Children’s exposure to violence in the family and community

ABSTRACT—Exposure to family and community violence is linked with aggression, depression, posttraumatic stress symptoms, and academic and cognitive difficulties. It has the potential to permeate many dimensions of children’s day-to-day lives and to erode possible sources of social support. Although the literature focuses on deleterious outcomes, many children fare well in the face of exposure to violence. Research attending to develop-mental processes, the co-occurrence of multiple forms of vio-lence, and psychobiological mechanisms will clarify why outcomes are better for some children than for others. Greater understanding of children’s risk and resilience in the face of such exposure will inform intervention efforts. KEYWORDS—children; child abuse; interparental violence; com-munity violence; risk and resilience Violence is a public-health problem, and children are particularly vulnerable to its effects. Besides being a leading source of injury, violence takes a toll on more subtle aspects of functioning, such as cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional functioning. Disruption in these domains can affect children’s progression through typical de-velopmental processes, with the nature of the impact dependent on the timing, type, and chronicity of the exposure to violence. Violence affects children even if they are not the direct victim but have a close relationship with the victim. Because exposure to violence typically occurs in familiar settings, the safe havens of family and community are marred by danger. Parents have not been able to prevent the violence and may be the perpetrators, the victims, or themselves affected in ways that com-promise their caretaking. Distressing consequences of violence may include breakup or relocation of the family or repercussions following disclosure of abuse. Children living with violence may also experience family conflict and other life stresses, such as poverty, parents ’ un-employment, or parents ’ substance abuse and psychopathology. In an iterative fashion, these life stresses increase the risk for continued violence, and violence increases the likelihood of these stresses