life, which is not a reac- tion to the norms of middle-class society but follows a long tradition of its own. It is in this context that Miller (1958) uncovered five me- chanisms of adjustment among adolescents of this life experience: i. thoughness, 2. smart- ness (ability to "con"), 3. excitement of dan- gerous risks, 4. freedom from external con- straint and authority and 5. a permissive at- titude toward getting into "trouble". Subsequent research by Miller and his associates (1961) on a New York City corner gang further con- firmed this thesis. Most aggressive behaviour was directed toward other gang members, these actions serving to absorb the strains of the lower-class way. of life and to maintain group solidarity.

Because these two orientations focus on different levels of analysis, it is difficult to make a balanced assessment of them. The ag- gression-as-pathology position primarily focus-

ses on the individual, providing detailed in- formation on his interests and abilities, but neglects to take equal account of his environ-

ment and social behaviour. The New York

State study, for example, was based on an examination of white subjects residing in a

rural County, which had few of the social prob- lems of inner-city slum life that characterized the environment of the teenagers Miller re- searched. The aggression-as-adjustment view stresses the importance of group values and relationship patterns, but fails to provide equal attention to the orientations and concerns of their members. In addition to these limita- tions on comparison, there is a need to assess individual and cultural faetors among young- sters in specific neighbourhood if their values and actions are to be clearly gauged.

In a recent study into aggression and media use among working-class youths living in the Northeast of England, a number, of items were used to probe the images the adolescents held of themselves, their valued activities, view of their environment and self-reported behaviour The information derived from these measures provides for an examination of the pathological and adjustment view of aggressive behaviour. Their evaluation is made possible by a com- parison of the responses youngsters, who were judged to be aggressive or non-aggressive by their peers, gave to these questions.

Method

The research required that a working-class neighbourhood be found where "thoughness" was a part of everyday life, where aggression occurred and was socially valued. The combina- tion of these factors suggested that a socially deprived area would be a critical site in which to carry out the study.

The desire to make youths of a social prob- lem life experience the focus of study present- ed several problems of instrument design and sample location. The former were overcome by extensive exploratory and pilot work in neighbourhoods similar to that in which it was planned to complete the research project. The principal task in the preliminary work was to develop questions probing values and activities that are important to teenage, English work- ing-class boys that covered some of the major

features of their lives to a degree that would permit an understanding of how they looked at,

and related to, their environment. The latter was resolved by conducting the research in a large comprehensive school covering an eco- nomically depressed area in the Northeast of England.

Exploratory work uncovered the distinction

214 R. Dembo: Adolescent Aggression

made by the youths between "hard guys" and "non-hard guys", which appear to follow close- ly the conventional definitions of aggressive and non-aggressive. Two dimensions were seen to differentiate the "hard guy".

H e a d m a s t e r r a n d o m i z e d the o r d e r of the sub- j e c t s and they w e r e b rough t to the t e s t r o o m by a pupi l a s s i s t a n t he had appoin ted . B e c a u s e the p r o c e d u r e was c o m p l e t e l y b l ind , each sub jec t r a t e d h i m s e l f and the o the r m e m b e r s of his class.

D i m e n s i o n H a r d Guy N o n - H a r d Guy

i. Relationship to teachers

i. Tends to be cheeky (or answer back)

2. Tends to act against (or break) school rules

Fends to accept school discipline and rules

2. Relations with classmates (both in and out of school)

I. Starts (or stirs up) fights with others to keep up his name (reputation)

2. Uses his fists to get his own way

His membership in peer group is of a different order, without reliance on forceful means of self-assertion and status- defence

Test Subjects: The subjects consisted of 183 boys aged 12 to 15 years of age occupying the bottom achievement streams of the com- prehensive school. The ratees represented 96% of the 191 potential peer-assessors in the thirteen forms that were tested.

Administration: For administration at the school, the four rating items, followed by five categories, ranging from not at all, sometimes, half the time, usually to all the time, were

1 placed on rating sheets. These sheets were preceded by an interviewer-read instruction, adapted from the work of Gold (1970), that was designed to place the youths at ease and advise them about how we wished them to complete the

forms. /k double blind procedure was used to pre-

vent the researcher from contaminating the ratings and to impress the confidentiality of the ratings upon the students. The Deputy

1 The rating items were worded as follows: (i) "tends to be cheeky or answer back," (2) ~tends to act against or break school rules, " (3) "will start or stir up fights with others to keep up his name," (4} "uses his fists to get his own way. "

To assess the degree to which the ratings related to one another, an examination was made of how they were associated with one ano other in each of the thirteen forms that com- pleted the rating sheets. The results of these analyses clearly document the high order of relationship among the four indicators, with 92 % (72 out of 78) of the correlation possibili- ties being statistically significant. Since each measure is based on one item, these correla- tions can be considered as a minimal estimate of internal consistency. The mean item-cor- relation level of 0.81 for the thirteen forms indicated that high internal reliability ~had been achieved.

