• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
Catholic Review

Catholic Review

Inspiring the Archdiocese of Baltimore

Menu
  • Home
  • News
        • Local News
        • World News
        • Vatican News
        • Obituaries
        • Featured Video
        • En Español
        • Sports News
        • Official Clergy Assignments
        • Schools News
  • Commentary
        • Contributors
          • Question Corner
          • George Weigel
          • Elizabeth Scalia
          • Michael R. Heinlein
          • Effie Caldarola
          • Guest Commentary
        • CR Columnists
          • Archbishop William E. Lori
          • Rita Buettner
          • Christopher Gunty
          • George Matysek Jr.
          • Mark Viviano
          • Father Joseph Breighner
          • Father Collin Poston
          • Robyn Barberry
          • Hanael Bianchi
          • Amen Columns
  • Entertainment
        • Events
        • Movie & Television Reviews
        • Arts & Culture
        • Books
        • Recipes
  • About Us
        • Contact Us
        • Our History
        • Meet Our Staff
        • Photos to own
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • CR Media platforms
        • Electronic Edition
  • Advertising
  • Shop
        • Purchase Photos
        • Books/CDs/Prayer Cards
        • Magazine Subscriptions
        • Archdiocesan Directory
  • CR Radio
        • CR Radio
        • Protagonistas de Fe
  • News Tips
  • Subscribe
Gun violence in Philadelphia highlights the deep-seated trauma and developmental issues experienced by many of the city's youth, said an Archdiocese of Philadelphia mental health professional. (CNS photo/Eduardo Munoz, Reuters)

Teen trauma, impaired brain development seen as factors in gun violence

July 5, 2022
By Gina Christian
Catholic News Service
Filed Under: Child & Youth Protection, Feature, News, World News

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

PHILADELPHIA (CNS) — Gun violence in Philadelphia highlights the deep-seated trauma and developmental issues experienced by many of the city’s youth, said an Archdiocese of Philadelphia mental health professional.

“You’re talking about so many of our young people being chronically exposed to stressful life events and violence,” said James Black, a licensed clinical psychologist who directs the youth services division of Catholic Social Services.

Black, a specialist in adolescence and juvenile justice, has worked for more than three decades with thousands of at-risk and adjudicated teens, many of whom have witnessed or themselves been victims of shootings and other assaults.

The impact can be devastating on mind and body alike, said Black.

James Black, a licensed clinical psychologist, is seen in his office at Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia June 21, 2022. (CNS photo/Gina Christian, CatholicPhilly.com)

The first seven to eight years of a child’s life are widely regarded by experts as crucial to lifelong well-being. But adverse childhood experiences, known as ACEs – such as neglect, abuse, household instability and poor nutrition — can disrupt proper growth, leading to physical, cognitive and behavioral deficits.

In addition, the brain itself — including the prefrontal cortex region, which governs the ability to control impulses — does not completely develop until the mid- to late 20s, according to neuroimaging studies.

That timeline gives plenty of opportunity for ACEs to scar kids in neighborhoods rife with violence and poverty, Black told CatholicPhilly.com, the archdiocese’s online news outlet.

“It’s almost like growing up in a war zone,” he said. “And it interferes with brain development.”

Another impediment is the inability of many at-risk youth to get the nine to 10 hours of sleep per night recommended by the National Institute of Mental Health.

Many kids in Philadelphia “go to bed and sleep with one eye open … because they can hear gunshots, even in their own home,” Black said. “You hear tragic stories about (people) lying in their beds, shot by stray bullets. The sense is that you can’t escape; there’s no place to retreat to, and no sanctuary from it.”

Recently, two teens receiving care from Catholic Social Services’ youth services division confided to CatholicPhilly.com they felt “nowhere” was safe; one said a possible exception was “being locked up.”

Unable to relax or sleep soundly, youth “wake up already activated to handle incoming threats,” said Black. “They’re growing up overreactive, hyperactive.”

As a result, affected teens “have a hard time distinguishing perceived threats from real threats,” he said.

That difficulty persists in treatment, where even a “friendly, comforting gesture,” such as a light touch on the shoulder from a counselor, could startle a teen into jumping away, said Black.

On the street, those reactions — mixed with drugs, alcohol, assault weapons and extended gun magazines — turn deadly, with bullets spraying in all directions.

Lacking emotional regulation and impulse control, shooters — who in Philadelphia are most often teenagers and young adults — generally operate in a “fight or flight” mode that bypasses “higher level cognitive functions,” said Black.

