Article Summary
Cohen, E. 2007.
Exposure to Violence: A Significant Issue for Children and Families. Protecting Children, Vol. 22, Nos. 3 & 4 (Special Issue: Exposure to Violence), pp. 3-5.
In her introduction to this special issue on “Exposure to Violence,” Elena P. Cohen reminds us that every year more than one million adolescents and children are exposed to violence. Even more disheartening, this exposure can lead to serious developmental problems. Cohen asserts that there is a desperate need for further research in the area, including a need to arrive at a common definition of exposure. In the past, children’s exposure to violence has simply been lumped in with other categories such as child neglect and abuse and school, domestic, and community violence. Cohen maintains that this issue of definition has impeded scientific research and hindered the production of effective measurement tools. The articles in this issue, she explains, have two purposes: (1) to explain why attention to children’s exposure to violence is such an important issue, with particular interest to families, practitioners, and policymakers; and (2) to extract cutting-edge knowledge from the fields of philosophy, research, policy, and practice.
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