Document Type
Article
Publication Date
9-12-2025
Publication Title
Clinical Social Work Journal
Pages
1-29
Publisher Name
Springer Nature
Abstract
Community violence, defined as violence perpetrated in community as opposed to home settings, is a salient social problem, causing terror and tragedy, especially in urban, low-income communities of color. Interventions supporting youth struggling with community violence have been insufficiently studied and theorized, especially from strengths-focused, culturally relevant standpoints in the context of contemporary social policies. This paper outlines psychodynamic theoretical models for services that have been developed via participatory research and provided for 19 years for over 1000 youth. Then, to understand how youth make use of the programs from an “inside” perspective, four intensive case examples are described. From an “outside” perspective, the social policy and community contexts for the clinical interactions are interwoven into interpreting the case examples. The “inside” and “outside” perspectives yield patterns for understanding youth who survive community violence and youth who perish, and paths clinical social workers can take to prevent tragedies and develop youths’ resilience. Findings indicate the importance of high-dosage, multi-faceted, personalized trauma-focused services supporting youths’ strengths and agency as contributors to group programming and treatment planning, and interventions deepening youths’ communication and relationship skills. Patterns also highlight the need for more accessible mental health care, educational and social services and improved child protective services with safety options for youth beset by familial and extra-familial gang violence.
Recommended Citation
Tyson McCrea, Katherine; Miller, Kevin; Moore, Amzie; and Watson, Heather L.. Patterns of Resilience, Patterns of Tragedy: Perspectives from Inside and Outside to Theorize Beneficial Interventions Serving Urban African American Youth Struggling with Community Violence. Clinical Social Work Journal, , : 1-29, 2025. Retrieved from Loyola eCommons, Social Work: School of Social Work Faculty Publications and Other Works, http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-025-01012-w
Copyright Statement
© The Author(s), 2025.
Author Manuscript
This is a pre-publication author manuscript of the final, published article.
Comments
Author Posting © The Author(s), 2025. This version of the article has been accepted for publication, after peer review (when applicable) and is subject to Springer Nature’s AM terms of use, but is not the Version of Record and does not reflect post-acceptance improvements, or any corrections. The Version of Record is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10615-025-01012-w.