Violent Behavior in a War-Weary Country: Specifying the Relationship Between War Exposure and Interpersonal Violence

• In Event: 2366 - Section on Peace, War, and Social Conflict Refereed Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 3. Peace, War, and Social Conflict: Structure and Violence

Abstract

There has been a gap in the literature comprehensively analyzing the relationship between war exposure and violent behavior among civilian populations. Using a random sample of adults from two large Ukrainian cities, this study focuses on the effects of direct and vicarious war exposure on interpersonal violence and several intervening links explaining this relationship. Negative binomial regression models reveal that both direct and vicarious war exposure predict violent behavior among Ukrainian civilians. Furthermore, the mediation analyses show that daily hassles, negative emotionality, and morality serve as potential intervening links between vicarious war exposure and violence. We also identify unique differences by cities and types of morality. This study emphasizes potentially dangerous effects of war events on civilian population and the need for different kinds of interventions aimed to reduce interpersonal violent behavior in war-weary countries around the world.

Authors

• Anastasiia Kuptsevych-Timmer, University of Miami

• Olena Antonaccio, University of Miami

• Ekaterina V. Botchkovar, Northeastern University

• Robert J. Johnson, University of Miami