Differences Between Individual and Group Fights

The aim of this paper is to study the relationship between violence and characteristics of the individual and of the social context. As part of the Cambridge Study in Delinquent Development, which is a prospective longitudinal survey, 389 youths were interviewed at age 18-19 and asked to give accounts of fights. A distinction was drawn between individual fightsin which the youth was usually provoked, got angry, and started the fight, and group fightsin which he often went to the aid of a friend, and which were more likely to involve weapons, produce injuries, and bring police intervention. Group fights were associated with frequent fighting and aggressive attitudes. The more aggressive and more frequent fighters came from deprived backgrounds (poor, large families) and had socially deviant life-styles as young adults (involving delinquency, drug use, sexual promiscuity and an unstable job record). While the extent of aggression reflected background and life-style, the characteristics of any particular aggressive incident depended upon the individual or group social context. (Abstract Adapted from Source: British Journal of Social Psychology, 1982. Copyright © 1982 by The British Psychological Society) Violence Causes Juvenile Offender Juvenile Crime Juvenile Delinquency Juvenile Violence Adult Crime Adult Delinquency Adult Offender Adult Violence Young Adult Late Adolescence Foreign Countries England Group Violence Socioeconomic Factors Physical Assault Causes Physical Assault Offender Fighting Behavior Family History Offender Characteristics Aggression Causes Adult Aggression Juvenile Aggression Physical Aggression 02-05