Community Violence and Code of the Streets: A Person-Centered Examination of General Strain Theory

Identifier

6675

Author

Hannah Corinne GilliamFollow

Date

2021

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Major

Psychology

Concentration

Clinical Psychology

Committee Chair

Kathryn H Howell

Committee Member

Kris S Berlin

Committee Member

Robert Cohen

Abstract

Anderson’s code of the streets (COS) model outlines one potential response to high community violence exposure (CVE) in which individuals regard physical violence as an effective means to maintain respect and reduce victimization. Previous research has separately linked CVE, strong negative emotions, and low social support to greater violence, and suggests these factors may also relate to acceptability of violence. The current study used these factors to derive empirically-driven profilesin a latent profile analysis, and examined the relationships between theseprofiles and COS adherence among 694 undergraduates (Mage=20.72; 81.0% female; 57.1% White).A 4-class model emerged as the best fit:High Community Violence (HCV; 5.0%), Low Support (LS; 16.7%), Unvarying (UNV; 23.9%) and Low Community Violence (LCV; 54.4%). Profiles significantly differed in relation to COS adherence, with HCV participants endorsing the highest COS. Findings highlight mutable individual and relational factors that relate to perceptions of the acceptability of violence.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

Recommended Citation

Gilliam, Hannah Corinne, "Community Violence and Code of the Streets: A Person-Centered Examination of General Strain Theory" (2021). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2156.
https://digitalcommons.memphis.edu/etd/2156