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Abstract
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VioLit summary:
OBJECTIVE:
The aim of this paper by Berman was to review the psychological effects of living in a violent environment. Emphasis was on the development of apathy that occurs when people must live with continuous and chronic levels of violence.
METHODOLOGY:
A non-experimental commentary was employed. A review of the literature and anecdotal evidence obtained by the author was used.
FINDINGS/DISCUSSION:
The author listed research that has addressed aspects of violence and commented on the lack of attention devoted to the effects of living in an environment where continuous and chronic violence is experienced.
The anecdotal evidence obtained from the patients attending the Bridgeport Community Mental Health Center was used to review the impact of a violent environment on families. Bridgeport was described as a city where violent crimes committed are extensive and brutal. These patients, the author claimed, have become so accustomed to the violence present in their environment they are now desensitized to it.
The author stated that living in a violent environment adversely affects children since they are deprived of the cultural stimulation necessary for their growth and development. According to the author, a loss of emotion and lack of drive evolves in an environment where violence occurs continuously. Interviews with mothers of murdered sons revealed a sense of resignation in their reports (e.g., 'it was expected') or of denial (e.g., mothers' disbelief that their sons could be at all responsible for their own death even though they may have been involved in drug trafficking).
According to the author, weekly support groups organized by family members have been successful in providing an atmosphere of support enabling victims of violence to continue with their lives. The support groups have offered the opportunity for individuals to share their experiences of loss and to grieve with others who have suffered similar fates. The groups have also encouraged bonding friendships to develop between members. However, these individuals have, in the past, found it safer to withdraw from social interaction. Consequently openness to sharing emotion and accounts of past experiences has often been difficult. Evidence of this was provided in a scenario in which one of the support group homes was bombed. Rather than survivors uniting and sharing in this tragic experience, they separated, unable to bond.
The author reported that there are individuals who do not exhibit the same symptomatology as those individuals previously mentioned yet they have lived in a similar environment. Reasons for this, according to anecdotal evidence, have pertained to strong maternal upbringing and high family values. Parents were said to have taught their children to have better life expectations.
It was suggested by the author that mental health inpatients not only live with their illness, be it schizophrenia or depression, but they also live with the effects of a violent environment which contribute fear and lack of affect to their condition. The author questioned the nature of their illness and suggested that the conditions these individuals have developed reflect survival strategies which bear the cost of forsaking their "humanness," defined as their ability to empathize and their capacity to share. The author cited Robert Lifton (1991) who spoke of the "protean man," one with the ability to change and grow; and of the man with a "genocidal mentality," a willingness to kill. These predispositions, it was suggested by the author, can be found to co-exist within a violent environment where individuals can be found to take either direction. The author viewed the greatest danger as the apathy that develops within a population subjected to living with continuing and chronic violence. This, it was suggested, results in a loss of hope and vitality. The author also stated that to be human included interaction with other humans: sharing, giving and taking. However, as reported by the author, this quality of being human has been lost amongst those who have lived or live in such environments.
AUTHOR'S RECOMMENDATIONS:
The author suggested that, for therapists, the way to help the mentally ill is not by merely treating patients at a mental health center but by activating change on a greater scale out in the community for this is where the sickness lies. The author suggested that in order to help those individuals who live with continuous and chronic violence, professionals need to take a stance and help to make change at the community level.
(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)
Witnessing Community Violence
Witnessing Violence Effects
Environmental Factors
Urban Violence
Urban Crime
Psychological Victimization Effects
Family Relations
Adult Witness
Adult Adjustment
Adult Mental Health
Juvenile Adjustment
Juvenile Mental Health
Juvenile Witness
Child Adjustment
Child Mental Health
Child Witness
Witness Adjustment
Witness Mental Health
Desensitization
Mental Illness
Mentally Ill Adult
Mentally Ill Child
Mentally Ill Juvenile
Mental Health Patient
05-05
Language: en |