Community Violence

Community violence is defined as chronic exposure to interpersonal violence that occurs in neighborhoods where children and families live. Community violence refers to that which occurs in public places, and although frequently interrelated, does not include violence that occurs within the home, at school, or in the media. Exposure to community violence comes in many forms, as youth experience violence through personal victimization, witnessing events in their neighborhoods, and hearing about events that have occurred in their communities. These experiences include life-threatening events such as attacks with guns and knives, as well as events that imply danger, such as drug deals, seeing a dead body, and hearing gunshots in one’s neighborhood. Children and adolescents in the United States (U.S.) report astonishing rates of community violence exposure, and in recent years, community violence has been described as a public health epidemic. This issue has received increased national...