by Joe Harris
senior editor

A study found school bonding and family structure are two important factors that may promote less aggressive behaviors in children who have witnessed and been exposed to community violence.

Lois Pierce, an associate professor of social work at UM-St. Louis, based her findings from her studies with inner-city children who had witnessed community violence. The study consisted of children 8 to 14-years-old and the large majority of the children were African-American.

Pierce said this study was "helpful because it included a number of behaviors relating to aggressive behaviors. Not only did it allow us to look at how the children describe themselves, but also how they describe their peers, their relationship with their family, their relationship with their school and it also enabled us to be able to observe community violence and a number of psychological questions we were interested in."

The study was conducted through a survey given to 223 boys and 207 girls. This survey asked questions about decision-making, outlook on life, school bonding, family bonding, family arguments, self-concept and self-control among others.

The survey found that boys tend to be more aggressive and have more loss of control; that children exposed to violence and family arguments were more likely to report aggressive behavior; that social support (i.e. family structure, positive peer relations, etc.) also helped reduce aggressive behavior and increased self-control; that exposure to community violence is also related to children being less assertive and having a lower self-concept; and that with boys and girls family bonding led to an increase in self-control.

The survey also found two differences between boys and girls. Girls, when exposed to community violence, showed a decrease in confidence while boys did not. Family and school bonding also helped increase assertiveness and self-concept in boys, while family structure increased assertiveness, school bonding and peers increased self-concept and family and school bonding increased confidence in girls.

"This has implications for schools," Pierce said. "I presented this information at a conference and somebody who worked for a school came up to me and said this was the kind of support they needed because they have been trying to implement programs, trying to get more parents more involved in these schools and that this information supports the need for that."

Pierce said the study's findings also indicate that schools should be sensitive towards gender differences when developing support programs.

"Because boys and girls respond to violence differently we have to be very much aware of developing different programs for boys and girls in schools," Pierce said.

Communities, and agents within communities also have to get involved, Pierce said. Programs designed to keep children safe when school is over are needed within the community.

Pierce said she believes schools are becoming more aware of their role in protecting children from violence, but that attention should be focused on events outside of school.

"Children in an urban environment see much more violence in their community than they'll ever see in their schools," Pierce said. "So I think that for these children, we need to be concerned about what's going on outside of school."

Pierce said these children view school as a safe place. She said these children reported feelings of anxiety when school ended because that meant they were out on the street.

Pierce presented her study in a lecture entitled "Children and Violence" Sept. 27 in the J.C. Penney building. The study originated from her work in the Be A Star substance abuse program designed to steer children clear of alcohol and drugs. The study started when many of the children reported witnessing numerous acts of community violence. The lecture was a part of UM-St. Louis' Monday noon series.