Gender, Adolescents, and Violence

Violence in young people’s environments, and fear of it, shape their experiences and coping strategies. Adolescents spend the majority of their time in two environments—the neighborhood and school. How does violence at home and at school affect adolescents’ responses to danger? In this course we will examine how adolescents’ “fight or flight” responses to violence in school—i.e., whether they isolate from or confront violence—partly depend on the overlapping versus conflicting norms they encounter at school and in the neighborhood, as well as due to their gender. 3 hrs. lect./disc. (Sociology)/