It was also intended to validate the four aggression items by examining how they dorn- pared to ratings of the youths ~ tutors. Un- fortunately, the organisation of the School at the time the study was conducted was such that one tutor was responsible for all third, second and first form boys. These large num- bers of youths prevented him from getting to know a large proportion of them. However, information was obtained from a fourth form tutor assigned to develop a special education programme for school-leavers. This individual, who worked in close contact with the fourth- year youths from whom we obtained ratings,

R. Dembo: Adolescent Aggression 215

had an opportunity to observe them often enough to feel that he "knew these kids". A comparison of his ratings with those of the fourth formers showed ,a marked agreement in assessment of the boys' aggressive behaviour.

The high order of relationships among the four separate aggression items in each form suggested they were measuring the same kind of behaviour. As an additional test of this re- lationship, the aggression scores were adjust- ed to make them comparable to classes of varying sizes, by dividing each total score by the number of pupils in each form making the ratings. Statistical analysis found the average scores for each of the four indicators in the thirteen forms to be about the same, permitt- ing an examination of: i. how they related to one another for the 183 youths, and 2. the de- gree to which they were measuring the same factor. These results showed the aggression ratings to be both highly related to each other and to measure the same behaviour, and gave

considerable confidence that a good test to de- termine aggressive and non-aggressive boys had been developed (Dembo, 1972).

The desire to have the youths be as similar as possible in the occupation of their household head and in having no official record of de- linquency, led to boys whose fathers held mid- dle-class jobs (there were only a few of these) and youths possessing an official court record being screened out of the study. A lower IQ limit of 80 was selected on the basis of field- work experience which found that many of the interview questions it was planned to ask re- quired a minimal level of verbal fluency for their completion. It was for this reason, and not any attempt to control for "ability", that youngsters with low intelligence test scores were dropped from the study.

After these screening proeedures an equal number of aggressive and non-aggressive youths were finally selected from each form, so that no one or a series of classes would supply an undue proportion of boys to either sample.

Boys whose scores on the four aggression indicators were above or below the average for their forms were first chosen as members of the aggressive and non-aggressive samples, respectively. Eighty-six of the finally chosen 99 subjects fell into this group. The thirteen other youths selected, having scores above or below the average for their class on the items of starting fights to keep up his name, using his fists to get his own way and either being cheeky to teachers or acting against school rules, were the next most aggressive and non-

aggressive pupils in the thirteen forms. 2 In all, the aggressive and non-aggressive samples contained 49 and 50 youths, respectively, with each class giving approximately four youngsters to each group.

The peer ratings were supplemented by in- formation obtained from interviews with the youths. The youngsters were interviewed with a schedule probing the images they held of themselves, their values, social behaviour, leisure-time activities and uses of the media. They were completed during the Spring-Sum- mer, 1971 school terms and took place at a standard location at school. Each took 1 1/3 h to complete, and was conducted by a trained assistant following an alphabetical listing of pupil names that did not indicate the samples to which they had been assigned.

Results

The interview schedule contained a number of questions probing valued activities and view of environment. The youngsters were asked to indicate how much they agreed with these items along a five point scale.

The intercorrelations among these eight items were rotated to varimax criterion by factor analysis. This procedure isolated a factor, accounting for 24 % of the total variance, which suggested a toughness (TGH) orientation revolving around physical prowess that was characteristic of the neighbourhood where the study was conducted. Table i presents these data.

Correlations among peer-no~iainated aggres- sion, TGH orientation and the youngsters'

2 Because only a few boys in each class were judged as highly aggressive by their peers, use of the class average left more non- aggressive than aggressive lads in each form. To maximise aggressive score differences be- tween the two samples, it was decided to se- lect youngsters judged by their classmates to be the most non-aggressive. This was done by ranking the non-aggressive youths inversely by their scores on each indicator, ranking the sum of these rankings and selecting those students with the lowest totals to interview.

