Exploring the Systemic Causes of Adverse Childhood Experiences
A special issue of Social Sciences (ISSN 2076-0760). This special issue belongs to the section "Childhood and Youth Studies".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2024) | Viewed by 10917
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs; child maltreatment, household dysfunction) occur in children across all races/ethnicities and income levels. However, minoritized children (e.g., black, Indigenous, and people of color/global majority) often cope with additional adversities within their social ecologies due to systemic inequality. Most research on ACEs has focused on micro-level factors within a child’s family (e.g., parental divorce and child abuse). Additionally, research on ACEs generally consists of the prevalence of ACEs and/or considers ACEs as predictors, most commonly of behavioral health indicators, with limited attention given to environmental causes. Although studies on ACEs have expanded to examine how children interact with their environments, research addressing upstream factors (i.e., system inequality) that raise the risk for ACEs among children is limited. We need to expand the research on the causes of ACEs (e.g., racism, neighborhood violence, and poverty) and go beyond studies on the effects of ACEs on a person. We must explore the salience of place and why higher-risk conditions exist and address the drivers of inequities that increase the risk of ACEs.
We are interested in research that examines how systemic inequality impacts children’s lives to better understand the relationship among the access to resources, high-risk environments, and ACEs. Examples may include experiences of discrimination, exposure to natural disasters, financial hardship, residential instability, forced migration, exposure to victimization, or witnessing violence outside the home. Additionally, probing the broader geographic location (i.e., the socioeconomic and political context) is encouraged. Most ACE research has recruited samples from the U.S., followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. We encourage the recruitment of samples from countries other than these to expand our understanding of the range of adversities experienced by children globally (e.g., war refugee experiences). In doing so, we aim to expand our knowledge of the social ecology and states of health and well-being of children in other countries.
Please submit your proposals and any questions to special issue guest editor Kim Anderson <Kim.Anderson@ucf.edu> by 29 February 2024. Notification of acceptance will be provided by 15 March 2024. Final papers are due on 30 June 2024 for peer review.
Proposals should be one page in length and include a title, an abstract explaining its relevance to the Special Issue topic, a description of the population, and the methods used (if applicable). Also include author names and affiliations.
Prof. Dr. Kim Anderson
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Social Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- adverse childhood experiences
- ACEs
- childhood adversity
- minoritized populations
- systemic inequality
- social inequities
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
