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Objectives: Many Mexican American families are immigrants who reside in under-resourced, urban communities, where they are at risk for numerous stressors, ranging from poverty to community violence. This paper analyzed qualitative data from Mexican American urban youth to explore their perspectives on neighborhood stressors, psychosocial difficulties and coping. Methods: A community-based participatory research approach was used with Mexican American youth from a Chicago neighborhood to explore personally salient experiences of living in their community. In collaboration with a community organization serving this neighborhood, 32 youth ranging from ages 12–18 with differing risk levels for violence and resilience participated in focus group sessions. Participants were asked about and discussed a wide range of topics covering (a) neighborhood characteristics and experiences; (b) psychosocial functioning and youth empowerment; (c) connection to school and community; and (d) family and cultural experiences. Results: Based on content analyses, three themes emerged related to stress (i.e., violence, gangs and the police, poverty) and coping strategies (i.e., avoidant, aggressive, and active coping). While pervasive stress appeared consistent across all groups, coping styles and psychological sequelae varied across the youth. Conclusions: The study demonstrates the importance of incorporating culturally relevant strategies, such as reframing, support seeking, and engaging familism, when developing interventions for use in this population. Furthermore, maximizing social supports by providing access to appropriate mentors and supportive peers should be a focus of educational programming and intervention with these youth. Finally, the authors offer a discussion of how these results might inform future community-based research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The scourge of community violence that besets young citizens in high-poverty U.S. communities of color is a compelling social problem to address. This article synthesizes studies of causes and preventive services for youth violence, including randomized controlled experiments and theoretical, case study contributions. Available evidence indicates that causes of youth violence are complex and interact across multiple layers of social systems. Accordingly, single-factor programs and policies developed for other populations tend to be ineffective for addressing the many injustices with which youth in high-poverty, high-crime communities of color contend. Therefore, we develop a perspective that is developmental, multi-systemic, and restorative of youths' dignity. Responding to researchers' calls for more contextually-grounded case studies of causes and remedies for youth violence, this article focuses on Chicago, where street violence rates in some communities are among the highest in the world and have increased in the last several years. First, we describe the intersectionalities of catalysts of violence, such as institutional racism, police brutality, deficits in child protection, and deep poverty, in a developmental systems-based framework. Next, we frame community service principles with population-specific features, recognizing cultural and community strengths and youths' significant resilience and potential. Drawing from Afrocentric social thought, positive youth development, trauma treatment models, cognitive behavioral, and empowerment approaches, we describe intervention principles for community-based services. Examples are drawn from decades of work with Chicago's impoverished African American youth on the violence-beset south and west sides of Chicago. Highlights • Poverty, racism, maltreatment, trauma, and educational neglect trigger violence • Chicago's violence surge followed school, mental health and social service cutbacks • Prevention occurs via relationship-focused services and equality-focused policies • Programs need tailoring to youths' culture, strengths, supports, and disadvantages • Many sources of evidence show effective options to prevent and treat youth violence [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]