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16 - Positive Adaptation among Youth Exposed to Community Violence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2012

By
Deborah Gorman-Smith  and
Patrick H. Tolan
Edited by
Suniya S. Luthar
Deborah Gorman-Smith
Affiliation:
Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Patrick H. Tolan
Affiliation:
Institute for Juvenile Research, Department of Psychiatry, University of Illinois at Chicago, Chicago, IL
Suniya S. Luthar
Affiliation:
Columbia University, New York
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Summary

Exposure to community violence threatens the well-being of children in several ways. Living in communities plagued by violence threatens the very core of what is needed for healthy development and is related to a host of short- and long-term developmental problems (Bell & Jenkins, 1993; Cooley-Quill, Boyd, Frantz, & Walsh, 2001; Gorman-Smith & Tolan, 1998; Richters & Martinez, 1993; Schwab-Stone et al., 1995). Unfortunately, although it is possible to list many problems and disorders associated with exposure to community violence, we can say very little based on scientific study about variations in outcome, relations between specific types of exposure and outcome, and mechanisms through which children who are exposed do better or worse. We know that some children appear to suffer symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder or other types of internalizing disorders, and others seem to react by becoming more aggressive or showing greater behavioral problems. However, we know little about how and why these different reactions occur. We also have few empirically based treatments for children exposed to chronic community violence, and even less work has been conducted on how to protect children from exposure in the first place. So, although it is clear that exposure to community violence can harm children, the scientific knowledge base on promoting positive adaptation among youth exposed to community violence is very sketchy.

Type
Chapter
Information
Resilience and Vulnerability
Adaptation in the Context of Childhood Adversities
 , pp. 392 - 413
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2003

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