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Community Violence Exposure, Social Cognition, and Aggression Among Urban Elementary School Children
Author(s) -
Guerra Nancy G.,
Rowell Huesmann L.,
Spindler Anja
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
child development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.103
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1467-8624
pISSN - 0009-3920
DOI - 10.1111/1467-8624.00623
Subject(s) - aggression , psychology , developmental psychology , poison control , cognition , injury prevention , normative , suicide prevention , social cognition , human factors and ergonomics , psychiatry , medical emergency , medicine , philosophy , epistemology
The effects of witnessing community violence on aggressive cognitions and behavior were investigated in an ethnically diverse sample of 4,458 children living in urban neighborhoods. Prior violence exposure had a significant effect in increasing aggression, normative beliefs about aggression, and aggressive fantasy. Although exposure to violence predicted aggressive behavior both in Grades 1 through 3 (ages 5–8) and Grades 4 through 6 (ages 9–12), the effects on social cognition were only evident in the later grades. Furthermore, the effect of violence exposure on aggression in the later grades was partially mediated by its effect on social cognition. These findings suggest that witnessing community violence has an effect on children's aggressive behavior through both imitation of violence and the development of associated cognitions as children get older.