EARLY ADOLESCENTS EXPOSED TO VIOLENCE - HOPE AND VULNERABILITY TO VICTIMIZATION

Eighty-nine early adolescents were measured for perceptions of hope, e xposure to violence, and perceived vulnerability to victimization. Res ults showed the presence of high hope, together with a high degree of exposure to violence. The adolescents were about equally divided regar ding the nature of their own death, while most predicted a violent dea th for the ''average American.'' The highest levels of hope were repor ted by those who had witnessed violence but not experienced it persona lly; those with the greatest exposure to violence predicted their own death would be violent.