Abstract
Much psychological inquiry has focused on understanding the contribution that exposure to urban violence makes to violent behavior among youth. However, other ways in which these variables may be related have been largely overlooked. This study compared four alternative social–ecological models of the link between community violence exposure and violent behavior to determine the degree to which (1) community violence exposure contributes to violent behavior, (2) violent behavior contributes to community violence exposure, (3) both are consequences of common antecedents, and (4) both are manifestations of the same higher order construct. Two hundred and seventy-seven adolescent offenders were interviewed about family, neighborhood, cognitive, and peer characteristics, in addition to violent behavior and community violence exposure. Results suggest that a plausible way to understand the association between community violence exposure and youth violent behavior is to consider both as representations of a general involvement in violence.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Agnew, R. (1991). The interactive effects of peer variables on delinquency. Criminology, 29, 47–72.
Akaike, H. (1987). Factor analysis and AIC. Psychometrika, 52, 317–332.
Attar, B. K., Guerra, N. G., & Tolan, P. H. (1994). Neighborhood disadvantage, stressful life events, and adjustment in urban elementaryschool children. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 23, 391–400.
Bell, C. C., & Jenkins, E. J. (1993). Community violence and children on Chicago's southside. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 56, 46–54.
Bentler, P. M. (1990). Comparative fit indices in structural models. Psychological Bulletin, 107, 238–246.
Bentler, P. M. (1995). EQS: Structural equations program manual. Encino, CA: Multivariate Software.
Bentler, P. M., & Bonett, D. G. (1980). Significance tests and goodnessof-fit in the analysis of covariance structures. Psychological Bulletin, 88, 588–606.
Browne, M. W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 136–162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Chaiken, M. R. (2000). Violent neighborhoods, violent kids. OJJDP Bulletin.
Connell, A., & Farrington, D. P. (1996). Bullying among incarcerated young offenders; developing an interview schedule and some preliminary results. Journal of Adolescence, 19, 75–93.
Cooley-Quille, M., & Lorion, R. (1999). Adolescents' exposure to community violence: Sleep and psychophysiological functioning. Journal of Community Psychology, 27, 367–375.
Dembo, R., Williams, L., Wothke,W., Schmeidler, J., Getreu, A., Berry, E., & Wish, E. D. (1992). The generality of deviance: Replication of a structural model among high-risk youths. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 29, 200–216.
Donovan, J. E., & Jessor, R. (1985). Structure of problem behavior in adolescence and young adulthood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 53, 890–904.
Donovan, J. E., Jessor, R., & Costa, F. M. (1988). Syndrome of problem behavior in adolescence: A replication. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 56, 762–765.
Dunn, G., Everitt, B., & Pickles, A. (1993). Modelling covariances and latent variables using EQS. London: Chapman & Hall.
Durant, R. H., Pendergrast, R. A., & Cadenhead, C. (1994). Exposure to violence and victimization and fighting behavior by urban Black adolescents. Journal of Adolescent Health, 15, 311–318.
Elliott, D. S., & Ageton, S. S. (1980). Reconciling race and class differences in self-reported and official estimates of delinquency. American Sociological Review, 45, 91–110.
Elliott, D. S., Huizinga, D., & Ageton, S. S. (1985). Explaining delinquency and drug use. Beverly Hills: Sage.
Elliott, D. S., Ageton, S. S., Huizinga, D., Knowles, B. A., & Canter, R. J. (1983). The prevalence and incidence of delinquent behavior: 1976–80 (Report of the National Youth Survey, Project Report #26). Boulder, CO: Behavioral Research Institute.
Elliott, D. S., Wilson, W. J., Huizinga, D., Sampson, R. J., Elliott, A., & Rankin, B. (1996). The effects of neighborhood disadvantage on adolescent development. Journal of Crime and Delinquency, 33, 389–426.
Erdley, C. A., & Asher, S. R. (1996). Children's social goals and selfefficacy perceptions as influences on their responses to ambiguous provocation. Child Development, 67, 1329–1344.
Evans, W., & Mason, A. (1996). Factors associated with gang involvement among incarcerated youth. Journal of Gang Research, 3, 31–40.
Fagan, J., Piper, E. S., & Cheng, Y. (1987). Contributions of victimization to delinquency in inner cities. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 78, 586–613.
Farrell, A. D., & Bruce, S. E. (1997). Impact of exposure to community violence on violent behavior and emotional distress among urban adolescents. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 26, 2–14.
