The Impact Of Exposure To School Violence And The Role Of Hope In Low Income Urban Youth

Download or read book The Impact of Exposure to School Violence and the Role of Hope in Low-income, Urban Youth written by Linda A. Cedeno and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 91 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The purpose of the current study was to investigate the prevalence and impact of personal victimization and witnessing violence in the school setting in a sample of low-income, ethnic-minority children. In addition, hope was examined as a potential protective factor in buffing youth from the development of problem behaviors in the context of school-specific violence. It was hypothesized that exposure to school violence would be positively associated with externalizing symptoms. Additionally, it was hypothesized that hope would be positively related to indices of adjustment, and inversely related to problem behaviors. Finally, exploratory questions suggested by extant research were posed further investigating associations between exposure to school violence and adjustment. Additionally, the moderating effects of hope and gender on the linkages between exposure to school violence and psychological and behavioral functioning were examined. Data were derived from a longitudinal primary prevention research project evaluating the impact of a social and emotional learning curriculum. Participants were approximately 161 African-American and Latino fifth graders. Students completed self-reports of self-concept and hope. Teachers completed a teacher-rated survey assessing levels of problem behaviors, social skills, and academic competence for each student in their class. Results indicated that the majority of youth had been personally victimized and witnessed violence on one or more occasion during a three-month period. In addition, exposure to school violence was positively associated with problem behaviors, and negatively associated with social skills, self-concept, and academic competence, most notably for males. Moreover, hope provided a buffering effect on females' self-concept for those witnessing higher levels of school violence. Implications of both the prevalence and impact of exposure to school violence, as well as the limited moderating effects of hope found in the current study are discussed in relation to intervention efforts and strengthening future research sampling low-income, ethnic-minority youth.