Safety
AROUND YOUR HOME

Protecting our children and preventing violence

Because of the rash of violence inflicted by troubled youth throughout the past few years, behavioral professionals have been searching for the source of this brutality. Although the determining factors of such violence are difficult to pinpoint, the recognition of risk factors and positive factors seems to help in the identification of those who could have the greatest potential for exhibiting violent behavior.

Dan Dawson

Risk factors are individual or environmental (neighborhood) hazards that increase youths' vulnerability to negative development outcomes. The presence of risk factors does not guarantee a negative developmental outcome, but increases the odds that problem behaviors will occur. Even in the face of overwhelming odds, some children exhibit a remarkable degree of resilience, which leads to these questions, "What is right with these children7 What protects them?" Protective factors are individual or environmental safeguards that enhance youngsters' ability to resist stressful life events and promote positive changes.

To reduce the incidence of problem behaviors among our youth requires addressing risk factors at multiple levels within the child's environment.

There are four levels of our social environment that various studies have determined to be influenced by risk and protective factors: family, individual, community and school. Each of the four has risk and protective factors that are specific to them. The following are examples of risk and protective factors within each environmental level.

Family:
Risk factor: poor parental monitoring - poor parental monitoring is one of the most powerful predictors of adolescent problem behaviors. Monitoring is defined as simply knowing where your children are, what they are doing and with whom. Monitoring may be especially important in the after-school hours.

Protective factor: a close relationship with at least one person - resilient children have had the opportunity to establish a close bond with at least one person who accepts them regardless of their temperament, attractiveness or intelligence. One good relationship can do much to counteract the effects of other bad relationships.

Individual:
Risk factor: anti-social behavior - boys, in particular, who are aggressive at ages 5, 6 and 7 have elevated risk of both delinquent activities and drug abuse. Approximately 40 percent of children identified as aggressive in the early elementary grades exhibit serious behavior problems in adolescence.

Protective factor: well-developed problem-solving skills - one factor that can serve to protect children from risk is having well-developed problem-solving skills.

Community:
Risk factor: low neighborhood attachment and community disorganization - low neighborhood attachment means that community residents have little connection to others in the neighborhood. Children are not viewed as a neighborhood responsibility.

Protective factor: belonging to a supportive community - resilient youth are able to rely on a greater number of sources of social support than youth with serious coping problems, including teachers, ministers, older friends, siblings and cousins, family day-care providers, nursery school teachers, neighbors or contacts at social agencies.

School:
Risk factor: school transitions - one of the higher risk factors is the experience of changing schools for junior high and middle school aged youth. These youth are expected to change schools just as they are undergoing a host of biological, cognitive and social changes. Academic achievement goes down, extracurricular participation goes down, feelings of being anonymous go up and the rate of drug use and drug abuse increases.

Protective factor: positive school experiences -positive school experiences provide a source of strength within a chaotic environment. Besides positive academic accomplishments, positive relationships with teachers, the opportunity to take positions of responsibility, or success in non-academics such as music, sports and art prove to be very supportive.

All too often, those attempting to solve the problems of youth search for single factors, magic bullets and quick solutions to complex youth problems. Effective programs should address as many of these risk and protective factors as possible.

Dan Dawson, is an extension educator at the Springfield Extension Center, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Illinois, P.O. Box 8199, and Springfield, IL 62781-8199. Phone: (217) 782-6515. E-mail: dawsond@mail.aces.uiuc.edu.

16 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JUNE 1999