Civic Engagement Among Youth Exposed to Community Violence: Directions for Research and Practice

Abstract

Historically and contemporarily marginalized youth who are disproportionately exposed to community violence are often the same youth who are less likely to be civically engaged. However, the community violence and civic engagement literatures have not yet fully explored how these experiences may be linked in young people's lives and in relation to what other forces. Using developmental assets and ecological-transactional frameworks, we review the emerging literature on civic engagement among youth exposed to community violence and how external developmental assets and neighborhood collective efficacy may create opportunity for their increased civic engagement. We present numerous conceptually-and empirically-based hypotheses to further examine the intersections between exposure to community violence and youth civic engagement. Ultimately, we identify opportunities for intervention.This literature review explores if and how youth civic engagement experiences vary by exposure to community violence (ETV), and suggest future directions for research and practice. We begin by justifying why this work is warranted, providing examples of violence exposures that youth experience, and describing the development of civic engagement across adolescence and into adulthood. We then review theoretical and empirical evidence that demonstrates how civic engagement can be part of resilience expressed by violence-exposed youth and be leveraged in youth-led actions to mitigate that violence. We follow by reviewing the literature on inequalities in civic engagement and exposure to community violence, documenting how structurally marginalized young people are often both less civically engaged and more exposed to community violence. We proceed to explore possible interventions that can support civic engagement among youth exposed to violence. We conclude by offering recommendations for future research and implications for policy and practice to enhance opportunities for civic engagement among youth exposed to community violence.

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