Felson, R. B. (1997). Routine activities and involvement in violence as actor, witness, or target. Violence and Victims, 12, 209–221.
Finkelhor, D. (1997). The victimization of children and youth. In R. C. Davis, A. J. Lurigio, & W. G. Skogan (Eds.), Victims of Crime (2nd ed., pp. 86–107). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Finkelhor, D., & Dziuba-Leatherman, J. (1994). Victimization of children. American Psychologist, 49(3), 173–83.
Finkelhor, D. & Ormrod, R. (2000). Characteristics of crimes against juveniles. OJJDP Bulletin.
Fitzpatrick, K. M. (1997). Fighting among America's youth: A risk and protective factors approach. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 38, 131–148.
Fitzpatrick, K. M., & Boldizar, J. P. (1993). The prevalence and consequences of exposure to violence among African-American youth. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, 32, 424–430.
Garbarino, J. (1993). Children's response to community violence: What do we know? Infant Mental Health Journal, 14, 103–115.
Gorman-Smith, D., & Tolan, P. (1998). The role of exposure to community violence and developmental problems among inner-city youth. Development & Psychopathology, 10, 101–116.
Gottfredson, M. R., & Hirschi, T. (1990). A general theory of crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
Graham, S., & Hudley, C. (1994). Attributions of aggressive and nonaggressive African-American male early adolescents: A study of construct accessibility. Developmental Psychology, 30, 365–373.
Graham, S., Hudley, C., & Williams, E. (1992). Attributional and emotional determinants of aggression among African-American and Latino young adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 28, 731–740.
Gray, H. M., & Foshee, V. (1997). Adolescent dating violence: Differences between one-sided and mutually violent profiles. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 12, 126–141.
Green, S. B., Thompson, M. S., & Poirier, J. (1999). Exploratory analyses to improve model fit: Errors due to misspecification and strategy to reduce their occurrence. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 113–126.
Guerra, N. G., Huesmann, L. R., Tolan, P. H., Van Acker, R., & Eron, L. D. (1995). Stressful events and individual beliefs as correlates of economic disadvantage and aggression among urban children. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 518–528.
Haapasalo, J., & Tremblay, R. E. (1994). Physically aggressive boys from ages 6 to 12: Family background, parenting behavior, and prediction of delinquency. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 1044–1052.
Halliday, C. A., & Graham, S. (2000). “If I get locked up, I get locked up”: Secondary control and adjustment among juvenile offenders. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 548–559.
Halliday-Boykins, C. A., & Henggeler S. W. (2000). The social ecological factors in the association between community violence exposure and violent behavior. Manuscript in Preparation.
Halliday-Boykins, C. A., & Henggeler, S. W. (in press). Multisystemic Therapy: Theory, Research and Practice. In E. Walton, P. A. Sandau-Beckler, & M. Mannes (Eds.), Setting direction for familycentered services in child welfare into the twenty-first century: Theory, practice, policy and research. New York: Columbia University Press.
Henggeler, S. W. (1989). Delinquency in adolescence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Henggeler, S.W. (1991). Multidimensional causal models of delinquent behavior and their implications for treatment. In R. Cohen. & A.W. Siegel (Eds.), Context and development (pp. 211–231), Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Henggeler, S. W., Melton, G. B., Smith, L. A., Foster, S. L., Hanley, J. H., & Hutchinson, C. M. (1993). Assessing violent offending in serious juvenile offenders. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 21, 233–243.
Herrenkohl, T. I., Maguin, E., Hill, K. G., Hawkins, J. D., Abbott, R. D., & Catalano, R. F. (2000). Developmental risk factors for youth violence. Journal of Adolescent Health, 26, 176–186.
Hill, H. M., & Madhere, S. (1996). Exposure to community violence and African American children: A multidimensional model of risks and resources. Journal of Community Psychology, 24, 26–43.
Hoyle, R. H., & Smith, G. T. (1994). Formulating clinical research hypotheses as structural equation models: A conceptual overview. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 429–440.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1995). Evaluating model fit. In R. H. Hoyle (Ed.), Structural equation modeling: Concepts, issues and applications (pp. 76–99). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1998). Fit indices in covariance structure modeling: Sensitivity to underparameterized model misspecification. Psychological Methods, 3, 424–453.
Hu, L., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariance structure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural Equation Modeling, 6, 1–55.
