Children Affected by Violence Suffer Mental Injuries, Psychologists and Experts Say
Tuesday, September 06, 2011
Oakland Tribune – September 6, 2011
OAKLAND – Luis Romero is concerned about his cousins, two small boys whose father, 39-year-old Jose Esparza, was shot dead Sunday while returning home from St. Louis Bertrand Church in East Oakland.
"They're going to be traumatized," said Romero who, at 16, is already familiar with the effect that the violence of Oakland's streets can have on young children. "One of them might want to get payback, and it's never going to stop." Esparza's death hurt his children, Romero said, and "hurt people, hurt other people."
In his own way, Romero has captured a sentiment that scientists, psychologists and experts on trauma across the country are beginning to understand with greater clarity.
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