Christine Posadas

Professor Beaman

HD 300

2016 June 26

Research Paper: Early Childhood Themes & Life Cycles:

Violence and Latino Youth

According to the United States Census Bureau, there are about 55 million Latinos who

reside in the United States, as of July 2014, making Latino people the largest ethnic or racial

“minority” group. Though I do not consider Latinos a minority, I am proud to acknowledge that

we are growing, not only in numbers but also thriving through our culture. Unfortunately for me,

as a Latina woman who comes from East Los Angeles, we are not always recognized for the

progression we are making, but for the violence that swallows are communities. I have met many

people across my life, that are not from Los Angeles, and as soon as they hear I am from East

L.A. I see wide eyes, twisted mouths and confused eyebrows with comments and questions such

as: “How scary!” “Oh my gosh, and you still live there?” “Like, in the hood?” Although, there

are gangs and violence surrounding me, it is something I personally feel has made me a much

stronger person, wiser on the streets and given me a purpose to pursue change in my own

community for the future generations of East L.A. youth. This topic hits close to home to me

because of what I have personally witnessed and still currently deal with. In the past years, many

“anti-gang” policies and programs have been put into place that push youth to be tried as adults,

zero tolerance measures and gang injunctions backfire and seem to only worsen a youth’s

experience. I personally believe more research should be conducted into how to impact the

Latino youth and redirect them towards a more positive route, giving them a chance to develop
and reflect from their experiences, also figuring out in what was prevention beforehand can

impact the youth. I believe, if efforts are put towards redirection and prevention than

condemning them to prison, there would be a greater development of sustainable adults with life

skills that could contribute to the economy rather than the states spending an estimate of over

$167,000 per inmate in jail on a yearly basis. (IBO, 2013)

According to some studies I found, some research was conducted in regards to the factor

of family relationships to youth, links to peers already involved in violence and the likeliness of

self control. Self-control towards aggression and violence. According to one study, aggression is

influenced by interactions with family, peers and the surrounding neighborhood. Depending on

what they experience, as far as consequences or benefits it may lead to what will become of their

habit when dealing with challenges in their life. (Forster, 2015) Although a major factor to the

habits that are learned by children as they grow are affected by those people they surround

themselves with, a preventative measure can consist of school and community. Many children

may be growing up with absent adult figures in their lives and somehow that void should be

attempted to be filled with positive role models that can provide skill building to the youth.

“Because recruitment and retention of family members in prevention and intervention programs

has been challenging, evaluations of school-based programs that provide cognitive and emotional

skills training for youth living in deviant family contexts are important areas of future prevention

research” (Forster, 2015)

Now with all these factors that affect youth to grow habits of aggression and violence,

specifically Latino youth fall into a major percentage across the U.S. According to Examining

the influence of family environments on youth violence, “Violence is the second leading cause of

death among this population… in 2006, the homicide rate among Latino youth was 8.6 compared
to 1.6 among non-Latino Whites.” (Estrada-Martinez, 2010) This study moves to a breakdown

comparison of sub-Latino groups of Mexican, Puerto Rican and Cuban, alongside White and

Black subjects. These sub groups were studied to have a more detailed look into not only Latinos

as a whole, but individual nationalities and how they might differ from each other. Although sub

grouping is an interesting way to find out more about what drives Latino youth to violence, it is

not researching across to more detailed topics of what may help to strengthen a prevention for

youth. Even after this study, there was no consistent evidence that was found regarding youth

violence among Latino youth. However, one thing did stand out, just as the other studies: the

familial factor plays a major part with Latino youth. Just in like in much of the research we have

come across, another states “In a study involving Latino youth, using Miller et al.’s data set,

Alvarez-Rivera and Fox [2010] found that weak attachments to parents, religion, and school

were related to deviant behavior but low self-control was not.” (Flexon, 2010) Learning now that

family is one of the key factors to the influence of self-control, aggression and violence. What

role do other factors play? Children surround themselves with family for the beginning of their

lives, up until they enter the school systems. School is the 2nd home for most youth.

According to Jennifer Castillo in Tolerance in schools for latino students: Dismantling

the school-to-prison pipeline, over the past few decades, school systems in the U.S. have instilled

zero-tolerance policies in order to harshly discipline youth who threaten the “safety” of the

schools. This policy began as punishments for dealing with fire arm situations, but across time it

has expanded to be used for other incidents that are not as serious. But other than making the

schools safe, it is only pushing youth to spiral into more misbehavior. “For children of color,

particularly Latinos and African Americans, the effects associated with zero-tolerance policies

multiply the barriers to academic and career success that are already present in their lives.
Students who have experienced suspension or expulsion are more than eight times as likely to be

incarcerated as those who graduate. Dropouts are far more likely to face reduced job and income

opportunities, chronic unemployment, or require government assistance.” (Castillo, 2014) Hence,

making them unstainable adults able to contribute to the country’s economy. This article moves

on to describe what certain school systems are doing in order to bring restorative justice,

dropping the rate of referrals of youth. Though some schools are moving towards restorative

justice and the discipline carried out to address misbehavior, prevention and guidance is also an

element in where schools and communities alike can contribute towards the redirection of youth.

