Using community-based participatory research to contextualize Latino exposure to community violence: A mixed qualitative and spatial analysis approach.

Abstract

While the relationship between community violence exposure and maladaptive outcomes has been established, the dynamic between violence exposure and resilience factors in youth is not well understood. The current study utilizes a community-based participatory research (CBPR) framework and employs a novel mixed-methods approach integrating quantitative geographic information systems (GIS) data and semi-structured qualitative focus groups to examine violence exposure, family functioning, and neighborhood characteristics, such as community assets, as experienced and reported by Latino adolescents. Participants (N = 40; age 12-18) included Mexican American youth residing in an urban area and were recruited based on their involvement in a youth organization. The youth-made maps and focus groups revealed that participants identified friends and family, social capital, and community engagement as safe and protective. However, the characterization of schools was more complicated and inconsistent. While schools appear to be sources of refuge and places to process neighborhood stressors for some youth, exposure to violence within and around school made them unsafe for others. Future studies and interventions, especially school safe passage programs, should consider a similar CBPR mixed-methods approach due to the precision of the GIS data and the youth voice brought by the qualitative methods.