Huizinga, D., & Jakob-Chien, C. (1998). The contemporaneous cooccurrence of serious and violent juvenile offending and other problem behaviors. In R. Loeber & D. P. Farrington (Eds.), Serious and violent juvenile offenders: Risk factors and successful interventions (pp. 47–67). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Institute of Behavioral Science. (1990). National Youth Survey. Boulder: University of Colorado.
Jencks, C., & Mayer, S. E. (1990). The social consequences of growing up in a poor neighborhood. In L. E. Lynn & M. G. H. McGeary (Eds.), Inner-city in the United States (pp. 86–111). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Jensen, G. F., & Brownfield, D. (1986). Gender, lifestyles and victimization: Beyond routine activity. Violence and Victims, 1, 85–99.
Jessor, R., & Jessor, S. L. (1977). Problem behavior and psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of youth. New York: Academic Press.
Joreskog, K. G. (1993). Testing structural equation models. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural equation models (pp. 294–316). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Kingery, P. M., McCoy-Simandle, L., & Clayton, R. (1997). Risk factors for adolescent violence. The importance of vulnerability. School Psychology International, 18, 49–60.
Klein, K., Forehand, R., & Family Health Project Research Group. (2000). Family processes as resources for African American children exposed to a constellation of sociodemographic risk factors. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 29, 53–65.
Kliewer, W., Lepore, S. J., Oskin, D., & Johnson, P. D. (1998). The role of social and cognitive processes in children's adjustment to community violence. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 199–209.
Lauritsen, J. L., & Davis Quinet, K. F. (1995). Repeat victimization among adolescents and young adults. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 11, 143–166.
Lauritsen, J. L., Laub, J. H., & Sampson, R. J. (1992). Conventional and delinquent activities: Implications for the prevention of violent victimization among adolescents. Violence & Victims, 7, 91–108.
Lauritsen, J. L., Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (1991). The link between offending and victimization among adolescents. Criminology, 29, 265–292.
Leventhal, T., & Brooks-Gunn, J. (2000). The neighborhoods they live in: The effects of neighborhood residence on child and adolescent outcomes. Psychological Bulletin, 126, 309–337.
Lochman, J. E., & Dodge, K. A. (1994). Social-cognitive processes of severely violent, moderately aggressive, and nonaggressive boys. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 62, 366–374.
Loeber, R., & Hay, D. (1997). Key issues in the development of aggression and violence from childhood to early adulthood. Annual Review of Psychology, 48, 371–410.
Lyon, J., Henggeler, S., & Hall, J. A. (1992). The family relations, peer relations, and criminal activities of Caucasian and Hispanic-American gang members. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 20, 439–449.
MacCallum, R. (1986). Specification searches in covariance structure modeling. Psychological Bulletin, 100, 107–120.
MacCallum, R. C., Roznowski, M., & Necowitz, L. B. (1992). Model modifications in covariance structure analysis: The problem of capitalization on chance. Psychological Bulletin, 111, 490–504.
Mihalic, S. W., & Elliot, D. (1997). If violence is domestic, does it really count? Journal of Family Violence, 12, 293–311.
Malik, S., Sorenson, S, & Aneshensel, C. S. (1997). Community and dating violence among adolescents: Perpetration and victimization. Journal of Adolescent Health, 21, 291–302.
McGee, L., & Newcomb, M. D. (1992). General deviance syndrome: Expanded hierarchical evaluations at four ages from early adolescence to adulthood. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 60, 766–776.
Moos, R. H., & Moos, B. S. (1981). Family Environment Scale manual. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Moos, R. H., & Moos, B. S. (1994). Family Environment Scale Manual (3rd ed.). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
Newcomb, M. D. (1994). Drug use and intimate relationships among women and men. Separating specific from general effects in prospective data using structural equation models. Journal of Consulting & Clinical Psychology, 62, 463–476.
Newcomb, M. D., & Loeb, T. B. (1999). Poor parenting as an adult problem behavior: General deviance, deviant attitudes, inadequate family support and bonding, or just bad parents? Journal of Family Psychology, 13, 175–193.
Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention. (1999). 1997 National Youth Gang Survey. Washington, DC: Author.
Osofsky, J. D., Wewers, S., Hann, D. M., & Fick, A. C. (1993). Chronic community violence: What is happening to our children? Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 56, 36–45.
Paschall, M. J., & Hubbard, M. L. (1998). Effects of neighborhood and family stressors on African American male adolescents' self-worth and propensity for violent behavior. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 825–831.
Patterson, F. R., & Dishion, T. J. (1985). Contributions of families and peers to delinquency. Criminology, 23, 63–79.