“When somebody gets into that crisis situation, the cortex tends to shut off, and … it’s all just reaction and emotion,” he said. “They’re not trying to discriminate between targets and innocent victims. They’re operating only on adrenaline.”

Unlike post-traumatic stress disorder, which tends to describe more “episodic” wounds, the city’s at-risk youth suffer from “developmental trauma disorder,” said Black.

Though not formally recognized by the American Psychiatric Association, this emerging term “diagnostically captures” the range of stressors bearing down on vulnerable kids and teens, he said.

With a better understanding of the backstory, Black and his team help clients heal through trauma-informed care, a model developed by psychiatrist Sandra Bloom.

The approach helps patients process their painful experiences while regaining a sense of safety, acquiring emotional intelligence and control, grieving losses and — gradually — looking to build a future for themselves.

That last goal is one of the hardest to achieve, Black admitted.

“We caregivers want to go right to the future, and we can’t understand why these kids aren’t coming with us,” he said. “They’re still stuck with loss, sadness and hurt. In their world, it’s mostly negative. You lose a brother, a cousin, a parent to violence, and they’re not coming back. That’s a hard thing for a young person to process.”

The bloodshed also has left many young people with “a foreshortened sense of the future,” based not on years but “on an hour from now, or tomorrow,” Black said. “You ask a kid, ‘Where do you expect to be in five years?’ and he’ll say, ‘Five years? I have no guarantee I’ll be alive.'”

The complex factors at work in gun violence can’t be adequately addressed with a single policy, but “early interventions for mental health treatment” are key, he said.

“The younger we can get them into a good, safe care plan, the more likely we can get them back on the right track,” said Black.


Christian is a senior content producer for CatholicPhilly.com, the news website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

Read More Child & Youth Protection

Former Irish bishop’s remains removed from cathedral amid abuse allegations

A sower of light in the shadows

As excavation begins at Irish maternity home, Catholic experts urge fact-based news reporting

Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors’ new president ‘pioneer in his field,’ French lawyer says

Safeguarding remains a top priority with new appointment, US cardinal says

Verny

Pope names French Archbishop Verny as new president of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, replacing retired Cardinal

Copyright © 2022 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops

Print Print

Share
Share on Facebook
Share
Share this
Pin
Pin this
Share
Share on LinkedIn

Primary Sidebar

Gina Christian

Click here to view all posts from this author

For the latest news delivered twice a week via email or text message, sign up to receive our free enewsletter.

| MOST POPULAR |

  • Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

  • NBC’s Tom Llamas says Catholic education deepened his faith, pushed him to always do his best

  • Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

  • Archbishop Wenski leads Knights on Bikes to pray rosary at Alligator Alcatraz

  • Radio Interview: Youth ministry changing with the times

| Latest Local News |

Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants

Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9

Driver arrested after crashing into entrance of Esperanza Center

Construction underway on new north addition to St. Joseph’s Nursing Home 

Prince of Peace merges with St. Francis de Sales in Harford County

| Latest World News |

Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says

Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants

Ireland’s abortion rates rise 62 percent over 5 years; Catholic advocates call it ‘a tragedy’

Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz

Body of Blessed Frassati, relic of Blessed Acutis will be in Rome for Jubilee

| Catholic Review Radio |

CatholicReview · Catholic Review Radio

Footer

Our Vision

Real Life. Real Faith. 

Catholic Review Media communicates the Gospel and its impact on people’s lives in the Archdiocese of Baltimore and beyond.

Our Mission

Catholic Review Media provides intergenerational communications that inform, teach, inspire and engage Catholics and all of good will in the mission of Christ through diverse forms of media.

Contact

Catholic Review
320 Cathedral Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
443-524-3150
mail@CatholicReview.org

 

Social Media

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Recent

  • Parishes need to launch ‘revolution of care’ for the elderly, pope says
  • Broglio: Church teaching obligates the faithful to support pastoral care of migrants
  • Archdiocese of Baltimore offers resources for parishes to assist migrants
  • Third annual gun buyback scheduled for Aug. 9
  • Ireland’s abortion rates rise 62 percent over 5 years; Catholic advocates call it ‘a tragedy’
  • Miami archbishop presses for pastoral visitation at Alligator Alcatraz
  • Movie Review: ‘Smurfs’
  • Body of Blessed Frassati, relic of Blessed Acutis will be in Rome for Jubilee
  • Artificial Intelligence, wholeism and prayer

Search

Membership

Catholic Media Assocation

Maryland-Delaware-DC Press Association

The Associated Church Press

© 2025 CATHOLIC REVIEW MEDIA, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

en Englishes Spanish
en en