Youth Violence and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: Assessment, Implications, and Promising School-Based Strategies (From Adolescent Gangs: Old Issues, New Approaches, P 115-127, 1999, Curtis W. Branch, ed. -- See NCJ-179321)

• NCJ Number: 179326
• Author(s): Lorita A. Purnell
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 13 pages
• Sale Source: Brunner/Mazel, Inc.
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

In discussing gang violence in the school setting, a teacher notes violent students exhibited behavioral symptoms similar to those described for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Abstract

Among students who either witnessed or had been victims of gang violence, of particular interest were responses dealing with observable behaviors in the classroom. In both groups, students who reported they experienced a cluster of PTSD symptoms, such as hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating, memory problems, emotional distancing, loss of interest in activities once deemed pleasurable, and difficulty meeting goals, were the same students who reported a high incidence of witnessing or being victims of gang violence. Implications of PTSD symptoms associated with gang violence in schools are examined, with emphasis on the importance of adjusting instructional content and delivery to students who may be affected by PTSD. The teacher-student relationship is especially important in the context of PTSD, and teachers should be able to recognize warning signs of violence. Further, poor academic performance in the classroom in the absence of objectively verifiable learning difficulties may signal underlying emotional problems. Rather than dismissing poor achievers as being unmotivated, teachers and other school personnel should consider the possibility that poor academic performance is the result of emotional interference and possibly PTSD. An appendix contains a gang violence PTSD questionnaire. 11 references