Children in a Violent Society

It is becoming increasingly apparent that exposure to community violence poses a pernicious threat to the health and well-being of our youth. A substantial number of children and adolescents in larger cities report having been beaten or mugged (13 percent on average), attacked with a knife (7 percent), or shot or shot at (15 percent), according to figures reported by Esther Jenkins and Carl Bell in the beginning of this book. Even more children and adolescents report having witnessed acts of violence: 42 percent report having seen a shooting, 38 percent a stabbing, and 27 percent a murder. Other experiences of extreme violence—such as being raped or robbed with a weapon—are reported at similar rates.

Moreover, most children who witness a violent event say that the victim was a family member or friend, so these acts of violence are hitting close to home for most children. In fact, perpetrators of the violent acts also are often known to the children.

Exposure to community violence does not seem to differ with age. It appears to begin at a very early age—as young as five years old, at least in impoverished, urban neighborhoods, say Jenkins and Bell. Girls may be slightly more likely to witness violence in the home and to be victims of sexual assault, whereas boys appear to be slightly more likely to witness violence outside the home and to be victimized in ways other than sexual assault.

Exposure to violence in the community can lead to a wide variety of psychopathology for children, including posttraumatic stress, attachment problems, conduct disorder, depression, generalized anxiety, somatization, dissociation, panic, poor impulse control, and pathological personality changes. The effects of violence on children across the developmental spectrum from infancy through adolescence are examined throughout this collection. One chapter discusses the neurodevelopmental effects of community violence. Another explores the association between exposure to violence and difficulties in developing secure attachment.

The scope of the problem of children's exposure to violence in society is discussed in the first half of this book, and these chapters alone make the book a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in this topic. However, the chapters in the second half add immeasurably to the book's value by presenting a broad discussion of prevention and intervention programs aimed at addressing the needs of children in troubled neighborhoods. Described here are the Child Witness to Violence Project in Boston, the Child Development-Community Policing Program in New Haven, the Violence Intervention Project for Children and Families in New Orleans, and an elementary-school-based violence prevention-intervention program in Los Angeles. These programs are presented in useful detail and provide a good starting place for those interested in developing similar programs in their own communities, large or small.

Each of the chapters in this collection is written by recognized experts in the field. Anyone interested in understanding the complex threat of exposure to violence to the well-being of our children will benefit from reading and rereading Children in a Violent Society.