Too many London children are scarred by violence

Parents do not need scientists to tell them what makes a child feel loved. A hug on their first day at school. A hot meal on the table. And making sure a child feels cared for, listened to and safe. But too many children in London are left feeling chronically unsafe.

Our latest research documents the experience of young people inside and outside their homes. Even as seasoned researchers, we have been shocked by the findings. Almost half the young people recruited from Kids Company reported witnessing a friend, relative or someone in their community being stabbed or shot in the past year. One in five had themselves been shot or stabbed in their lifetime.

These young people are experiencing a double hit. Not only are they are unsafe at home but their trauma is compounded by exposure to violence in their own neighbourhoods. The young people often view their gangs as replacement families, a way of having someone to look out for them. Unfortunately, life within a gang is also replete with constant risk and fear of violence. One young person we worked with described their day-to-day life as “being trapped in a violent video game with no way out”.

We have found that such exposure to maltreatment and community violence has a huge cost. It leads to mental health problems, including symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and dissociation. These young people often have recurring physical health problems. They become disruptive at school. Many fail in education; studies show their economic productivity is reduced even into middle age.

Neuroscience has begun to shed new light on the impact of growing up experiencing violence and abuse. These experiences don’t “damage” the brain. Rather, children’s brains adapt in ways that help them survive the unpredictable violence around them.

Our research shows the amygdala — a small, almond-shaped structure deep inside the brain, important for alerting us to danger — goes into overdrive when these children see threatening faces. This even happens subliminally. Remarkably, soldiers exposed to combat show similar brain adaptation.

Although this response to threat may help in a dangerous environment, it causes problems when these children enter mainstream society. They can become anxious and find it hard to trust others. They may worry that if they do not strike first, someone else might. As they monitor their environment for potential danger, there is little capacity left over to concentrate at school.

It is the resilience of these young people, and their capacity to survive despite such adversity, that inspires our research. While we hope science can shine a light on the challenges they face, solutions need to happen on the ground. The Anna Freud Centre and Kids Company are leading examples of charities that help these children and support struggling parents.

But our findings point to a much broader challenge. Is it too much to hope that London could be a place where all young people feel safe and cared for? London would surely benefit from their success.

Dr McCrory and Professor Viding co-direct UCL’s Developmental Risk and Resilience Unit