216 R, D e m b o : A d o l e s c e n t A g g r e s s i o n

T a b l e 1. L o a d i n g s o f v a l u e d a c t i v i t i e s a n d v i e w of e n v i r o n m e n t i t e m s o n t h e t o u g h n e s s o r i e n t a t i o n ( T G H ) f a c t o r a

Valued activity/ View of environment item Loading on TGH factor"

You've got to be tough to get on around here.

It is important to be good at some form of sport.

It is important to be the p~rson in the group who is best with the birds (or girls).

Hard guys are good guys to be with.

I like to do exciting things.

People my age in my neighbourhood get into fights.

You've got to be rough to get ahead

in life.

I like to be on my own and by my own boss.

-78

O0

-17

-ii

-09

- 4 7

-80

- 6 2

Per cent of total variance explained 24 %

a Root greater than unity.

Table 2. Self-image characteristics related to peer-nominated aggression and toughness (TGH) orientation

Attribute Correlation with Pe e r-Nominate d Aggression

Correlation with Toughness (TGH) Orientation

Peer-Nominated Aggression ---

Self:Image Items

I am a hard guy 0.44 c

I like to be good with my fists 0.29 b

I like being cheeky to teachers .0.40 c

I carry a chip on my shoulders (that is, act cocky or tough) 0.35 c

O. 18 a

0. 38 c

0. 35 c

0 . 3 3 c

0, 38 c

aO. lO>P>O. 05 b P<O. OI c P < O. 001 (correlation probabilities below this level are not recorded)

R. D e m b o : A d o l e s c e n t A g g r e s s i o n 217

views of themselves are presented in Table 2. 3 Note how strongly the various items relate to these two factors. All items are correlated with varying degrees of significance with peer- judged aggressiveness and TGH orientation. These results clearly indicate that both ag- gression and TGH orientation are important in understanding the self-concepts of the youths.

The schedule included a Short and Nye (1958) type question, adapted from a study by Bach- man (1967), probing the frequency of self- reported behaviour during the year prior to interview along a five point scale (5 or more times, 3 or 4 times, twice, once or never). The usefulness of this technique if sensitively

handled and used in conjunction with other socio-cultural indicators, has been demonstrat- ed in recent work by Hirschi (1971) and Gold (1970). Eight of the twenty items comprising this instrument referred to interpersonal aggressive behaviour. In order to assess the various dimensions of this action that were being measured, the inter-correlations of the youths' self-reported activity were varimax factor analyzed. Two factors, accounting for 52% of the total variance, emerged, as is de- picted in Table 3. Factor I, highly loaded on the items of fighting at school, getting some- thing by threat, hurting someone badly enoug h to require bandages or a doctor, hitting one's

Table 3. Loadings of the eight, self-reported aggressive behaviour items on the two varimax factors a (Decimal points omitted)

Abbreviated Title Factor I II

i. Got into a serious fight in school

2. Got something by threat

3. Hurt someone - needed bandages or doctor

4. Hit a teacher

5. Hit father

6. In fight with mates (friends) against another bunch

7. Hit mother

8. Used, knife, gun, club (or similar)to get something from a person

68 19

51 19

72 -03

18 85

61 04

69 09

-05 84

72 -19

Percent of Total Variance Explained 33. 1 19. 3

a Roots greater than unity

3 Since the samples were not probability samples, the use of the statistical model, strictly speaking, does not apply. However, the model was used for heuristic purposes as a

basi's"of comparison of the results with that of a random model to assist in locating signifi- cantly appearing relationships and patterns.

The aggressive/non-aggressive correlations involve a 1 and 0 coding of the two groups, respectively. Due to the exploratory nature of the study, two-tailed statistical test signifi- cance levels are used.

father, fighting with one's mates against an- other bunch and using a knife or other instru- ment to get something from a person seems to be a general aggressiveness cluster. The second factor, highly loaded on hitting a teacher and one's mother, seems item spe- cific.

