Synopses & Reviews
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified youth violence as a major public health problem. What impact does exposure to violence--be it in the form of victimization, observation, or knowledge--have on young people? How do they develop a sense of morality? And how does it affect their perception of the world around them? Devoted to this crisis in American life, this volume--originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Psychiatry-- documents the rise in violence in our communities and explores its impact on children's physical, psychological, and social development.
Review
"A thought-provoking book. "--Public Health
Review
"Extremely interesting and important....A very worthwhile volume."--Hospital and Community Psychiatry
Synopsis
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have identified youth violence as a major public health problem. What impact does exposure to violence--be it in the form of victimization, observation, or knowledge--have on young people? How do they develop a sense of morality? And how does it affect their perception of the world around them? Devoted to this crisis in American life, this volume--originally published as a special issue of the journal
Psychiatry--documents the rise in violence in our communities and explores its impact on children's physical, psychological, and social development.
We know from police statistics, as well as from the evening news, that the violence in many American communities is increasing at an alarming rate. To assess the impact this may have on children, however, more detailed epidemiological data is needed. We must ascertain the types of violent acts children experience, patterns and duration of their exposure, factors that increase some children's exposure, and factors that protect others. Reporting on studies that have been initiated in this area are three chapters that describe ground-breaking projects that are distinguished by their sensitivity to community dynamics and developmental processes.
Strategies for intervention are addressed in chapters that delineate the need for immediate remedial action, describe positive effects research projects can have in volatile communities, report on the impact of an innovative intervention program, and assess the influence of television violence.
Other contributions draw from research on the effects of child sexual abuse and maltreatment on children's development to discuss specific psychological processes that may mediate negative effects, as well as risk and protective factors in the culture, community, and family.
Reflecting on the implications of our culture's violence on the early development and morality of our children, final chapters focus on the children who are currently facing sever adversity. Rounding out the volume, a powerful case is made for a deployment of the country's resources to support the potential for resilience in the children and families whose everyday lives are affected by this national problem.
About the Author
David Reiss, George Washington University
John E. Richters, National Institute of Mental Health
Marian Radke-Yarrow, National Institute of Mental Health
David Scharrf, Washington School of Psychiatry.
Table of Contents
Introduction : American violence and its children / David Reiss -- Community violence and children's development : toward a research agenda for the 1990s / John E. Richters -- The NIMH Community Violence Project : I. Children as victims of and witnesses to violence / John E. Richters and Pedro Martinez -- The NIMH Community Violence Project : II. Children's distress symptoms associated with violence exposure / Pedro Martinez and John E. Richters -- Chronic community violence : what is happening to our children? / Joy D. Osofsky ... et al.. -- Community violence and children on Chicago's Southside / Carl C. Bell and Esther J. Jenkins -- Children's exposure to community violence : following a path from concern to research to action / Raymond P. Lorion and William Saltzman -- Community violence, children's development, and mass media : in pursuit of new insights, new goals, and new strategies / Bernard Z. Friedlander -- Child sexual abuse : a model of chronic trauma / Frank W. Putnam and Penelope K. Trickett -- Toward an ecological/transactional model of community violence and child maltreatment : consequences for children's development / Dante Cicchetti and Michael Lynch -- The horror! The horror! : reflections on our culture of violence and its implications for early development and morality / Robert N. Emde -- Impact of violence on children and adolescents : report from a community-based child psychiatry clinic / Marilyn Benoit -- Children in poverty : resilience despite risk / Norman Garmezy.