Violence Across the Lifespan

Violence Across the Lifespan

Our lab adopts a comprehensive life-course perspective to investigate the manifestation of violence across the lifespan. Guided by a Big Data for Social Justice framework, we study how structural disadvantage contributes to interpersonal violence at every stage of life—from child maltreatment and intimate partner violence to firearm-related injury and elder abuse in institutional settings.

Core Questions We Address

  • How does violence manifest differently across developmental stages, from youth bullying to domestic abuse in later life?
  • What are the spatio-temporal patterns of firearm violence, child maltreatment, and intimate partner violence, and how do neighborhood contexts shape risk?
  • How do structural factors like redlining, neighborhood disinvestment, and environmental conditions contribute to the cycle of violence across generations?
  • What role does the built environment—including green space, walkability, and accessibility—play in violence prevention?

Methods and Approaches

We utilize interdisciplinary methods to capture the complexity of violence:

  • Bayesian Spatial & Spatiotemporal Modeling: Mapping the trajectory of violence within communities and across time to identify persistent hotspots and protective factors.
  • Machine Learning & AI: Using structured topic modeling, random forest prediction models, and natural language processing to analyze narratives and predict risk.
  • Geospatial Analysis: Examining walkable routes to school, street-view greenness, and accessibility to understand environmental determinants of violence exposure.
  • Big Data Integration: Leveraging large administrative datasets, medical records, and crime data to monitor patterns of abuse, neglect, and injury in vulnerable populations.

Select Publications

Child Maltreatment

  • Barboza-Salerno, G., Shockley McCarthy, K., Harrington, T., Stanek, C., Duhaney, S., Cash, S. & Palusci, V. (2025). Structured Topic Modeling of Child Fatal Injury Narratives Using Machine Learning with County-Level Demographic Indicators to Strengthen Prevention Strategies. Child Maltreatment. https://doi.org/10.1177/10775595251407301

  • Barboza-Salerno, G., Harrington, T., Duhaney, S., Ramesh, B., & Stanek, C. (2025). Beyond Social Disadvantage: Advancing an Environmental Justice Framework to Address Child Maltreatment Risk. International Journal on Child Maltreatment: Research, Policy and Practice.

  • Barboza-Salerno, G., Liebhard, B., Duhaney, S. & Shockley-McCarthy, K. (2025). Pushing the boundary of child well-being: A spatial examination of child death rates in transition zones of extreme economic inequality and material hardship. PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0330449

Intimate Partner Violence

  • Barboza-Salerno, G., Shockley McCarthy, K., Harrington, T. & Watson-Grace, A. (2025). Emotional and physical symptoms following intimate partner violence victimization in the United States: Implications for law and public health policy. International Journal of Environmental & Public Health Research. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph22121829

Firearm Violence

Webscraping
Background The new documentary called “The Trials of Gabriel Fernandez” brings to the forefront the horrendous abuse that children in Los Angeles County and elsewhere endure at the hands of their caregivers.
2025-04-25