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The Neurobiology of Violence and Victimization: Etiology, Biological Substrates, Clinical Implications, and Preventive Strategies

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School Violence and Primary Prevention

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Abstract

From a neurobiological perspective, maladaptive aggression and the sequelae of trauma and victimization involve complex interactions among biological, psychological, relational, social, and other environmental factors, which begin at conception and continue throughout the lifespan. The aim of this chapter is to provide readers a theoretical framework for understanding the neurobiology of violence and victimization broadly, and as it relates to school violence and its prevention. Particular emphasis will be placed on understanding the relationship between violence and victimization, applying research findings to clinical settings, and exploring ways in which our understanding of developmental neurobiology can be leveraged to promote prevention and harm reduction strategies in educational settings.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    William P. French

  2. Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Seattle Children’s Hospital, Seattle, WA, USA

    William P. French

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Correspondence to William P. French .

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  1. Department of Psychiatry, College of Medicine, Department of Gerontology, College of Public Health, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA

    Thomas W. Miller

Appendix: Additional Interventions

Appendix: Additional Interventions

Adolescence as a Critical Period

The adolescent developmental period is not only a time of rapid growth in multiple areas of brain development (e.g., reasoning abilities, physical capacity) but also a time of increased health risks with a twofold increase in disability and mortality (e.g., suicide, violence perpetration) compared to younger children. From a psychiatric perspective, it is also a period of emergence of a wide range of mental disorders with an estimated 50% of all mental illnesses emerging by age 14 (Kessler et al., 2005). Likely hypotheses to explain this mismatch between emerging strengths coupled with increased risks point to differential rates of maturity in key regions of the brain regulating reward-seeking behavior (nucleus accumbens/NA), emotional regulation (amygdala), and cognitive control (PFC) as contributing to a mismatch between adolescents’ experiencing strong emotions (accelerator) without yet being able to apply adaptive cognitive control (brakes). For example, during this high-risk period, due to lack of PFC inhibition of the amygdala, many normally developing teens may display “hot” emotional reactions or misinterpret facial expressions of neutrality or curious inquiry from parents or teachers as intrusive or threatening. At around the age of 16, amygdala volume growth begins to decelerate and form stronger connections to PFC areas involved in emotional regulation (Giedd, 2015).

Developmental neuroscience-informed educators working with such youth may be in a better position to help youth experiencing these “hot” emotions to understand their source and learn to “take it down a notch” to decrease the likelihood that their “hot” emotions coupled with high motivation for action (NA) will lead to a potentially dangerous behavioral outcome. Additionally, educators should be aware that until the cortical areas of the brain (PFC) catch up to subcortical areas (NA and amygdala) that their adolescent students will have tendencies to emotionally overvalue the potential reward, while undervaluing their potential negative consequences of their actions, be more likely to engage in sensation seeking (and risky) behaviors when in the presence of peers, and will be more susceptible to behaving impulsively when under stress (Chung & Hudziak, 2017).

Ludvik (2017) offers these additional recommendations for educators in Leveraging Neuroscience and Education to Prevent Youth Aggression and Violence .

  • Introduce mindfulness (for both students and educators) to promote attentional regulation training and improved emotional regulation.

  • Consider helping youth regulate their sensory input (e.g., allowing headphones), especially for youth with traumatic backgrounds.

  • Couple heightened sensation/novelty/reward seeking to long-term versus immediate gains.

  • Promote exercise for healthy brain regulation and growth, including increases in neurotrophic factors, such as BDNF.

  • Introduce emotional regulation-related training to help youth learn to identify their emotions (e.g., distinguish between feelings of fear, anger, sadness, and irritability).

  • Introduce compassion training to students, which can decrease implicit biases.

  • Introduce activities to promote strengthening of executive functioning.

  • While not de-valuing adolescents’ strong emotional drive (their “hot” emotions) help them couple these “bottom-up” brain processes with “cooler” “top-down” brain functions, such as mindfulness, self-reflection, executive functioning, and goal setting in order to help them be less emotionally reactive and more thoughtful with their behavioral choices.

Additional Recommended Interventions for Youth of Various Ages

There are numerous interventions—preventative, clinic-based, home-based, school-based, criminal justice system-based, etc.—that are available for families and youth, which can promote resilience, change mental health trajectories, offer individual and family supports, and in general, help youth at risk for, or who have had negative outcomes, due to trauma and violence perpetration. The following are just a sampling of available interventions and programs. Please check web resources in the next section for descriptions, age ranges, and strength of evidence base.

For the very young

Home Health Visiting Programs for Prevention of Child Abuse and Neglect, such as the Nurse-Family Partnership; Early Start; Head Start; Attachment, Regulation, and Competency (ARC); Promoting First Relationships (PRF); Attachment and Biobehavioral Catch-up (ABC); Triple P (Positive Parenting Program; Parent–Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT); Child–Parent Psychotherapy.

For school-age children, including school-based programs

The Good Behavior Game; Families & Schools Together (FAST).

For middle and high school youth

Multisystemic Therapy (MST); Multidimensional Treatment Foster Care (MTFC) for court-involved youth; Adolescent Diversion Project; Aggression Replacement Therapy (ART) for youth in state institutions; Functional Family Therapy for Youth Post-release.

For youth of various ages

School-Based Health Alliance (https://www.sbh4all.org/), which supports nationwide School-Based Health Centers; Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavior Therapy (TF-CBT); RULER: Recognizing Understanding, Labeling, Expressing, and Regulating Emotions (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, https://www.ycei.org/); Intensive Family Preservation Services and Intensive Family Reunification Services, such as HOMEBUILDERS®; Full-Fidelity Wraparound.

Programs/Interventions without a strong evidence base

Boot Camps; Drug Court; Restorative Justice Conferencing.

Websites Providing Evidence-Based Resources

The National Registry of Evidence-Based Programs and Practices (NREPP): https://www.samhsa.gov/ebp-resource-center

U.S. Federal website created by the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs: https://youth.gov/

U.S. Federal Bullying Prevention: https://www.stopbullying.gov/

Washington State Institute for Public Policy: http://www.wsipp.wa.gov/

The California Evidence-Based Clearinghouse for Child Welfare https://www.cebc4cw.org/

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French, W.P. (2023). The Neurobiology of Violence and Victimization: Etiology, Biological Substrates, Clinical Implications, and Preventive Strategies. In: Miller, T.W. (eds) School Violence and Primary Prevention. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-13134-9_2

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