Violence among high school students in Thailand: Cultural perspectives

The objectives of this study were to explore the prevalence and severity of violent behavior among high school students in Thailand, in relation to their family, peers, school and neighborhoods. The sample consisted of 2897 youths. Seven scales were used to measure violence. Males were found to be more violent than females, and the strongest predictor of own violence was violence in the youth's environment, followed by peer effects and personal characteristics. The results indicate that besides some unique influences, which could explain emphasis or differences in type, range and frequency of violent behaviors among Thai youth, compared with youth from other cultures, risk factors for youth violence reported in Western studies are applicable also to Thai youths. The results were interpreted in light of the cultural characteristics of Thailand.