Family Science

Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2239

Formerly known as the Department of Family Studies.

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    Peer Homicide and Traumatic Loss: An Examination of Homicide Survivorship among Low-Income, Young, Black Men
    (2013) Smith, Jocelyn R.; Roy, Kevin M.; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Community violence remains a critical public health concern in the United States and a chronic threat to the well-being of boys and men of color. Homicide is the leading cause of death for Black males ages 15-34 (CDC, 2011). This health disparity simultaneously places them at risk for experiencing the traumatic loss of a peer and becoming homicide survivors. The likelihood that Black youth will have someone close murdered is 7.8 times that of Whites (Finkelhor et al., 2005), and previous research evidences significant mental and behavioral health consequences for surviving loved ones of homicide victims (Hertz et al., 2005; Zinzow et al., 2009). However, insufficient attention has been paid to experiences of surviving youth in urban contexts, and the experiences of Black male homicide survivors have been almost entirely overlooked. Grounded in a Life Course Perspective (Elder & Giele, 2009), this study used an ethnographic approach, including life history calendar methods, to investigate the lived experiences of young, Black male survivors of peer homicide in low-income, urban contexts. Specifically, this study examined: 1) how the context of place shaped young men's exposures to violence, traumatic loss, and perceptions of safety and vulnerability; 2) the frequency and timing of peer homicide(s) across the life course; and, 4) survivors' grief, coping, and recovery strategies and processes. In-depth interviews and field observations were conducted with 40 young, Black men (ages 18-24) in Baltimore City, Maryland. Data were analyzed using a modified grounded theory approach and the data were coded in three waves: open, axial, and selective. Study findings indicate that chronic and unpredictable violence in young men's Baltimore neighborhoods constantly positioned them vulnerable to witnessing, experiencing, surviving, or dying from violence. Young men on average survived three homicide deaths across the life course, revealing the disparity of traumatic loss among this group. A contextually relevant, trauma-informed framework of homicide survivorship emerged from participant narratives of grief, vulnerability, coping, and recovery. These findings indicate peer homicide and traumatic loss as multidimensional threats to healthy transitions to adulthood for young Black men, and present implications for multilevel systems research, prevention practice, and policy development.
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    THE ASSOCIATION OF VIOLENCE WITH YOUNG CHILDREN'S PHYSICAL HEALTH IN COLOMBIA
    (2011) Pinzon-Rondon, Angela Maria; Hofferth, Sandra L; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The association of violence with the physical health of children under five years of age in Colombia is studied through the lens of three major theories: biological stress theory, family stress theory, and ecological theory. The analysis explores the association of harsh parental discipline and intimate partner violence with child health, as well as the association of community violence with child health, parental discipline, intimate partner violence, and the relations among them. Secondary data from the Colombian Demographic and Health Survey 2005 and the Colombian National Census 2005 were analyzed. A total of 10,681 children under five years of age from 230 municipalities were included in the analyses. Analyses were conducted at the family and community levels. In the family level models, parental harsh discipline and intimate partner violence were associated with poor child health. Families who used harsh discipline had children with approximately 8% more symptoms of poor health than those who didn't use such punitive practices and families who experienced intimate partner violence had children with approximately 20% more symptoms than those who did not experience such violence. In the multilevel models, community violence and intimate partner violence predicted poor child health while parental harsh discipline failed to predict it. Children living in violent communities had 16% more symptoms of poor health than those living in nonviolent communities, and children from families that experienced intimate partner violence had on average 18% more symptoms of poor health than those living in families without intimate partner violence. Despite the study limitations, mainly its cross-sectional nature and restraints imposed by secondary data, the results indicate that violence is related to young Colombian children's poor physical health. These findings suggest the need to continue studying the effects of violence on health outcomes in different populations, as well as to provide support for efforts to promote violence prevention programs in Colombia.