The study examined the relationship between academic motivation, hopelessness, exposure to violence and academic achievement in adults. Eighty four females and 16 males ages 20 to 68 years old (M=32.28; SD=9.6) participated in the current study. Participants were recruited through postings in Internet discussion rooms, forums and groups (i.e. craiglist.com, facebook.com, myspace.com). Participants were directed to a secure website on surveymonkey.com and completed an informed consent, a demographic questionnaire and three measures assessing for academic motivation, exposure to violence and hopelessness. The measures included: the Academic Motivation Scale, the Survey of Exposure to Community Violence and the Hopelessness Scale. Results showed a significant positive relationship between an individual's current level of academic achievement and extrinsic motivation-regulation. In addition, amotivation also showed to have a significant negative relationship with current level of academic achievement. Hopelessness was not found to be related to either exposure to violence or academic achievement. A significant negative relationship was found between an individual's current level of academic achievement and exposure to community violence suggesting higher levels of exposure to violence may cause academic difficulties, potentially interfering with educational attainment and achievement. The study suggests that experiences of violence whether direct or indirect impact academic functioning. Moreover, the study suggests that academic functioning may be vulnerable to environmental influences such as the experience of violence.