2.1 Types of Violence

The ^{WHO (2002)} classification, divides violence in three general categories according to the characteristics of the people who commit the act of violence:

The nature of acts of violence: physical, sexual and psychological. Therefore the abuse, punishment, rape, negligence or the bullying, are violent ways of a relationship and an expression, that a subject with an environment can develop, as well as the individuals who form it.

2.2 Family Violence

Family violence is such violence that takes place within the family, in other words, the aggressor shares or has shared the same domicile, and which includes, among other things, rape, physical, psychological or sexual abuse.

The harmony in the family influenced by external happenings, can remain troubled, either by lack of authority of the father, by disaffection of the mother, by abuse, by aggression from the siblings, or by the disintegration of home, in which it prevails an open hatred. The aggressor is an unsociable subject who believes he is not being understood and usually is impulsive and incapable to organize home, situations that lead him to the act violently against his children especially in moments of crisis. In general the active aggressor subject, lived a difficult childhood in which he knew humiliation, disdain, destructive criticism and physical abuse which made his arrive to adulthood without self-esteem nor confidence.

The family violence is a preponderant factor in the risk of future crime. It refers to the one that takes place within the family, either that the aggressor shares or had shared the same domicile and that includes, among other things: rape, physical, psychological and sexual abuse. The affective relationships of childhood will determine in a great measure the life of the adult, for the parents have the responsibility to provide intimacy, authority and proper education for the well development of the child’s psyche (Molnar & cols. 2005; ^{Morris & Maisto, 2001}).

Other authors (^{Cicchetti, 2004}; ^{Ireland, Smith & Thornberry, 2002}; ^{Sabol, Coulton & Korbin, 2004}; ^{Thornberry, Ireland & Smith, 2001}), suggest that the physical abuse and the exposition to domestic violence during childhood, are considered as important factors for the presence of problems of behavior in the youth, among which are the crime behavior.

In Mexico, ^{Frías, Sotomayor, Varela, Zaragoza, Banda y García (2000)} performed a study with young criminals, the authors found a positive relationship between the physical abuse of parents and the anti-social behavior, the criminal conduct of the youngsters was predicted by the antisocial conduct and the physical abuse of the father. The authors conclude that the violent conducts of parents are factors that promote antisocial conduct which in turn is the prelude for committing criminal acts.

3.1 Female crime

In the last decades, the rate of female crime in Mexico, has had a mayor increase in comparison with other countries in the world. It is known that the majority of the women in jail, come from population sectors which are socially disadvantaged, and that remain in jail for common crimes of people who have gone through abuse, lack of power, and have been mistreated for most part of their lives (^{Martínez Lanz, 2012}).

The Public Safety and Justice Survey of 2010 (^{INEGI, 2011}), reports that crime in Mexico has increased in the last few years: in 2004, 81,539 crimes were reported, whereas in 2008 there were 136,091 illicit, and in 2009, 131,582. Specifically, in crimes against public health, these incremented in 120% from 2004 to 2008. On the other hand the survey also reports an increment of 18% of the elicits with prohibited guns during the period 2004 to 2009, which combined with the drug dealing, represent the 65% of the total in 2008 and more that the 60% for 2009.

Recently, women have been involved in new criminal conducts such as bank robbery, kidnapping, extortion and crime against health. The causes of such conducts are multifactorial, because there are biopsychosocial factors involved, but nevertheless, some risk factors have been identified, which are relevant for the prevention of crime.

3.2 Male crime

Along through time, the rates of criminality have been formed mainly by male crime. This is due in part by the affinity that exists between the traditional male behavior and criminal behavior. The ideal male personality implies the show of physical strength, certain type of aggressiveness and the visible demonstration of achievements.

Recent studies show that the male criminals present higher rates of substance abuse than women. On the other hand, by committing murder, the victims of women are usually known people, while men commit this crime more frequently in unknown people. This demonstrates the difference marked by gender with respect to crime, and implies the need of a different treatment for each sex (^{Roe-Sepowitz, 2009}).

