Richard S. Feldman

Pathologic adaptation to community violence among inner-city youth

The study tests the thesis of pathologic adaptation for youth exposed to community violence, where high levels of exposure to community violence lead to increased aggressive behavior but decreased psychological distress. Four hundred seventy-one 6th graders and 1 of their parents were interviewed. The results showed, for a small but important subgroup of youth, that high levels of exposure to community violence were associated with more child- and parent-reported aggressive behavior and less child-reported psychological distress. Targeted prevention strategies for these high-risk youth are especially needed.

Normalization of violence among inner-city youth: a formulation for research.

A causal model is formulated for the thesis that in inner-city youth exposed to high levels of violence, cognitions that normalize violence mitigate affective effects of exposure while increasing risk for violent behavior, thus perpetuating violence in the very process of adapting to it psychologically. Gender differences in the cognitive normalization of violence may explain gender differences in affective and behavioral effects of exposure. Empirical studies are needed to directly test this model.

Effects of Partner Violence and Physical Child Abuse on Child Behavior: A Study of Abused and Comparison Children

This study tests a model of the effects on child behavioral outcome of the childs exposure to partner violence and child abuse, in children who have experienced the two forms of victimization either separately or together. Recognizing that family contextual factors play an important role in influencing child outcome, an ecological model is proposed that designates family stress as the principal exogenous factor, with effects on child outcome mediated through caretaker distress, partner violence, and child abuse. The sample consists of 100 confirmed cases of physically abused New York City schoolchildren, ages 9 to 12 years, and their families, and 100 nonmaltreated classmates, matched for gender, age, and, as closely as possible, for race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, and their families. Child behavioral outcome is assessed by classmates for antisocial, prosocial, and withdrawn behavior and by parents and teachers for externalizing and internalizing problem behavior. Results are generally consistent with the hypothesis that partner violence and caretaker distress, both associated with family stress, increase the risk for child abuse and thereby raise the childs risk for poor outcome. Implications of differences among raters for the models applicability, and implications of the results for clinical intervention, are discussed.

Exposure to Community Violence: Processes That Increase the Risk for Inner-City Middle School Children.

An ecologically framed model is presented describing processes accounting for early adolescents’ exposure to community violence in high-risk neighborhoodsas a function of risk factors in four ecological domains assessed in the prior year. The model was tested for hypothesized pathways along which the combined domains of risk might operate. The children were interviewed about their exposure to community violence. Data on the risk factors were obtained from the children themselves and their parents, classmates, and teachers. All four domains—family and household context, negative parenting, deviant behavior of friends, and the children’s own behavioral characteristics and cognition—contributed to the children’s risk for exposure 1 year later. As hypothesized, deviant behavior of friends and the children’s own behavior and cognition were found to mediate the effects of stressful family and household context and negative parenting on later risk for exposure.

Risk for Physical Child Abuse and the Personal Consequences for its Victims

This article summarizes the recent literature on the effects of physical abuse on children in the domains of neurological impairment, intellectual functioning, socioemotional functioning, social behavior, and social cognition. New empirical data are presented on dysfunctional peer relationships in school-age children. The findings are interpreted within a theoretical framework composed of three elements: the conceptualization of abusive parenting as on a continuum with the parenting process in general, the effect of abuse-attributable changes in childrens behavior on their future behavior, and the continuing interaction between childrens dysfunctional behavior and their social environment. In addition, a multivariate family risk model for child abuse is offered and tested using a path analysis.