Social Media as a Vector for Youth Violence: A Review of the Literature

Homicide is the second leading cause of death for young people, and exposure to violence has a negative impact on youth mental health, academic performance, and relationships. We demonstrate that youth violence, including bullying, gang violence, and self-directed violence, increasingly occurs in the online space. We review the literature on violence and online social media, and show that while some forms of online violence are limited to Internet-based interactions, others are directly related to face-to-face acts of violence. Central to our purpose is uncovering the real-world consequences of these online events, and using this information to design effective prevention and intervention strategies. We discuss several limitations of the existing literature, including inconsistent definitions for some forms of online violence, and an overreliance on descriptive data. Finally, we acknowledge the constantly evolving landscape of online social media, and discuss implications for the future of social media and youth violence research.[The original abstract for this article contains images that cannot be displayed here. Please click on the link below to read the full abstract and article.]]]> 2014 English http://libres.uncg.edu/ir/uncg/f/T_Washington_Social_2014.pdf oai:libres.uncg.edu/17505 2014-12-12T11:43:06Z UNCG Competence and African American Children in Informal Kinship Care: The Role of Family NC DOCKS at The University of North Carolina at Greensboro Rulison, Kelly L. Washington, Tyreasa <![CDATA[African American children are more likely than any other racial or ethnic group to live in kinship care, yet there is little empirical knowledge available to help understand the attributes of these families that contribute to children's development of competence. This study analyzed existing longitudinal data to explore the family-level factors that promote these children's competence. Hierarchical linear modeling revealed that average quality of the biological mother's relationship with child, the quality of the biological father's relationship with child, and kinship care family functioning predicts children's average competence. Additionally, changes in family resources and family functioning over time are related to corresponding changes in children's competence levels. Results from this study highlight that African American informal kinship care families possess the strengths and resources that contribute to children's competence