Many are the factors that take the male population towards the crime path. Besides, statistics show that ethnic and racial minorities have twice the probability to commit violent acts than white men; that is to say, discrimination and the trauma it causes, lead to crime. On the other hand, stressing life events lead men to participate in violent events. More than 50% of children victims of abuse, become criminals before the age of 12.

Crime committed by male gender can be of all types, however, current problems are fundamentally centered in the use of drugs and drug trafficking, due to which those related to this topic have been classified by some authors in two big categories:

Some social factors, as the accessibility to which the teenagers have to obtain guns, the violence in the media which surrounds them, and the lack of opportunity to get an education, are variables that may incline the youngsters to become delinquents.

4.1 Child Abuse

Research and prevention of child abuse constitutes a field and a transcendental phenomenon by itself, because this affects the harmonic, integral and proper of a minor development, compromising his self-esteem, his school performance and his social abilities.

Child abuse is a serious problem in Mexico. The National Institute for Statistics and Geography (^{INEGI 2011}), reports that family violence takes place in 30.4% of all homes in forms of emotional, physical or sexual abuse, which affects the proper development of a minor, compromising his self/esteem, his school performance and his social abilities.

The research Consequences of Child Abuse in Self-Esteem and in the School Performance of Children (Vladimirsky and Colleagues 2008) tackles child abuse and the consequences that this creates in the self-esteem and the school performance of a child. The sample was composed of 135 subjects of both sex, of a private school in the State of Mexico of medium and medium low socio economical level. The subject ages varied between 9 and 12 years of age. The exploratory descriptive study used an instrument composed of 3 areas: socio-demographic, abuse and mistreatment, and of self-esteem.

Of the total subjects in the study, 64% possesses improper self-esteem; from these, 61% are female and 39% are male. Thus, the authors conclude that there exists a direct relationship between child abuse and self-esteem, and that the presence of child abuse prevents the proper development of the self-esteem. At the same time, there exists, a direct relationship between school performance and self-esteem.

Everything that occurs in a family is reflected in the children. Thus, children of alcoholic parents live constantly stressing and risk situations. The affective needs of a child are diminished or absent with one or both parent being alcoholic. Physical development is deficient in size and weight. They suffer more hospitalization and sickness, than the average of their environment. They present, with higher frequency than other children, headaches, vertigo, stomachache and enuresis: hysteria, depressions and personality distortion.

4.2 Violence against men

Sexual violence against men and children is a serious problem, however, it has been put aside by research, except regarding child sexual abuse.

The most common abuse suffered by men is psychological and subtle, based on the humiliation, the manipulation and the economic problems through deceit, blackmail, robbery, getting into debt for him to pay the bills, etc. (^{Castelo, J. 2010}).

The aggression that man can suffer, can begin when they are children, with violent parent that hit, humiliate or sexually abuse them. Nevertheless, there also can exist the possibility that older man conform a family violence, perform against them by his wide and occasionally by this children.

The situation with family abuse that is presented in adult men, is exerted mainly by the woman, which in this case the most common situations are:

Violence against men is a type of violence of gender against men due to their condition of men. This violence presents numerous faces which go from discrimination and disdain up to physical or psychological aggression, and murder, this being produced in many different environments: family, work, educational, etc. If the aggressor would be his sentimental couple, it will also be called couple violence; is the violent acts against a man would be performed by sexist discriminatory motives, if would be called «feminist violence» (^{Carozo, J. 2009}).

Few countries have performed studies oriented towards the state of the topic; one of them is a study performed in Australia which shows that one of each three males (29.8%) is victim of couple violence. Another study of the same county performed in 1999, verified as well, that 32.3% of the men reported emotional or physical abuse by his actual or ex mate (Castello, J. 2010)

In Mexico, in a recent study performed by ^{Martínez Lanz P., Galindo P., Loera G., Rivera M. y Saba, S. (2013)} where the objective was to determine the presence of family violence towards the male sex by the family and by the couple, and its relationship with depression in a sample of 395 men between 25 and 60 years of age, it was found that: the relationship between the variables is high, so it can be inferred that, there exists a high index of violence towards the male sex, which depends largely of certain socio demographic factors and of some external situations to the person.

