The role of a violent environment coupled with poverty may have detrimental, long-lasting effects on children and adolescents, and a melding of Life History Theory (LHT) and Community Violence Exposure (CVE) research methods may enhance research into those topics. In the current article, we queried 21 empirical articles published between 2000 and 2023 to examine studies investigating CVE or environmental harshness/unpredictability to identify generalizable patterns across publications. There are several findings. First, the patterns recognized imply that socioeconomic status plays a crucial role in shaping an individual's environment and subsequent behavioral outcomes as a result of that environmental exposure. Second, there are several similarities in the results of the publications despite using different psychological concepts and methodologies. Third, measuring the effect the interaction of unpredictability and harshness has on CVE and any behavioral outcomes after exposure would enhance CVE research. These findings provide evidence that there may be an association between environmental harshness/unpredictability and CVE. A melding of CVE and LHT concepts is the most appropriate approach to future research. Overall, this review offers recommendations for journals and authors.
Simone Compton (Thu,) studied this question.