ACTIVA Project:
Cultural Norms and Attitudes towards Violence
in Selected Cities in Latin America and Spain
This multicenter study was coordinated by PAHO and carried out in selected cities in Latin America (El Salvador-Bahia and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Santiago, Chile; Cali, Colombia; San José, Costa Rica; San Salvador, El Salvador; Caracas, Venezuela) and in Madrid, Spain. Various centers of excellence of recognized expertise in the area participated in the study.
The purpose of the ACTIVA project was twofold: to generate information aimed at policies and city violence-prevention programs, and to offer criteria for decision-making and gather information to serve as a basis for evaluating policies and prevention programs. This study was to provide baseline data to help develop policies and prevention programs at all levels: primary, secondary and tertiary. The sample size for this transversal study was a phenomenal 10,821. It included a probabilistic survey using a uniform questionnaire and methodology and entailing face-to-face interviews with people between the ages of 15 and 70 living in urban households.
The study found that between 3% and 27% of the children had been physically punished by one of their parents with the use of an object. It was also noted that 34% of the children had been struck during the 12 months prior to the study. The ages of the children in this category ranged from 2–7 years. Caretakers use corporal punishment most frequently on children between the ages of 3 and 5. It was also discovered that young parents and caretakers of low-socioeconomic status with a lack of education were more prone to use physical punishment as a means of correcting behavior (Orpinas 1999, Concha-Eastman 2001).
The study did have some limitations, however, such as not being able to make direct correlations about violence and its causes. The most important result of this study is the insight it provided into the attitudes of the people interviewed. Once health professionals understand their attitudes and behaviors, perhaps prevention programs can be developed to curtail violence.
For further detail, see the Executive Summary.
Objetives
- Analyze and compare data on the prevalence of physical and verbal aggression towards children, spouses/partners and people outside the family.
- Identify personal, environmental and socioeconomic factors associated with these violent behaviors.
Data
Percentage of Responses to the ACTIVA Study Survey (1997)
|
Question and/or Attitude of the Interviewee |
Bahia, Brazil |
Cali, Colombia |
Caracas, |
Madrid, |
Rio de Janeiro, |
San José, |
San Salvador, |
Santiago, |
Houston, |
|
Those who think children on the street should be incarcerated. |
28.2 |
17.5 |
15.6 |
-- |
33.7 |
17.2 |
17.7 |
10.0 |
-- |
|
Those who believe corporal punishment is necessary for their children. |
28.4 |
31.8 |
7.3 |
8.1 |
7.6 |
16.3 |
15.3 |
6.0 |
39.6 |
|
Those who think they can take matters into their own hands. |
37.7 |
27.8 |
38.5 |
16.2 |
19.8 |
41.5 |
21.9 |
23.6 |
30.0 |
|
Those who carry a gun to protect themselves. |
16.1 |
22.7 |
28.3 |
19.5 |
13.5 |
31.4 |
16.8 |
22.6 |
25.8 |
|
Those who would like to possess a firearm. |
28.2 |
28.6 |
34.1 |
|
21.9 |
23.9 |
23.5 |
29.9 |
* |
|
Those who do not have and do not want to possess a firearm. |
63.8 |
65.3 |
50.7 |
77.7 |
71.6 |
61.2 |
66.8 |
59.0 |
* |
* Technical note: Houston did not complete the project.
Documentation
- The methodological documentation from the project is available online through the PAHO Research Coordination website of the Technical Papers Series Research in Public Health issued by the PAHO Research Coordination Unit, in the following issues:
- Progress Report
- Protocol
- Questionnaire and Manuals
- ¿Quién es violento? Factores asociados con comportamientos agresivos (in Spanish only)
- Victimization from Urban Violence: Levels and Related Factors
- Forthcoming: Database with survey data
The results of the study were also published in the Pan American Journal of Public Health 1999: 5 (4/5).