Example violence and abuse dissertation topic 2:

Primary school-aged children’s perceptions of community violence: A Bradford case study.

As DuRant et al. (1994) note, exposure to violence (especially amongst urban black children) is a strong predictor of delinquent behaviour. Using a qualitative methodology, this thesis analyses the way in which children in three Bradford-area primary schools view violence. In so doing, it comments not only on exposure to violence but also more specifically upon issues of community violence (such as riots), family violence (domestic violence) and violence within the school (primarily through bullying). The paper considers the perceptions of teachers, carers, families, social workers and justice workers, through the use of in-depth interviews and subsequent analysis.

Suggested initial topic reading:

• DuRant, R.H., Cadenhead, C., Pendergast, R.A., Slavens, G. and Linder, C.W. (1994). ‘Factors associated with the use of violence among urban black adolescents’, American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 84, pp. 612-617.
• Mrug, S., Loosier, P.S. and Windle, M. (2008). ‘Violence exposure across multiple contexts: Individual and joint effects on adjustment’, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, Vol. 78, pp. 70-84.
• Schwartz, D. and Proctor, L. (2000). ‘Community violence exposure and children’s social adjustment in the school peer group: The mediating role of emotion regulation and social cognition’, Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, Vol. 68, pp. 670-682.