The Perspective of Adolescent Victims of Violence on Resilience and Social Connectedness

To gain insight into how youth who live amid community violence define resilience, identify supportive social connections, and describe their needs when coping with traumatic experiences in an effort to inform public health approaches to Community Violence Intervention. This qualitative study represents a community-based participatory research project. Twenty-two youths aged 14 to 25 engaged in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was completed and then triangulated with community members. Demographic data were characterized by frequency statistics. A youth-driven resilience framework was derived with three components: acceptance of adversity, perseverance, and self-reliance. Participants described coping mechanisms, expectations of adult support members, and a predilection for a small social support system. Findings build on previous work and underscore the importance of independence, perseverance, acceptance, and family for youth experiencing community violence. Youth may have an interest in interventions that foster safe, supportive, nurturing relationships with parents. Youth perspective can inform community violence prevention efforts and lead to more effective community intervention strategies.