Children's perceptions of safety and exposure to violence

Abstract

The present study used combined qualitative and quantitative design to examine the association of children's perceptions of safety and levels of community violence exposure. The Children's Report of Exposure to Violence (CREV) was completed by 139 children ages 9 to 11 years old. From the CREV, the 25% of the subjects with the highest exposure to violence and the 25% of those with the lowest exposure to violence were identified to participate in in-depth semi- structured interviews. This article presents the children's meaning of the term safety and five primary themes of children's perceptions of safety from the high and low exposure groups using the children's words. Implications for further research and clinical practice are discussed. © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.