The fact that peer-nominated aggression and TGH orientation correlate significantly

with one another and with the self-image items (see Table 2) argues that they both be taken into account in assessing the adolescents' self- reported aggressive behaviour. This is done in Table 4, which presents the results of an

218 R. Dembo" A d o l e s c e n t A g g r e s s i o n

examination of the mean factor scores on the two aggressive behaviour clusters for the four youth groups: i. aggressive, high TGH oriented, 2. aggressive, low TGH oriented, 3. non-aggressive, high TGH oriented, and 4. non-aggressive, low TGH oriented. For the purpose of this analysis, youngsters were classified as high or low TGH oriented, de- pending upon whether their TGH orientation factor scores were above or below the median for the score distribution, respectively. In each case, the claimed engagement in the two dimensions of aggressive behaviour examined

Discussion

The data suggest that peer-nominated ag- gression and TGH orientation, with their sig- nificant association to the youths' self-concept, are important factors in understanding their self-reported aggressive behaviour. Taken together, the results indicate that the inter- pretations these adolescents make of their environment provide important insights into their attitudes and activities. Aggressive and non-aggressive lads, and those with differing TGH orientation, appear to define themselves

Table 4. Factor score comparison of aggressive and non-aggressive, high and low toughness (TGH) oriented, youths' self-reported aggressive behaviour

Youth G r o u p

F a c t o r I A g g r e s s i v e , A g g r e s s i v e , N o n - A g g r e s s i v e , N o n - A g r e s s i v e , F P high TGH low TGH high TGH low TGH o r i e n t e d o r i e n t e d o r i e n t e d o r i e n t e d

Mean (X) 0 .16 0 .42 - 0 . 2 2 -0 .27 F a c t o r S c o r e

S 0 .80 1.50 0 .35 0 .23

N 28 20 21 29

3 .56 P 0.05

Factor II

Mean (X) Factor Score 0.22

S 0.88

N 28

0.09 -0.20 -O. ii

0.89 0.75 0.84

20 21 29

1.29 N.S.

shows general decrease as we move from group 1 to group 4, although only the general aggressiveness (Factor I) distribution is sta- tistically significant.

T-test comparison of mean varimax factor scores for the first self-reported behaviour cluster across the four youth groups confirms the general pattern revealed in Table 4. Aa- gressive, high TGH oriented boys: i. signifi- cantly more often claim involvement in the aggressive action indicated in Factor I than the non-aggressive, high TGH oriented and non- aggressive, low TGH oriented youth groups (t = 2.24, P 0.05 andt = 2.67, P 0.02, respectively I. None of the Factor II t-test comparisons were statistically significant.

differently, and selectively incorporate fea- rues of their neighbourhood in a manner that is consistent with the images they have of themselves. Aggressive and high TGH oriented youths value the display of physical prowess, To this end, they see success in such activi- ties as fighting and being "rough" as confirm- ing this picture they wish to present of them- selves. Non-aggressive and low TGH oriented boys are less concerned with affirming them- selves in physically assertive ways.

The findings indicate that aggression is ad- justive and holds a complex relationship to the personality and environment of the individuals studied. They suggest that only partial insight would be provided into the youngsters research-

R. Dembo: Adolescent Aggression 219

ed by simply focussing on them as individuals or on the social values prevalent in their neighbourhood. Neighbourhood values become important in learning about the youths when they are internalized into their perception of themselves and their activities. While further research is required on this issue, the data suggest that aggression and non-aggression is motivated behaviour, reflective of commit-

ments to selected behaviour options in their environment which some young people choose to act out.

In their differing ways, the aggressive, non- aggressive and high and low TGH oriented youngsters studied seemed to be using their neighbourhood's social and cultural resources to a degree they felt was optimal with their individual interests. In this sense, both sam- ples of young people were "successful" in their environment, however their actions might be regarded by persons from different life ex- periences. The findings reported in this paper strongly indicate the need for further research into the relationship of values and life-styles to human development.

Acknowledgements. I am indebted to the assistance of the Northeast education authority and school administrators who must remain anonymous. Torn W0olley assisted in gathering the ratings and in coding. Robin McCron, field interviewer, has the success of his dedication manifest in the research data. Both unhesitat- ingly gave their assistance at other points in the project. The research owes much to their involvement and interest. Mr. W., and Ed. gave invaluable help in the field effort. Mrs. Goodwin made a most valuable contribution to the study. Mrs. Gray was always helpful in coding and setting up many tables for analysis. The Centre typing staff provided willing support at all points. I am grateful for the comments of Dennis Howitt and May Katzen to earlier drafts of this paper.

References

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Dembo, R. : Aggression and media use among english working-class youths, Univ. Leicester, Centre for Mass Communication Res. ~ 1972

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Yablonsky, L. : The violent gang. New York: Macmillan 1962

Richard Dembo, Ph.D. Research Officer Centre for Mass Communication Research

University of Leicester 104 Regent Road Leicester U.K.