**USE Only Book ISBN-97814129171 Title: Family Violence Across the Lifespan 3rd Edition Authors: Ola W Barnett, Cindy L Miller-Perrin, Cindy Miller-Perrin, Robin D Perrin.**
1. When you look at the Discussion Room link, you will see there are two parts to each discussion.
a. First, the Post. Your Post must be done ASAP of the week due and should be around 125-130 words. Students are to use their own words, not quoting from the readings. I want your understanding of the topic.
b. Next, read the Posts of other students and draw conclusions based on what others say about the topic. You are not required to respond to other students, unless so desired. What you must do is reflect on everyone’s Post (including your own) and draw conclusions, identify themes (if any), etc. Ask yourself, “Based on what I have read, what did I learn? What similarities do we have in our perspectives? What differences are there?” Your Discussion Reflection is due by Thursday of the same week.
2. Points are earned by the quality of Post and your reflection. This includes use of critical reflection; need to clearly show that serious thought was given to the assignment; reading material referenced.
Discussion #4: Community Violence – week of July 20
• Your Post due Tuesday; your Reflection due Friday
• Readings: E-articles
o Exposure to Community Violence & Violence Perpetration: The Protective Effects of Family Functioning
o Witnessing Violence: Bio-psycho-social Impact on Children
• Overview: The research on community Violence (CV) has largely been confined to ethnic minority groups living in urban neighborhoods. What is missing is the CV witnessed in neighborhoods of smaller towns such as Bemidji. What happens when a child grows up with violence all around him/her? What happens when CV is considered “normal” functioning and a “normal” response to situations?
o Note: When responding to this discussion topic, look beyond it being an “inner-city” issue and remember it occurs in small towns also.
Instructions: Is sexting really a problem or merely “normal” behavior for today’s generation? Has cyber-abuse become a serious problem with adolescents and young adults? Are existing resources in your home community prepared to address the needs of victims of sexting and cyber- abuse? If not, what needs to change?

Community violence, once again, is another form of family violence, because the community has a large effect upon the family systems, typically effecting the younger generations in the community, influencing their behaviors. In smaller communities, like Bemidji, they often also lack resources that larger communities many have. Community violence can cause stress upon the family systems causing them to turn to other methods of attaining the support and services they need. This form of violence, is talked about within the family violence course because it influences the family system as a whole, causing them to use violence to attain the resources they need
Community violence often affects the younger generations, influencing their behaviors, because they are shown the behaviors from the leaders of their community and families. If children grow up learning that these behaviors are acceptable, they will continue the cycle of violence within their community and family systems. Once these children grow into adult they have potential to become the abusers of community violence, therefore creating more victims within the community.
If family system grow up in their type of environment, they will not be given the opportunity to learn the difference between positive behaviors and negative behaviors, which can lead to family violence. This causes the family system to become dysfunctional, which leads to trauma for many victims. Community violence plays a large role in family systems, which is why it is considered another form of family violence.

Violence of any nature or form at the community and domestic levels is not justifiable especially considering the potential outcomes of violence to the younger generations. Though community violence is prevalence in smaller community especially where resources are scarce and result in conflicts among community members, it has a detrimental impact on the development of children (Barnett, Miller-Perrin and Perrin 293). Community violence is part of the discussion in family violence course since it is a primary factor that influences how people behave not only in the community but in their families as well. Community violence has the potential to make people think that violence is the only way to solve problems; hence, they resort to violence in the family context as a means to resolve domestic issues.
The impact of community violence on the development of children is significant especially considering that children learn from the people around them. The children are highly likely to adopt violence as a normal behavior which makes the problem more challenging especially since they will grow up believing that there are no other ways of solving issues in the community and family level. The outcome of such an environment is that the children not only become abusers but they also become victims who are unable to take any action since they believe that violence is the only way.
The impact of community violence and family violence on family systems is detrimental since they become dysfunctional and broken especially considering that fear becomes a primary factor among the children (Barnett, Miller-Perrin and Perrin 292). Families are compromised and often disintegrate since violence cannot solve the problems and challenges that face them. In addition, spouses and children are physically abused causing emotional, psychological and physiological trauma that may affect them for the rest of their lives.

Work Cited
Barnett, Ola W, Cindy L Miller-Perrin, and Robin D Perrin. Family Violence across the Lifespan: An Introduction. 3rd Ed. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications, 2011. Print.