Out-of-School Youth Experiencing Domestic Violence Also at Higher Risk of Peer Violence

Experiencing Domestic Violence Increases Anxiety and Aggression
Parents' Violent Conflict Resolution Applied in Youth Society

Research has found that out-of-school youth who have experienced domestic violence tend to exhibit higher levels of aggression and are more likely to become perpetrators of peer violence.

On the 23rd, according to the education sector, Eunhee Choi, a research fellow at the Chungbuk Research Institute, and others analyzed this in their 2017 report titled "The Relationship Between Domestic Violence Victimization and Peer Violence Perpetration Among Out-of-School Youth."

The research team analyzed cases of 169 out-of-school youth in the Chungbuk region based on the "2016 National Youth Crisis Survey" conducted by the Korea Youth Counseling and Welfare Institute. The results showed that experiences of domestic violence such as physical threats, verbal abuse, and neglect were correlated with anxiety, aggression, and peer violence perpetration among out-of-school youth.

Additionally, anxiety and aggression were found to partially mediate the relationship between domestic violence victimization and peer violence perpetration. In other words, exposure to domestic violence increases aggression, which in turn raises the likelihood of perpetrating peer violence, creating a vicious cycle.

However, unlike previous similar studies with mixed results, anxiety was found not to mediate the relationship between domestic violence victimization and peer violence perpetration.

The research team pointed out that "violent and undemocratic communication and problem-solving methods by parents are directly applied to adolescents' social relationships."

They added, "The vicious cycle where victims of domestic violence become perpetrators of peer violence can lead to juvenile crime if appropriate intervention is not made. Domestic violence should not be neglected or taken lightly."

According to data received by Yang I-won-young, a member of the National Assembly's Women and Family Committee (Democratic Party), from the National Police Agency, out of 14,432 school violence offenders apprehended in 2022, 5,122 (35.5%) were out-of-school youth. Considering that out-of-school youth make up only 2.6% (143,000) of the total school-age population (5,589,000), this is a high proportion.

However, since it is difficult to take effective measures against school violence involving out-of-school youth compared to cases where both perpetrators and victims are students, there are calls for the government, schools, and local communities to establish comprehensive countermeasures.