4.3 Couple Violence

The issue of violence within the couple relationships, has taken a special importance in the last few times, this due to the fact that several studies show an important number of couples where we can find violence. This, is not only exerted by men, there are also cases where women are the ones who exert violence or where violence is reciprocal.

Within the factors associated to the presence of violence in the couple, we find background of violence in the childhood homes, as well as some cultural preconceptions expressed in a set of gender stereotypes, and in discrimination attitudes which may contribute to the reproduction of violent behavior and on another hand, the so closed relationship between addictions and domestic violence.

The study Violence in dating violence, alcohol consumption and family violence in youngsters, reported by ^{Martínez Lanz P., Morales Sánchez J.L., Hernández Castellanos P., Rodríguez Pacheco D. y Parga Valiñas G. (2014)} was performed in a non-probabilistic sample of 400 youngsters, high school and bachelor’s degree students, with a range of age between 17 to 24 years of age, from which 33% were men, and 66% women, all of them with a dating relationship.

The results of the analysis in order to determine the relationship between levels of violence in the courtship, showed that those participants who presented high and severe levels of violence in the couple, presented high levels of alcohol consumption; and those that presented low levels of violence in the couple also presented low levels of consumption (X ² = 21.95, p < 0.001).

With respect to the relationship between violence in dating and violence in the family, the results showed a statistically significant relationship (X ² = 59.34, p < 0.001), where the youngsters with severe levels of violence in the couple, presented high levels of family violence; in the same way, the higher percentage (89.6%) of the participants with low levels of couple violence, presented low levels of family violence.

4.4 Violence and addictions in youngsters

The National Study of Addictions of 2011, reports that the consumption of illegal drugs in subjects from 12 to 65 years of age, reported a slight increment with respect to the 2002 survey on the consumption sometime in life that increased from 1.6% to 1.8%. Cannabis continues to be the drug of mayor prevalence (1.2%), behind is the consumption of cocaine (0.5%) and that the beginning of consumption of legal and illegal substances usually begins before 20 years of age.

In the age group analysis, results indicate a low prevalence in the teenager population, the search for a greater prevalence in men (2.2%) in comparison with women (0.9%). It was found that like in adults, the use of cannabis in teenagers was the most prevalent (1.3%), followed by cocaine (0.4%), and the inhalable (0.3%) (^{Villatoro-Velázquez, et al., 2011}).

Regarding alcohol consumption, the report indicates a significant increase in its use from 2002 until 2011, in the 12 to 65 years of aged population. This same trend was observed in teenagers where the three prevalence’s evaluated increased from 2002 through 2011 (once that 35.6% up to 42%, or the 25.7% of last year to 30% and last month from 7.1% to 14.5%), both in men as well as in women. The teenagers copy the adult models of drinking great quantities per consumption occasion, and the problem has increased in women.

The pattern of consumption of drinking great quantities per occasion of consumption, leads to important problems, including injuries and violence, and are an important factor or risk for premature mortality and morbidity. In another study (^{García-Aurrecoechea, Díaz-Guerrero, Reyes-Lagunes, Medina-Mora, AndradePalos & Reidl-Martínez, 2006}) it was tried to identify the risk factors and protections of consumption of illegal drugs in a teenagers and young population in Mexico. The results showed that a family environment perceived as violent was a risk factor for the use of cocaine, which according to these authors concurs with what is reported in previous investigations that identify domestic violence and family conflict, as a primary factor in the consumption of illegal drugs.

In the Family Violence study and the consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs in Mexican youngsters: preliminary results (^{Martínez Lanz y cols. 2014}) that is being performed by the Anahuac Center for Research in Psychology and the Anahuac Public Health Institute, a non-probabilistic sample of 509 teenagers and youngsters from the State of Mexico was selected, of both genders (44.2% were men and 55.8% were women), with an age rank of 12 to 15 years of age (M = 15.46, DE = 3.56) where 40.7% of the teenagers and youngsters indicated that they had consumed some type of alcoholic beverage sometime in their life. Of the these 25.6% mentioned that had drunk wine, 29.5% beer, 23.4% some type of spirits, and 10.9% informed that they had consumed pure alcohol. Regarding the frequency of drunkenness in the last year, 41.4% reported once or twice a year during the last year, 31.8% did not get drunk in the last year, and 22% between one and three times during the month previous to the application. A lower percentage of youngsters mentioned that they get drunk between one and seven times a week (5.3%).

