Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult Outcomes

Scott Menard is retired professor of criminal justice and criminology, most recently in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Sam Houston State University.Herbert C. Covey is retired deputy director of the Adams County, Colorado, Human Services Department.

Menard and Covey examine how adolescent exposure to violence leads to problematic adult outcomes, e.g., intimate partner violence and substance use, as well as its adverse effect on positive beneficial outcomes, e.g., educational attainment and life satisfaction. This is a necessary study given that few focus specifically on exposure to violence during the adolescent years, an important transition period bridging childhood to adulthood, making it a time of vulnerability to the impact of abuse, neglect, adverse childhood experiences, and exposure to violence…. Ultimately, the authors find that direct experience of violence victimization is the best predictor of adverse adult outcomes and recommend solutions and interventions for favorable impact. This volume has implications for childhood studies, social work, criminal justice, education, and other areas from which supports and interventions originate. Highly recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through professionals.

• PrefaceDedication & AcknowledgmentsChapter 1 Adolescent Exposure to Violence Chapter 2 Study Design and Sample CharacteristicsChapter 3 Distribution of Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult OutcomesChapter 4 Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult Socioeconomic StatusesChapter 5 Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult Mental HealthChapter 6 Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult Substance UseChapter 7 Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult General Violence Victimization and PerpetrationChapter 8 Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult Intimate Partner Violence Victimization and PerpetrationConclusion: Adolescent Exposure to Violence and Adult Outcomes – Implications for Theory and PracticeReferences