Patterson, G. R., & Yoerger, K. (1995). Two different models for adolescent physical trauma and for early arrest. Criminal Behavior and Mental Health, 5, 411–423.
Peeples, F. L. (1991).Working against the odds: Parents, neighborhoods and juvenile delinquency. Dissertation Abstracts International, 52, 10A. (University Microfilms No. AAD92–09409).
Peeples, F., & Loeber, R. (1994). Do individual factors and neighborhood context explain ethnic differences in juvenile delinquency? Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 10, 141–157.
Richters, J. E. (1990). Screening survey of children's exposure to community violence: Self Report Version. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
Richters, J. E. & Martinez, P. (1993). The NIMH Community Violence Project I: Children as victims of and witnesses to violence. Psychiatry: Interpersonal & Biological Processes, 56, 7–21.
Richters, J. E., & Saltzman,W. (1990). Survey of exposure to community violence: Self Report Version. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
Rigdon, E. E. (1999). Using the Friedman method of ranks for model comparison in structural equation modeling. Structural Equation Modeling, 7, 219–232.
Romkens, R. (1997). Prevalence of wife abuse in the Netherlands: Combining quantitative and qualitative methods in survey research. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 12, 99–125.
Rowe, D. C., Vazsonyi, A. T., & Flannery, D. J. (1994). No more than skin deep: Ethnic and racial similarity in developmental process. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 396–413.
Ross, C. E., & Jang, S. J. (2000). Neighborhood disorder, fear, and mistrust: The buffering role of social ties with neighbors. American Journal of Community Psychology, 28, 401–420.
Sampson, R. J., & Lauritsen, J. L. (1990). Deviant lifestyles, proximity to crime, and the offender-victim link in personal violence. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 27, 110–139.
Sampson, R. J., Raudenbush, S. W., & Earls, F. (1997). Neighborhoods and violent crime:Amultilevel study of collective efficacy. Science, 277, 918–924.
Sanford, K., Bingham, C. R., & Zucker, R. A. (1999). Validity issues with the Family Environment Scale: Psychometric resolution and research application with alcoholic families. Psychological Assessment, 11, 315–325.
Schwartz, D., Dodge, K. A., Pettit, G. S., & Bates, J. E. (1997). The early socialization of aggressive victims of bullying. Child Development, 68(4), 665–675.
Simcha-Fagan, O., & Schwartz, J. E. (1986). Neighborhood and delinquency: An assessment of contextual effects. Criminology, 24, 667–701.
Slaby, R. G., & Guerra, N. G. (1988). Cognitive mediators of aggression in adolescent offenders I: Assessment. Developmental Psychology, 24, 580–588.
Snyder, H. & Finnegan, T. (1999). Easy Access to FBI Arrest Statistics. 1994–1997 [Data presentation package]. Pittsburgh, PA: National Center for Juvenile Justice [producer]. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention [distributor].
Snyder, H. N., & Sickmund, M. (1999). Juvenile offenders and victims: 1999 National Report. Washington, DC: Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.
Steiger, J. H., & Lind, J. C. (1980, May). Statistically-based tests for the number of common factors. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Psychometric Society, Iowa City, IO.
Tolan, P. H., Guerra, N. G., & Kendall, P. (1995). A developmentalecological perspective on antisocial behavior in children and adolescents: Toward a unified risk and intervention framework. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 63, 579–584.
Tolan, P. H., & Thomas, P. (1995). The implications of age of onset for delinquency risk II: Longitudinal data. Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 23, 157–181.
Wandersman, A., & Nation, M. (1998). Urban neighborhoods and mental health: Psychological contributions to understanding toxicity, resilience, and interventions. American Psychologist, 53, 647–656.
Webster. D., Gainer, P. S., & Champion, H. R. (1993). Weapon carrying among inner-city junior high school students: Defensive behavior vs. aggressive delinquency. American Journal of Public Health, 83, 1604–1608.
Zelli, A., Dodge, K. A., Lochman. J. E., Laird, R. D., & Conduct Problems Prevention Research Group. (1999). The distinction between beliefs legitimizing aggression and deviant processing of social cues: Testing measurement validity and the hypotheses that biased processing mediates the effects of beliefs on aggression. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 77, 150–166.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Halliday-Boykins, C.A., Graham, S. At Both Ends of the Gun: Testing the Relationship Between Community Violence Exposure and Youth Violent Behavior. J Abnorm Child Psychol 29, 383–402 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010443302344
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010443302344