The Long Reach of Violence: A Broader Perspective on Data, Theory, and Evidence on the Prevalence and Consequences of Exposure to Violence

Abstract

In this review, I argue for a broader perspective on exposure to violence, one that extends beyond victimization and direct witnessing of violence to consider exposure to violent situations and violent residential environments. The first part of the review focuses on the measurement of exposure to violence. I review national estimates of prevalence and trends in victimization and direct exposure to violence and describe novel forms of data measuring violent situations and violent environments. The second part of the article reviews theory and evidence on the consequences of exposure to violence. I discuss the theoretical and methodological problem of selection into violent situations and environments and describe several studies that directly address each problem through theory, data collection, and research design. I conclude with a call for a broader conceptualization of exposure to violence, and an expanded, more creative set of methods to measure and identify the long reach of violence.