NCJ Number
185731
Journal
Trauma, Violence, and Abuse Volume: 1 Issue: 4 Dated: October 2000 Pages: 299-320
Date Published
October 2000
Length
22 pages
Annotation
This literature review aims to identify protective factors associated with children’s emotional responses to exposure to chronic community violence and to aid the design of preventive interventions.
Abstract
The analysis revealed that the proliferation of violence in society is a public health problem that has deleterious effects on emotional development. The emotional effects of children’s exposure to community violence include posttraumatic stress, depression, anxiety, aggression, and risk taking. Regarding community violence as one of many cumulative environmental risk factors to which children living in impoverished urban areas are likely to be exposed is likely to aid research efforts. Secondary preventive interventions should promote the development of coping skills and of social support at various levels: community/neighborhood, teacher/peer, and family. Current methodological problems include predetermining protective factors, the failure to consider cumulative risk/protective factors, poorly defined outcome measures, and inadequate research design. Goals for the future are to determine protective mechanisms by which social support and coping exert their protective effects and, more important, for various organizations to coordinate efforts to decrease the level of violence in society. Tables and 85 references