The consumption of illegal drugs was the following: 80.6% have never consumed an illegal drug; 13.6% have consumed at least one drug and 5.8% more than one. The illegal drugs that most of the youngsters reported to have consumed were the pain relievers, in second place cannabis, and then the inhalable and pacifiers; heroin was a drug that is less consumed by youngsters.

An indicator on the consumption of substances was made, by combining the presence-absence of consumption and in the case of illegal drugs, considering the number of drugs consumed. Half of the participants mentioned that they have not consumed alcohol or illegal drugs; 27% informed that they consume alcoholic beverages but not illegal drugs; 7.5% of the youngsters reported having consumed an illegal drug and alcohol; 6.9% consumed drugs but they don’t consume alcohol and 4.9% of the youngsters consumed more than one drug and also consumed alcohol.

For the purpose of determining differences in family violence in teenagers with different levels of alcohol and illegal drug consumptions, it was performed a variance analysis of one way. The results showed statistically significant differences in family violence in accordance with the consumption level, where the youngsters that present the highest consumption (they consume more than one illegal drug and alcoholic beverage) were who presented the highest levels of family violence, and the minors that got the lowest points, were those who reported not having any kind of consumption. It can be mentioned that the results of the tests post Hoc Scheffe did not show significant differences.

5.1 Videogames

As far as the effects of the videogames with violence content in the players, research suggests that these can increase thoughts, feelings and aggressive conduct in people. The aggressive conduct can be a consequence of playing or watching violent programs, can be an expression of the hostile treatment received, and/or can be a result of a combination of these and other factors (^{Porter & Starcevic, 2007}).

In a general way, youngsters that report a larger exposition (of 11 hours or more per week) present a major depressive symptomatology, aggression and family violence than those with a lesser level of exposition. The youngster with very high exposition to videogames to violent content, were the ones who reported a larger depressive symptomatology. These data concur with what was reported by ^{Ferguson C.J., San Miguel, C. & Hartley, R. D. (2009)}, who indicated that depressive symptomatology is one of the variable predictors for the development of violent and aggressive conduct in youngsters.

The increasing realism in images and movements in the fighting games of the characters, increases the level of violence of games whose effects can impact in the conducts of children and youngsters, imitating the observed violence and accepting it as a means to solve or face the problems. The virtual reality incurs in an effective realism that can incite to greater violence.

In Mexico, recent studies (^{Martínez Lanz, P., Rebeil Corella, M. A. y Sánchez Uribe, C., 2013}; ^{Martínez Lanz, P., Betancourt O. D., y González, G. A., 2013}) report that there exist a direct relationship between domestic violence and the use of videogames. High and severe levels of depression (28%), family violence (19%) and aggressive conducts (44%) were found among the answering youngsters.

These evidences point to the fact that videogames can be impacting in the states of hostility of these youngsters, by exacerbating the depression which in turn provokes the isolation from the environment, and from the people around them. The predisposition to family violence is not a minor thing, and it is related to the depressive and aggressive state of the youngsters in the study.

5.2 Social Networks

In the last few years social networks have had a great boom among teenagers, increasing its popularity and relevance as main communication media and leisure, which has led to use these communication media as a tool to attack other people. The cyberaggression also called “cyber-bullying”, is a new form of harassment in which a boy or a teenager is bullied, humiliated, ashamed, intimidated, or tagged, by another child, teenager, or adult, through the internet, cellular telephone, or any digital interactive technology. Recent studies, show that there exists a strong relationship between cyber-bulling and low self-esteem. In order to assess exposure to violence in videogames, some indicators were used, that asked the type of videogame used, time and frequency of usage. The main findings showed significant differences in the examined variables, where the youngsters, with a higher level of exposure to videogames, with high content of violence, presented more depressive symptomatology, family violence, and aggressive conducts, in comparison with students that had null or a lesser exposition. Differential results were found by gender.

