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Political legitimacy and approval of political protest and violence among children and adolescents

Journal of Youth and Adolescence volume 4, pages 109–125 (1975)Cite this article

Abstract

A question of general theoretical relevance for political socialization research concerns the role played by basic political orientations in structuring specific political opinions. This report investigates the relationship between beliefs in the legitimacy of political objects and approval of political protest and violence among a sample of children and adolescents. The setting for the research was a Florida town. Four aspects of political legitimacy are defined and measured. Measures of approval of political protest and political violence are distinguished conceptually and empirically. Beliefs in political legitimacy are shown to be of considerable importance in structuring opinions about political violence but have little impact on opinions about protest.

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Author information

Affiliations

  1. Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Wright State University, Dayton, Ohio

    Charles Funderburk

Authors
  1. Charles Funderburk
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Additional information

The investigation was assisted by financial support from The Florida Atlantic University Laboratory for Behavioral Research.

This paper is based on the author's Ph.D. dissertation, “Orientations Toward Political Protest and Violence Among Children and Adolescents,” University of Iowa, 1973.

Received Ph.D. in political science from the University of Iowa in 1973. Main interests are American political behavior and institutions.

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Funderburk, C. Political legitimacy and approval of political protest and violence among children and adolescents. J Youth Adolescence 4, 109–125 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537436

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01537436

Keywords

  • Health Psychology
  • Socialization Research
  • Political Orientation
  • Considerable Importance
  • Political Violence