Babies are born with the capacity for empathy. However, whether this quality develops or not to become part of their make-up depends on what they learn from observing adult reactions to the pain or suffering of others.
Therefore, ensuring babies are cared for in a sensitive, nurturing way that develops empathy would be a huge contribution to preventing violence. Lack of empathy is a major cause of propensity to be violent.
During WAVE’s years of research we have discovered that the same conditions that lead to violence and antisocial behaviour also lead to many other blights on lives including poor mental and physical health, all sorts of addictions, low educational and employment achievements, welfare dependency, poverty and homelessness.
Find out what we can do about it.
To read about this in more detail, you can read Section 3 of our report Violence and what to do about it, or follow the link in our Publications section to read our joint Department for Education/WAVE Trust report Conception to age 2 - the age of opportunity for an understanding of the crucial importance of the earliest months and years of life.
Related content:
What can we do?
The WAVE Report 2005: Violence and what to do about it
Conception to age 2 - the age of opportunity