As for the relationship between the cyberbullying and self-esteem, ^{Martínez Lanz and colleagues (2012)}, performed a study with 400 youngsters, with an average age of 15.6 years, students at junior or high school; the results show that both the victim as well as the aggressor, the majority of them teenagers with low cyberbullying, got low levels of self-esteem, besides, a larger percentage of youngsters with high levels of cyberbullying presented low levels of self-esteem; this findings concur with what was reported in previous investigations (Estévez, Villardón, Calvete, Padilla & Orue, 2010, Hernández 2006; Kowalski, Limber & Agatson, 2010; Patchin & Hinduja 2010, which indicate that the youngsters with high points in cyberbullying, notwithstanding if they are victims or aggressors, presented low levels self-esteem (^{Martínez Lanz, P. and colleagues 2012}).

A non-probabilistic sample of 400 youngsters (44.5% men and 55.5% women), with an age average of 15.6 years, who were students at junior High and preparatory levels. The self-esteem was assessed with a scale Likert type of 18 reagents, with four options of an answer (á = 0.82) and the cyberbullying was measured with a scale of 36 reagents that evaluated the presence-absence of conducts both of the roles of victims (á = 0.81) as well as the aggressor (á = 0.83). Contingency tables were made to analyze the relationship between the levels of cyberbullying, and the levels of self-esteem. The results showed, a significant relationship between the cyberbullying as victim and the self-esteem (X² = 100.29, p < 0.001), where a larger percentage of youngsters with low cyberbullying got high levels of self-esteem, and were on the contrary a high percentage of teenagers with high cyberbullying and low self-esteem were detected.

The analysis indicate a significant relation between these variables (X ² = 68.24, p < 0.001), where a larger percentage of youngsters with low cyberbullying got high levels of self-esteem, and high percentage of teenagers with high cyberbullying and low self-esteem.

The results showed significant relationships between the cyberbullying and the self-esteem, were the largest percentage of teenagers with low cyberbullying presented high levels of self-esteem and a high percentage of teenagers with high cyberbullying, got low levels of self-esteem.

5.3 Family violence and female crime

The risk factors associate with crime pointed in the literature, indicate that the relationship between violence previous to confinement and the addictions have been widely tested.

Thus, the non-experimental, transversal, descriptive, correlative study, whose universal study was constituted by the total of subjects secluded in the area of female gender at the Morelos State CERESO (jail) about predisposing risk factors of the female crime, it was found that family violence and addictions are factors associated with delinquent behavior (^{Martínez Lanz, P., Carabaza, R. y Hernández, A., 2008}).

It was also found that more than half of the studied population suffered some type of family violence, with serious indexes close to 20% of the studied women, and with high levels in the rest of them.

The correlated analysis between the levels of violence and the crime committed, showed that the distribution of both factors in a direct form, nevertheless, significant differences are not reported because several cells have frequencies lower to the 20% of the total population. It is observed that damage to people’s health felony is the highest in both levels of violence.

5.4 Family violence and male crime

In the Violence and Depression as Risk Factors study in male delinquency (^{Martínez Lanz y cols., 2012}) where a non-probabilistic sample of 200 men who were interns at the Center for Social Male Re-adaptation of the State of Mexico was selected: results show that 55% of the participants presented high levels of family violence, 24.9% sever levels and 19.8% low levels. Regarding the relationships between the types of felony committed and the levels of family violence, in figure 3 it can be appreciated that severe levels were identified of this, with higher frequency in the interns who committed murder (72.7%) and those that are secluded because of firing a gun (47.4%). At the same time high levels of family violence were detected with higher frequency in inmates which committed a robbery (88.9%), violence and abuse (52.6%) and firing a gun (47.4%). It is to be noted that the interns that committed robbery, firing a gun and homicide, low levels of family violence were not reported. This relationship between the type of felony committed and the levels of family violence were statistically significant (X² = 47.04, p < 0.001).