Aggression and Violence in the Inner City

2001/07/01 by Frances E. Kuo, William C. Sullivan, W. C. Sullivan · 855 citations
Environmental Science · Health Professions · Medicine · Psychology · Social Sciences · #Aggression #Anger #Clinical psychology #Developmental psychology #Environmental health #Injury prevention #Medical emergency #Medicine #Noise Effects and Management #Place Attachment and Urban Studies #Poison control #Population #Psychology #Urban Green Space and Health

paper · doi:10.1177/00139160121973124

published in Environment and Behavior 33(4), 543-571 (SAGE Publishing)

openalex publication_date 2001/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05

Abstract

S. Kaplan suggested that one outcome of mental fatigue may be an increased propensity for outbursts of anger and even violence. If so, contact with nature, which appears to mitigate mental fatigue, may reduce aggression and violence. This study investigated that possibility in a setting and population with relatively high rates of aggression: inner-city urban public housing residents. Levels of aggression were compared for 145 urban public housing residents randomly assigned to buildings with varying levels of nearby nature (trees and grass). Attentional functioning was assessed as an index of mental fatigue. Residents living in relatively barren buildings reported more aggression and violence than did their counterparts in greener buildings. Moreover, levels of mental fatigue were higher in barren buildings, and aggression accompanied mental fatigue. Tests for the proposed mechanism and for alternative mechanisms indicated that the relationship between nearby nature and aggression was fully mediated through attentional functioning.

Citations

• Social Learning Theory of Aggression

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