In an article by Ryan Coller and Alicia Kuo, they discuss the role a school-based mentoring

program can play in Latino youth in Los Angeles. “High-quality mentoring relationships have

promoted child health through improvements in academic performance, positive feelings of self-

worth, perceived social acceptance, relationships with others, and decreases in high-risk

behaviors like alcohol/tobacco use and violence.” (2013) Most of these mentoring relationships

have proved successful, it was discovered that youth begin to benefit after a solid year of

mentoring. These types of program serve as a preventative measure that will help gear a child

towards trust in a role model, and discover interest that may develop to talents. As Luis J.

Rodriguez, former gang member now author and poet describes in an interview, “The only way

to go is to do more things on what I call the front end. You got to do more in schools, more to

help families, do more with housing and after-school programs in the arts. They don't do enough

of anything on the front end. They put everything on the back end when kids are already lost and

they start shooting.”

The studies that were conducted were all different, but with several similarities. We came

to find out that family and those immediately surrounding a child are a major influence to the
habits they begin forming. These habits consist of aggression and violence that tend to lead the

approach when the youth deal with challenges in their life. Aside from family, the discipline

carried out in schools also has a major effect on Latino youth, and when it comes to harsh

policies it can back track them from positive behavior. Leaving the possibility of using programs

such as mentorship in schools to help support to guide the Latino youth, to create preventative

measures in violence, drugs and behavior.

Throughout most of the studies, reading the data and how it was obtained was interesting.

The data that was gathered were like surveys, where the youth were asked questions with scales

and they had to fill it out with their own personal experience. Some studies even stated that a

certain amount of youth did not comply in participating, which comes to the questioning of the

authenticity of the data. However, one article regarding the tolerance in school, did contain

specific stories to some examples of what students had been arrested for, providing the readers

with evidence. Most of the studies did share actual numbers and percentages and broke the data

down by category. I believe that when these studies are done, especially the survey type should

be multiple times with the same subjects to weigh out the consistency and authenticity and

provide accurate results. Whichever way the data was collected, it is very important so people

may figure out what is causing youth to do certain things, what are possible preventions, and

even what is working or not.

Violence in Latino youth is a topic as real as the violence that occurs in our cities. After

many years of trying to figure out what should be done about it, it continues to happen. Some

strategies working more than others, some strategies hurting the progression. Each area carries

their own culture, not all Latino youth fall in the exact same category, more research needs to be

built on neighborhoods specifically. The Latino youth in Los Angeles, is not guaranteed to run
into the exact same situations as the Latino youth in Madison, with the same risk factors. More

focus should be made towards smaller groups in their area. Real observations and facts should be

the source of evidence, not just numbers and surveys. This is vital information that could really

direct programs, schools, families and agencies towards what is in need in those areas, rather

than just generalizing. Violence may never go away completely but with the right tools, it can be

prevented in youth. Youth that are involved in their communities, have role models they trust

and pursue their interests can grow into adults with lifelong skills that will be able to contribute

to their society with great citizenship. Through the research I did find, I came to the conclusion

that all the factors run in a domino effect, one thing leading to another. Until further research is

made, these studies can be used to begin bringing attention to what Latino youth need currently

to prevent and redirect them towards a more positive life path.

 References

Castillo, J. (2014). Tolerance in schools for latino students: Dismantling the school-to-prison
pipeline. Harvard Journal of Hispanic Policy, 26, 43-58. Retrieved from
https://tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.
org/docview/1618349164?accountid=34120

Coller, R. J., & Kuo, A. A. (2014). Youth development through mentorship: A los angeles
school-based mentorship program among latino children. Journal of Community Health,
39(2), 316-21. doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10900-013-9762-1

Estrada-Martínez, L. M., Padilla, M. B., Caldwell, C. H., & Schulz, A. J. (2011;2010;).

Examining the influence of family environments on youth violence: A comparison of
mexican, puerto rican, cuban, non-latino black, and non-latino white adolescents. Journal of
Youth and Adolescence, 40(8), 1039-1051. doi:10.1007/s10964-010-9624-4

Flexon, J. L., Greenleaf, R. G., & Lurigio, A. J. (2010). The Effects of Self-Control, Gang
Membership, and Parental Attachment/Identification on Police Contacts Among Latino and
African American Youths. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative
Criminology, 56(2), 218-238. doi:10.1177/0306624x10394116

Forster, M., Grigsby, T. J., Unger, J. B., & Sussman, S. (2015). Associations between gun
violence exposure, gang associations, and youth aggression: Implications for prevention and
intervention programs. Journal of Criminology,
doi:http://dx.doi.org.tcsedsystem.idm.oclc.org/10.1155/2015/963750

Independent Budget Office, New York City by the Numbers. (2013, August 27). Retrieved June
25, 2016, from http://ibo.nyc.ny.us/cgi-park2/?p=51

Morales, R. (2004, September 28). Interview with gang author Luis Rodriguez. Retrieved June
25, 2016, from http://lang.dailynews.com/socal/gangs/articles/sgvnp3_rodrigz.asp

U.S. Census Bureau, Your Geography Selections. (2014). Retrieved June 25, 2016, from
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