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Disputatiousness, Aggressiveness, and Victimization Among Street Youths

Queen's University, barons{at}post.queensu.ca

David R. Forde

University of Memphis

Leslie W. Kennedy

Rutgers University

Utilizing a sample of 125 male street youths, the article examines how homelessness and deviant lifestyles increase exposure to conflict and how the interactional dynamics of these disputes lead to violence and victimization. Results indicate that street youths' deviant peers leave them more likely to perceive harm and to use force to settle disputes. Perceptions of harm and the willingness to use force to settle a dispute are also associated with drug use, the gender of the harmdoer, and the intensity of the conflict. In turn, drug use, deviant peers, and the willingness to use force are associated with increases in violence as an offender; and this violence, along with alcohol use, is associated with victimization. Findings are discussed in terms of how lifestyle and dispute context and evolution are important to understanding street youths' conflict and victimization.

Key Words: dispute transformation • risky lifestyles • street youths • victimization • violence

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