Children's Exposure to Community Violence: Implications for Understanding Risk and Resilience

It is found that many children in America are regularly exposed to violence in communities; such exposure carries risk for psychopathology; and parents and other adults can provide valuable support but are limited in how much they can offset the effects of ongoing violence exposure.

Abstract

The 5 articles included in this special section are reviewed in this article. The studies encompassed were all focused on pre- or early adolescents, and samples were generally from inner-city areas, with 1 involving rural youth. Considered collectively, the results point to 3 major conclusions: Many children in America are regularly exposed to violence in communities; such exposure carries risk for psychopathology; and parents and other adults can provide valuable support but are limited in how much they can offset the effects of ongoing violence exposure. Intervention implications are, foremost, that community violence itself must be reduced and, second, that positive relationships with significant adults should be fostered to the degree possible among children living in high-risk, violence-prone communities.