The sample included 86 mothers who lived high-crime areas and 50 who lived in areas with lower incidence rates of violence. Mothers' responses to the violence in their communities were coded as keeping to oneself, staying busy, practicing active safety measures, activism, relying on prayer, and doing nothing. Reliance on prayer was the most popular maternal coping strategy in high- violence areas, regardless of mother's level of education. College- educated women living in lower-crime neighborhoods favored proactive external measures, i.e., activism. The results indicated that there were differences among the coping patterns of mothers in communities with high and low levels of violence when education and income were factored into the analysis. When mothers had personally witnessed or experienced violence, they tended to become more isolated, staying to themselves and practicing active safety measures. 5 tables and 74 references