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Abstract
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This report summarizes a program of study on African-American children and violence conducted by a comprehensive community mental health center on the southside of Chicago. The research, which looked at exposure to violence, self-reports of aggression, and possible interventions, grew out of: (1) an awareness of the enormous amount of familial and extrafamilial violence in the black community; (2) clinical experiences that indicated that victimization and covictimization (i.e., victimization of close others) were often significant factors in the lives of the mentally ill; (3) a growing uneasiness, and indeed curiosity, over the extent to which children were witnessing these events and the impact of this witnessing, particularly on their own levels of aggression; and (4) a belief that the integrity of the black community was being threatened by the violence and that solutions must be sought.
VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The purpose of this study by Bell and Jenkins was to review a program on African-American children and violence guided by a comprehensive community health center in Chicago which examined exposure to violence, self-reports of aggression, and possible interventions.
METHODOLOGY:
This was a quasi-experimental study which utilized four samples of African-American adolescents. The surveys examined childrens' exposure to violence, their own involvement in arguments and fights, and several demographic and background variables. The samples included: (1) seven to fifteen-year-olds (n=536); (2) ten to nineteen-year-olds (n=997); (3) psychiatric outpatients older than eighteen (n=84); and (4) medical outpatients older that eighteen (n=83).
According to an analysis of census data, the schools that were included in the study were located within areas with median incomes ranging from twenty-three percent below of the entire city to incomes that were ranked slightly above the city. Also, the schools were located in police districts with average levels of homicide. A questionnaire that was specifically designed for the study was conducted in small group settings. The children were asked various questions such as: whether they had witnessed fighting and arguing between parents, other relatives and friends; if they had seen someone shot, stabbed, beaten, or robbed in real life; and the frequency with which they engaged in fights and arguments. The children were also asked about other factors that were related to aggression such as: fathers presence, physical punishment, and head trauma.
For the study of psychiatric and medical outpatients, a victimization history screening questionnaire was utilized. The questionnaire asked about personal victimizations concerning physical and sexual assault, in addition to information regarding the victimization of others (e.g., family, friends, and neighbors).
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The survey of seven to fifteen-year-olds indicated that twenty-six percent of the children had witnessed a shooting, in addition to thirty percent who reported that they had seen at least one person stabbed. Also, seventy-eight percent had witnessed a beating. The survey of ten to nineteen-year-olds revealed that thirty-five percent had seen a stabbing, and thirty-nine percent has witnessed a shooting. The information concerning psychiatric outpatients indicated that thirty-seven percent of those individuals studied had been a victim of physical assault. Lastly, the screening questionnaires regarding medical outpatients revealed that forty percent knew someone who had been assaulted, nineteen percent knew someone who was killed, and eighteen percent had been a victim of physical assault.
AUTHORS' RECOMMENDATIONS:
The authors suggested that more research was necessary in order to fully understand issues concerning exposure to violence, its relation to poverty, and how violence in the family affects how that child views violence in later life. Other questions for study include: whether gender differences regarding conceptions of violence are present and the impacts of children witnessing violence who reside in a violent environment where young black males are disproportionately killed.
(CSPV Abstract - Copyright © 1992-2007 by the Center for the Study and Prevention of Violence, Institute of Behavioral Science, Regents of the University of Colorado)
N1 - Call Number: F-700, AB-700
KW - Illinois
KW - Urban Environment
KW - Urban Violence
KW - Urban Youth
KW - Juvenile Witness
KW - Juvenile Aggression
KW - Juvenile Victim
KW - Juvenile Offender
KW - Juvenile Violence
KW - Child Aggression
KW - Child Victim
KW - Child Offender
KW - Child Violence
KW - Child Witness
KW - Witnessing Community Violence
KW - Psychological Victimization Effects
KW - Witnessing Violence Effects
KW - Exposure to Violence
KW - Late Childhood
KW - Late Adolescence
KW - Early Adolescence
KW - Middle Childhood
Language: en |