Citation

Farver JAM, Ghosh C, Garcia C. J. Appl. Dev. Psychol. 2000; 21(2): 139-163.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2000, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/S0193-3973(99)00032-5

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This study examined how children's perceptions of neighborhood violence and safety were related to their socio-emotional functioning, neighborhood violent crime rates, and parent ratings of neighborhood safety and violence. Two hundred twenty-three elementary school children (7-11 years old; 126 boys, 97 girls) from low and high violence communities in a large west coast city drew pictures of their neighborhoods, completed a neighborhood safety survey, and rated their perceived self-competence and locus of control. Parents rated the safety of their neighborhoods and children's prior exposure to violent events. The results showed children living in high violence neighborhoods felt unsafe playing outdoors, were more distrustful of the police, had lower perceived self-competence, an external locus of control, and more violent content in their drawings than did children living in low violence neighborhoods. The findings suggest that exposure to neighborhood violence may negatively affect children's feelings of well-being, sense of self, control over events in their lives, and opportunities to play safely in their neighborhoods.