This research analyzes how public school students identify and evaluate experiences of violence in a domestic environment and within their communities. This is a snip of a larger research on risk and protective factors in youth populations. Of the 1.140 participants, 529 were students from both genders with ages between 14 and 24. The results revealed that punching and spanking occurred more frequently in the familiar environment, whereas threatening and humiliation within the community. It was applied a survey with 77 questions concerning those experiences in everyday situations. As for the negative perceptions on the types of abuse regarding the environment where they occurred, the study indicates that undergoing domestic violence had a stronger impact. The results on self-esteem and self-efficacy revealed protective aspects of personal nature. The perception of violence as a risk factor should be understood based on the context of the subject's role and their life story.
youth; violence; risk; protection.
