After the Epidemic: Recent Trends in Youth Violence in the United States (From Crime and Justice: A Review of Research Volume 29, P 1-37, 2002, Michael Tonry, ed., -- See NCJ-198375)

• NCJ Number: 198376
• Author(s): Philip J. Cook; John H. Laub
• Date Published: 2002
• Length: 37 pages
• Sale Source: University of Chicago Press
• Publication Format: Book (Hardbound)
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This chapter is devoted to a discussion of the reason for the dramatic decrease in youth violence since 1993 in the United States.

Abstract

The authors theorize that two possible explanations for the rapid and sustained drop in youth violence in the United States are cohort effects, such as abortion legalization, and period effects, such as the changing crack-cocaine trade. The authors reject cohort-type explanations but find inconsistencies in an accounting based on the dynamics of the crack-cocaine markets. It is noted that the way out of this epidemic is not the same as the way in was. It is demonstrated here that the rise and fall of youth violence has been narrowly confined with respect to race, sex, and age, but not geography, thus making forecasting very difficult. A longer time frame may be necessary to explain the recent ups and downs in violence rates by youth, and a broader array of problem behaviors and comparison of trends with other countries are recommended for future research. Tables include juvenile arrest rate ratios for violence, males and females, Black and whites; ratio of homicide victimization rates to pre-epidemic base rate, four birth cohorts of Black males; and juvenile perpetrators in serious violent crime: percentage of victimization, 1975-1999. An extensive list of references is included.