PROSOCIAL AND ANTISOCIAL TENDENCIES IN CHILDREN EXPOSED TO COMMUNITY VIOLENCE

Abstract

The objective of the study was to explore the relationship between exposure to community violence and antisocial and prosocial behaviours. Data was collected from a sample comprising 78 Grade 7 children (mean age 12.8 years) living in a high violence community in Cape Town. The children completed a shortened version of the Survey of Exposure to Community Violence (Richters & Saltzman, 1990). They were rated by their teachers on four sub-scales of the South African Child Assessment Scales (Barbarin, 1998): opposition/defiance, aggression, self-regulation, and affability (prosocial behaviour). The results indicate a moderate correlation between direct exposure to violence and levels of aggression, opposition/defiance and deficits in self-regulation. Additionally, direct exposure was found to be less predictive of aggression than gender. The sample was most likely to be exposed to violent incidents in the vicinity of the home or in the wider community, rather than in school or in the home. This finding has implications for safety and violence prevention initiatives.


(Southern Af. J. of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, 2000, 12(1): 19-37)