From Insult to Injury : How Disputes Begin and Escalate among Adolescents and Young Adults in Medellin, Colombia

ABSTRACT: This article aims to contribute to the understanding of circumstances, causes of initiation, and process of escalation of physical disputes or fights resulting in physical injury. We analyzed data from a case-control study of perpetrators of violence between the ages of 15 to 24 (n=373) in the city of Medellín, Colombia. The findings show that 89% of conflicts resulting in injury took place in public places and most often involved males (78%). Six percent involved the consumption of alcohol, 20% reported having used illicit drugs before the initiation of the confrontation. Circa 50% of disputes began because of verbal aggression. Alcohol consumption was found to be associated with verbal aggression towards a friend or companion but not to other circumstances that start disputes. Drug use was not associated with the initiation of disputes. In 18.5% of the cases, a weapon was used while 5% of these disputes ended in a homicide. In none of the cases in which homicide was the outcome was there bystander intervention. In contrast, homicide did not result in the cases in which bystanders intervened.

• Autores: Montoya Gómez, Nilton Edu; Duque Ramírez, Luis Fernando
• Tipo de recurso: Article of investigation
• Fecha de publicación: 2013
• Institución: Universidad de Antioquia
• Repositorio: Repositorio UdeA
• Idioma: eng
• OAI Identifier: oai:bibliotecadigital.udea.edu.co:10495/39656
• Acceso en línea: https://hdl.handle.net/10495/39656
• Palabra clave: Violencia; Violence; Disentimientos y Disputas; Dissent and Disputes; Exposición a la Violencia; Exposure to Violence; Colombia; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D014754; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D034462; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D000069581; https://id.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/D003105
• Rights: openAccess
• License: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/2.5/co/